Nova Paka Granat

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Shared 500 ml bottle, from Donslund Vine, as Novopacké pivo Granát, at local tasting. ABV is 5.0%. Dark reddish brown colour, moderate off-white head. Aroma of caramel malts and brown bread. Nice flavour, not too sweet, malty and mildly roasty notes, dark brown bread, chocolate and a hint of mild coffee. Very drinkable.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 6

Labeled as BrouCzech Dark
A pour into my 25cl tulip glass produces an initially three-finger thick, lightly browned, tan colored head. The beer is a clear, brownish, dark amber color that shows a brilliantly clear, ruby-red hue when held up to the light. The aroma has a distinct malt note to it that is almost nutty, perhaps a touch fruity, but definitely richly caramelized. The finish of the nose has aromas of lightly toasted bread crust, as well as biscuit like grain aromatics.

Quite sweet tasting, especially since I was expecting this to be dry (though the sweet note in the aroma should have warned me). Nutty malt notes intertwine with caramelized malt sugar notes and dry, toasted grain notes with just a touch of sharp roast grain character in the finish. There is also a light hop bitterness in the middle of the finish that provides a soft bite before being drowned out by sweet grain and toasted malt flavors. While this is on the sweet side, it is still quite light and quaffable. The sweetness and that sort of nuttiness almost produces a flavor similar to dates somehow.

An interesting beer, that I could certainly drink a couple of over conversation with friends. I do like the distinct nuttiness and even the sweetness does not get overly cloying; in fact this would probably be a great session beer for the colder months.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

Bottled. Deep reddish amber colour with small beige head, which vanishes quite fast. Aroma is toffee, some nectar, roasted malts and red berries. Some mild vanillaish notes are also to be found a while after pouring. Flavour is not too sweet caramel malts along with some mild burnt sugar and red berries. Easy to drink brew, but at the same time quite enjoyable.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

Pours a dark reddish brown colour with a large off white head. flavors , soft hoppy character and a touch of sweetness. Not overly malty, roasted malt character- decent overall.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

A very dark beer that it very malty. No hops apparent in the flavor anywhere. It smelled sweet like candy with roasted malt overtones but not bitter or overly sweet. A smooth drinking beer that is worth another try.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

O.K. I am not sure that this is the dark lager beer that I had. I will emphasize that the label reads as follows: BROUCZECH DARK Brewed & Bottled by Nova Paka Brewery, Nova Paka, Czech Republic. It makes no mention of the term "Granat." I am going to do the review anyway. BrouCzech Dark was a new discovery made at the Pittsburgh Bottleshop. They had in the cooler BrouCzech's Lager and Bock as well. The head was about a 1/2 inch thick sitting on top of a deep brownish body. Nice malty aromas and tastes came about with this brew. A very mild roasty malt flavor with hints of chocolate rested on the buds. A clean sweet subtle aftertaste finishes off this nice import that reminded me of Penn Dark. I look forward to trying the others from this brand that Mark Davis managed to get a hold of at his establishment. For the record, just to add to the confusion, there are two websites for this beer. The one listed above on this page, and www.brouczech.com.