First, they made the pale Czech Pilsner. Then, the amber Polotmavý. So it’s fitting that Sunday Road should now take the next logical step and make a dark Czech lager: a Tmavé Pivo.* It’s not a common style, but it’s a delicious one.
Like the amber lager, SR 14° uses the starting gravity of the beer** in its name: in this case, 14° Plato. Like both of the previous beers, it uses traditional Czech ingredients: floor-malted Bohemian malts and Saaz hops.
And while we’re comparing it to other beers, let’s answer the question for anyone who (like me) hasn’t had the pleasure of a dark lager tour of Europe: how is this similar or different to other dark lagers that I’ve tried?
It’s fuller and sweeter and less roasty than a schwarzbier, shares some flavours with a Baltic porter but with less oomph, and has slightly more focus on hop character than either. It’s also got that nice, sweet, toasted bread crust character of a Munich dunkel.
Prunes and brown sugar on the nose carry through into the mouth, but there they caramelise in a saucepan and meet some dark chocolate and the aforementioned sweet toast. But while that stewed concoction would be sticky and sweet – and quite a strange combo, though I’ll taste most things once – SR 14° manages to hold the line with a relative dryness and subtle bitter spice, making it extremely drinkable.
This dark lager invites, begs, demands you to session it, and to say again and again with ever increasing joviality - “Na zdravi!”***
Mick Wüst
*If, like me, you’re not well acquainted with these classic Czech beer styles, don’t worry – not all of us can be Judd “real-head” Owen.
**If this talk of gravity and Plato is baffling to you, see the Polotmavý write-up.
***As you may have gathered from the context, this is the Czech way to say “cheers”; it means “to health”. But it can also be used after someone sneezes, so now I’m kind of tempted to do the same with other phrases. Might start saying “gesundheit” when I clink glasses with someone.
Published June 6, 2024 2024-06-06 00:00:00
