Bakalář Svetlý Lezák 12° (Premium)

Brewed by Pivovar Rakovnik
Style: Bohemian Pilsener
Rakovnik, Czech Republic

Bottle, 50cl. Good wholesome yellow colour. Great hoppy taste. An enjoyable, refreshing pilsener, brilliant for the thirsty.

10-May-08 (500-ml bottle with a competition label only: Free sample bottle for stewarding the 2008 World Beer Cup in San Diego, CA) Nice malty nose shows the typical sweet breadiness, but hops are very light and there’s a bit of oxidation. Bready, lightly sweet malt base is pleasant, and the hops are spicy and lightly bitter. Pretty nice flavor profile and beautifully balanced, and it’s a style I really enjoy, but it does start showing some oxidative notes as it warms. Medium-bodied with medium carbonation. Some crispness in the mouthfeel from gentle hoppy bitterness. Pale-golden in color and quite clear, but there are some floaties spoiling the view. White head pours almost an inch in height. The carbonation bubbles are a bit large, but surprisingly, the head doesn’t collapse like you’d expect from the large bubbles. Overall, quite a nice Czech pilsener.

Bottled, 500ml, pasteurised from Morrisons, Southport, Merseyside. Gold with white head, carbonised. Middling Czech Pilsener, sharp and a little tinny with cardboard notes, some dryness with a slight, but not great hop note. Had many better and some worse.

Bottled. Golden colour with mediumsized white fluffy head. Aroma is sweet malts along with some metallic notes as well as quite much grass/hay. Flavour is sweet malts, quite much grassy and hayish hoppy notes. Quite clean and no metallic notes in the flavour at all.

Gold. Pleasant malty aroma. Sharp slightly metallic hoppy taste. Good refreshment without great complexity. Does its job on a warm evening.

Considering Stella gets 2.54, this beer must get at least a whole point more. Good malt flavours, hops somewhat indifferent. Very drinkable all the same.

500 ml bottle, shared by DarkElf, from World Beer Cup 2008. Pours a nice clear golden color with a moderate sized white head that leaves stringy lace. Aroma of grainy malts, hint of cookie dough, lightly grassy, with floral hops evident as well. Flavor is classic pilsner, with abundant spicy floral hops, light maltiness, hint of toast, lemon zest, hint of soap and a pleasant puckering finish. Light to medium body, crisply tingly carbonation.

Bottle from Morrisons, Banbury, Oxon, consumed 13-04-08 Warm gold with busy white head. I do like Czech beers and even though they are not all top notch this included they are often a step or two above the usual fare. Nice hoppiness to this that clings right to the finish, sweet malts are there but they’re trampled over by those hops and that drying finish, very nice.