Brewery: Budweiser Budvar
Location: CeskÈ Budejovice, Czech Republic
ABV: 4.7%
Version: Bottled
Source: Tesco

I’ve encountered a fair few tasty dark lagers in the past twelve months or so and have come to the conclusion that I’m a big fan of the style. So when I spotted Budweiser Budvar Dark on the shelf in Tesco a couple of weeks back, I had no hesitation in grabbing a couple for the trolley, and I cracked the first one open last night.

Budvar Dark pours a very dark, almost opaque brown-black with a thin tan head and a slight effervescence; definitely not a ‘fizzy’ lager, this one. Flavour-wise it provides plenty of coffee cut through with a slight toffee sweetness and it was very reminiscent of some of the coffee porters I’ve tried. Not quite as dense and heavy as a coffee stout, perhaps and with that slight vegetable-tang that I’m starting to associate with good quality lagers (I’m sure it’s something to do with the lager malts or the particular hops employed, but my knowledge isn’t up to scratch in that department yet).

All in all, a very tasty dark beer indeed and a good example of the style, I reckon; Budvar Dark certainly held its own in comparison to the BrewDog Zeitgeist that I had immediately afterwards for research purposes and it’s one that I wouldn’t hesitate to try on draught, should the opportunity arise.

There’s some info on Budweiserbudvar.co.uk about the origins of the beer and the brewery’s ambitions for the style:

Budweiser Budvar Dark is a retro-beer. This is because it has been designed to come as close as possible to how all Bohemian and Bavarian lagers tasted before bottom fermented golden lager stole the show in the mid nineteenth century. Now, thanks to Budweiser Budvar, the Darkside is moving centre stage again.

And on the strength of this tasting, I certainly hope that turns out to be the case.