Klášter Svetly Special (Premium Lager) 14°

Brewed by Pivovar Klášter
Style: Bohemian Pilsener
Hradiště nad Jizerou, Czech Republic

(500 ml bottle: $1.29 at Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa, CA) This beer certainly pours a nice, beautiful head, white in color, nearly an inch tall, bubbly, frothy and rocky, long-lived (1/4 inch for the entire session), and leaving sharply jagged cliffs of lace on the glass. And the pale golden color is slightly hazy, but easily reveals plenty of carbonation bubbles slowly but steadily rising in streams toward the surface. Great looking beer, but that’s about as good as this beer gets. The flavor is sweet, mildly grainy, slightly smoky, and mildly hoppy. The sugary sweet grain, though, is the dominant flavor, and just doesn’t speak quality to me. The nose is better, however, with grain and smoke on more equal footing with the sweetness. Still, though, the flavor is too sweet without enough to balance it out, and while I like the smokiness, that sugary sweetness is just killing the beer for me. Light-medium bodied, gently carbonated, but lacking any semblance of crispness. Better than most of the Bohemian Pilseners I’ve tried, but if I’m gonna drink anything from this style, it’s gonna be Pilsner Urquell, which I think blows this beer out of the water. Lose some of the sweetness and this becomes a much better and more enjoyable beer.

Deep golden colour. Frothy head. Hop aroma. The flavour starts off sweet and malty but soon gets really hoppy and bitter. The bitterness stays on the tounge for a looooong time. A classic Pilsener.

Bright dark golden color. Floral perfumy aroma of Saaz hops. Sweet thin honey malt flavor with the Saaz hops asserting themselves. Has that classic Czech pils aftertaste. A very good example of the style.

Rating for 5.6% ABV version

Slightly-hazed golden with constant effervescence and a big white head that ended in a thick, ugly scum (I hate that). Musty aromas of hay, honey, pepper and lactose. Flavor was thoroughly sweet with some bittering hops at the end with smoke. A little watery and ever-so-slightly metallic. Not a bad Czech offering.

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Bottle: I thought it wasn’t that great really. I’d imagine it had some shipping, shelf time underneath its belt at the bar I had it at, but nonetheless it had a very nice color and good look to it. The aroma isn’t anything special, but still nice. Some hoppy flavor in there.

Clear golden color with a ring of white lace. Aroma and flavor of honey and hops with a mild bitter finish. The body is light with an oily texture and soft carbonation.

The Lure:
Flowing flowery honey and pear-like fruitiness dominate the approach. United and concise, inviting and precise.

The Festivities:
Suave maltiness and lingering hop bitterness possess all the attributes to please the Czech pils fan. Perfumy floral hops sway the yeast to secrete some candyish esters. Some mineral dagger scratches the surface of the portly malt, but no harm is done. These guys are making some quality pilsners.

Transcendence:
Watching the leaves gently swing with the wind.

From the bottle.

Pours amber with an ample white head.

The aroma is very nice, lemon and fieldgrass and bread dough. The flavor is dominated by sweet toasted malts, with the hops surprisingly far back in the wings. Mouthfeel is good, though not exceptional.

This is a pretty nice beer, but too malt-heavy for my personal taste.