Bernard Cerné Pivo 13°

Cheap 500ml bottle from Prague Tesco. Pleasant dark lager. Dark bread malty with a restrained carbonation. Hints of licorice and tobacco. Slides down easy and accompanies roll mops and cheese rolls very nicely. Licorice. Chocolate. Tobacco. Smooth.

Bottle from Tesco. Almost black with hints of red, with a big, foamy off-white head. Aromas of caramel, dates, chocolate, some coffee roastiness and some grassy hops. Slightly chewy mouth feel, with some doughy malt, red fruit, caramel and dark chocolate. Finish was long and dry. Excellent.

Good dark colour but has no head whatsoever! Quite smooth with toasty malts and just a hint of bitterness, the finish is clean and again malty and long lasting. A good clean lager but not the class act I was expecting. Tesco.

This is a high quality beer. Classy, not for yobs. It tasted like burnt caramel to begin with, then went more towards smoke. A surprising find. And Her Ladyship loves it! Not the kind of beer I would drink often, but then I’m an old fool.

Bottle, thanks larsga. Lovely fresh beer, the lager is laced with coffee and cocoa. Eas drinking, yet complex and multilayered. Close to a perfect lager.

Big shiny dark brown lasting head. Deep dark red barely translucent body with light carbonation. Roasty earthy aroma with notes of caramel with traces of something meaty. Dry-sweet delicate roasty caramelly taste with earthy, faintly metallic notes and some peppery hops. Carbonates in the mouth, thus interfering a bit with the taste. Medium body. Long, dry earthy meaty aftertaste with chocolate and coffee notes. Very harmonic. Leaves sticky sugar on the lips.

Pouring more quickly to get a bigger head releases more CO2, and gives a smoother mouthfeel with less carbonation. The taste also becomes more prominent then.

A subtle, understated beer with considerable charms. I like it! (0.5l bottle as a gift from Jirka K.)

Back from a Czech Republic pub-crawl this is part of my express ratings for the “typical” Světlý 11°- (Czech light Pils), Světlý 12°+ (Czech Pils), Polotmavý (Czech Amber Lagers) and Tmavý (Czech Black Lagers). Non-typical beers will receive personalized descriptions after the express ratings.
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How: Tap at Uncle Paya, Pilsen, Czech Republic
The look: Black body with a medium tan head
To me a typical Czech Tmavé (Czech Black Lager) is: Dark malts and barely any roastiness sensation. Some dark fruits flavours (raisins with a little figs, dates and prunes) wrapped in smooth dark caramel (borderline toffee) and a subtle chocolate note. A bit bready. Moderately sweet without much hops presence and only a mild bitterness (voluntary unbalanced it seems). Very smooth body, like a watery cream.
This one: As above but a bit less fruity, a bit more roasted. Notes of coffee.

0.5 l bottle. Dark ruby color with big beige head, very foamy. Malty, caramelly and bready aroma with notes of chocolate and licorice. Sweet and softly roasty flavor with bready, toffeish and chocolatey notes.