Koutský 18° Tmavý Vánoční Speciál

Draught@Koutland, Plzen. Kept going back to thi pub for more. Some light sweetness in the start, very light caramelly notes. Licorice and roasted malt flavours then come through. Quite full bodied, but remains soft and round and then has some hoppy bitterness and light salty note in the finish. With every sip i just wanted more. This is as close to perfect as i have had. Kept getting better every night we went back to have some. Oh man, i wish this was available across the road from me!

on tap at u Škodovky in plzen. holy guacashit, this is immense. black and foreboding with a touch of mahogany around the edges of the glass. massive lingering head with huge bubbles. aroma of moss, chocolate cake mix, lotsa grassy saaz, sour cream. very buttery texture, fresh flavours of brownies, vanilla, coffee liqueur, cake batter, brandy butter and a saazed out, bitter finish with some after-dinner mint quality. about time there was a great strong, dark, czech beer - the key seems to be the shitload of saaz and extra dark malt, this is never sticky, even after a few half litre glasses and has the drinkablility of a quality czech dark like regent tmavy. a difficult beer to classify - labelled simply as 18 degree christmas dark but somewhere in between a baltic porter and dunkler bock, i’ve never tried anything like this, hope it doesn’t run out too soon. re-rate: well, i’ve tasted this a few more times in the past week and have reclassified it as a baltic porter instead of dunkler bock. truth be told, it resembles an imperial stout more than anything else but i’m pretty sure it must be a lager. the saaz character has started to fade ever so slightly (or my taste buds have become more attuned to this beer) but the texture keeps getting more luscious. it took them about 5 minutes to pull a small glass of this today, i hope it’s not running out...

Very dark brown colored body with an off-white head. Nose of sweet bready raisins and toasted malt, along with toffee, wood and chocolate. Flavor is creamy malt, toast, nuts, chocolate, dark plums and wood. Rich, toasty, and full-bodied, with some drying toasty malts in the finish. Very flavorful and dense, sweet but not overly sweet, finishing with a lingering rich toffee malt sweetness that soothes the palate. Excellent stuff.

Growler. [thank you so much motelpogo]. Very excited to see this come in a growler all the way from the Czech Republic. It pops with much vigour, and pours a deep nutty brown with a small beige head. Aroma has nuts, caramel, oak, some herbal tones, I can’t really pinpoint. Quite full bodied, but still lively - so I won’t call it oily. Flavour is stunning! There are tones of caramel, hazelnuts, lots of wood, a definite hoppyness. It balances a liveliness with a stunning array of flavours. Very nice heavy bitter finish that are mixed with a clear vinious tone. Really great - and that is from a growler that has been 10 days in the mail!. 8/4/10/4/18 = 4.4

Tap @ Koutland, Plzen.
Pours deep, deep mahogany with a super, staying, creamy, beige/cappucino head. Aroma is softly tart, light coffee, sweet liqourice, pleasant roastiness and good hoppiness. Super creamy mouthfeel. Flavour is wonderfully roasted, sweet, light chocolate and a good raisin-like tartness. Truly wonderful. 8/5/9/5/16 = 4.3

Dark brown body, big beige head, fine lacing; Very, very good fine nose of milk chocolate spiced with very fine saaz hop, a small amount of burnt cocoa beans and a fine touch of freshness; Soft body with a soft texture, really elegant and superbly balanced, bitter sweet and super fine; Long very elegant quite big finish, lots of balanced aromas again this spicy milk chocolate, pleasant and elegant bitter and a perfectly balanced sweetness. Great beer from a great brewery.