- Product Reviewed: Budweiser Budvar
- Brewed By: Budějovický Budvar, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
- Form Reviewed: Draft at U Kocoura, Prague
- Date Reviewed: November 10, 2001
- Style: Czech Pilsner
- Added to the Tasting Notebook: July 24, 2002
Initial Impressions:
I have this friend in the Pacific Northwest who claims that the best, indeed only, proper way to appreciate a given beer is to drink it in situ, as he describes it. While I do not share his misplaced enthusiasm for what is typically romanticism or even snobbery, there are a handful of styles that are best appreciated as close to the source as possible. I've written here and elsewhere that alt and English real ale qualify in this regard. An argument can also be made for Czech pilsner.
While my job in Holland has taken more of my time than I anticipated, I have had the opportunity to travel to places I probably would not have visited if I were based in the US. A friend from Seattle recently completed a two-year trip around the globe without the benefit of flying. (For those who are homebrewers and know of a certain IPA I designed, this friend suggested the name of that beer). During the summer of 2001, I was able to link up with him and his wife in Spain, France, and Morocco. In November, he was traveling alone through eastern Europe, and I accepted his invitation to join him on a ten day journey through three countries. We met in Prague, which is home to beers of world class quality, and world class cheapness.
I took notes on a handful of beers in Prague (in addition to Poland and Lithuania), but unfortunately I seem to have lost the notes on most. I wish I could recall what I thought of the Zywiec Porter in situ in Krakow, or their pale, or the handful of odd, obscure Lithuanian beers we came across. I do have vague recollections of the U Fleku being merely adequate, though the pub itself is very cool. And, I managed to find the notes for the Budvar, tasted at one of Prague's better pubs, U Kocoura.
The beer in Prague is outstanding, of course. It is also very cheap. We would typically pay about 17 Czech kr for a half liter of pilsner, which is about 50 US and Euro cents by today's exchange rate. U Kocoura must be aware of its reputation, as they charged 23 kr for a half liter of Budvar. Still, that's 75 cents in either dollars or euros.
The draft half liter was golden, crystal clear, with a huge rocky white head that lingered for quite some time.
Nose:
The nose combined a delicate maltiness with a floral hop character. Any guesses as to the preferred variety?
Flavor:
The Budvar opened with a delicate maltiness, slightly sweet but far from cloying, which slides into a floral saazy hop flavor. A light, balancing bitterness rounds it out.
Final Analysis:
This is a delicate, nuanced pilsner. Budvar is slightly on the sweet side, but not terribly so. The floral notes and light bitterness produced by the Saaz hopping helps to offset the maltiness, rounding out an excellent balanced pilsner. Eminently quaffable, and I know we had more than a few that night, at those prices.
Rating:
(Excellent on my 5-star scale)