October 15, 2002 -- Back in the spring, I reported on 'Round One' of a tasting of Czech beers brought to Toronto by my friend Honza Kocka, with a promise of posting the remaining reviews later on in the month. Unfortunately, that never happened. But rather than list excuses, I thought it better to post beer reviews, so here are the rest of my notes from a Spring tasting of some of the Czech Republic's lesser-known lagers.

The Korbel brewery in Maly Rohozec provided a trio of lagers ranging in strength from 4.5% alcohol by volume to 6.1%, and in colour from light gold to brassy copper. My favourite sat in the middle, the Korbel Svetly Lezák, with 5% strength and a medium gold colour with a slight haze. The nose is soft and balanced, with some notes of fresh-mown grass and sweet grain. The body starts with a hint of sweetness leading into a fairly robust, faintly herbal flavour accented with just a hint of citrus and something I could best describe as sweet alfalfa. The finish is quite dry, quenching and very well-balanced.

A similar but lighter beer is the Korbel Svetly Vycepni, which also showed a slight haze on its light gold colour. As well-balanced as the Lezák, its aroma is more herbal and its body thinner, with a faint spiciness on the palate and a dry, dry, dry finish. The stronger Korbel Svetly Special, at 6.1% alcohol, has more all-around sweetness, with some sugary and caramel notes in the aroma and flavour, but still sports a hint of what I now feel is a house herbal character.

The appetizing and 'more-ish' quality of the Bernard only served to accentuate the flaws of the following beer, Jezek from the Pivovar a Sodoukarna of Jihlava. Filled with butterscotchy aromas and flavours, it ended up tasting quite cloying even despite its relatively dry finish. The sample, however, may have been harmed by age.

The final beer was the Primator 21 from the Náchod brewery in the town of the same name. A deep burnished copper colour, this 9% alcohol by volume lager has a whisky-ish nose so pronounced that it almost seems the beer could have been aged in wood. Its very sweet start shows brown sugar notes and leads to a sweet and sugary body with notes of fresh grass and toasted malt. The warming finish left me acutely aware of having just sampled a strong beer, but the taster in me longed for more complexity and flavour.

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