Granát (BrouCzech Dark)
Nova Paka Brewery

Granát (BrouCzech Dark)Granát (BrouCzech Dark)
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From:
Nova Paka Brewery
 
Czechia
Style:
Czech Dark Lager
Ranked #60
ABV:
5%
Score:
83
Ranked #23,999
Avg:
3.63 | pDev: 12.4%
Reviews:
22
Ratings:
54
Status:
Active
Rated:
May 26, 2023
Added:
May 03, 2010
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  5
Export version of Novopacké pivo Granát.

Until 1842, all beers were dark. This is a stellar example of what our forfathers may have been drinking back then. Reddish brown in color, with a rich, foamy head and a distinctive aroma of roasted malt and Saaz hops. Although the sweetest of our beers, it still retains our typically pleasant hoppy-malty tail and it is a very enjoyable brew all around.
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Photo of LiquidAmber
Reviewed by LiquidAmber from Washington

3.85/5  rDev +6.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Poured into a Reuben's Brew pint glass. Pours a very dark mahogany brown with little light transmission in the glass and a two finger, somewhat fizzy, dark khaki head that dissipates to a thin film with light lacing. Aroma of dark malt, light molasses, brown bread and a hint of caramel. Flavor is dark, lightly toasted malt, brown bread, hints of cocoa and molasses with mild noble hops that increase in bitterness in the finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. A satisfactory Czech dark lager that has a bit more roasted malt character than I expected, but a bit of hop astringency in the finish. The malt is nice and is somewhat akin to a schwarzbier, to its credit. The hops are left a little stark in the finish, which could be an age issue as imports are often hard to date adequately. An adequate example of of a scarce style, but need a little balance.
May 26, 2023
 
Rated: 3.82 by Chuckdiesel24 from Illinois

Dec 14, 2022
Photo of steveh
Reviewed by steveh from Illinois

4.15/5  rDev +14.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Picked up a .5 liter bottle for the Dark Lager tasting. Poured into my tall Becher.

L -- Deep, dark brown with ruby highlights and a short, but resilient, cream color head.

S -- Roasted malt, light caramel and light vanilla.

T -- Roasted malt up front, but not Schwarzbier-like. Light touch of dark fruits, Pumpernickel bread crusts, touch of earthy & herbal hop bitterness in the finish and some light diacetyl in the aftertaste.

M -- Mouthfeel is soft and silky with a light-robust body.

O -- Not as roasty as some CDLs I've had, a touch sweet to balance out the roasted malts and hop bitterness. Very tasty -- should have bought a couple!
May 20, 2022
Photo of Sigmund
Reviewed by Sigmund from Norway

3.71/5  rDev +2.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
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.
Apr 16, 2022
Photo of Captain69
Rated by Captain69 from Illinois

3.64/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
great european lager nice light malt taste
Apr 16, 2022
 
Rated: 3.5 by TMoney2591 from Illinois

Feb 27, 2022
Photo of josanguapo
Reviewed by josanguapo from Spain

3.55/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
30 Mayo 2021. De Labirratorium. En copa de hefe de Bavaria. En almuerzo, con pastas rana. Esta bien, pero me resulta más seca e insipida de lo deseable. Avg 3.06

27 enero 2022. De Labirratorium. En copa hefe de Bavaria. Estudiando. Lager oscura bien hecha, con buen feel y agradable perfil tostado. Nada de la sequedad e insipidez de la anterior vez que la prob3. No obstante, tampoco tiene nada que la haga sobresalir. Avg 3.5
May 30, 2021
Photo of Beginner2
Reviewed by Beginner2 from Illinois

3.76/5  rDev +3.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
I found this Granat at a Polish specialty grocery store that gave a nod to other central European brewers. To start, my generalization... Czech crafters have one of the highest quality that never make it to the Midwest. But what made me think this thought is that the book I organized my life around in 2014 and 2015, "1001 Beers To Drink Before You Die", I had only 10 of the 48 Czech crafters, or less than 20%. (In this book, only Belgium had more per capita and I'd had 80% of the Belgians.) For the whole book, I drank 52%. So clearly, the Czech's have a distribution problem in the Midwest.

All that said... BrouCzech Dark opens slightly above average; dark and a lasting foam. Smells are mostly malt (which I like.) Tastes are balanced with caramel malts, some toasted; and sufficient hops to bring out a semi-dry finish. OK bubbles resulting in a below medium mouth.

I went on the Nova Paka website and did find the English button and could read through much of it. It reminds me of many pre-industrial era Bavarian family crafters in their attention to detail and tradition and, of course, lagers. Brews, restaurant, cultural pride; but with a slightly different welcoming feel.

5/6/21 Had a second and also found it satisfying. Edited the above and am keeping count at UnTappd.
Mar 15, 2021
Photo of Nass
Rated by Nass from Florida

3.41/5  rDev -6.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 2.75
There is no date on the bottle. The pour is dark brown. The taste is medium mouth feel, brown bread crust, mild dark fruit & molasses. Cheers! B-
Dec 27, 2020
 
Rated: 4.11 by Drew88 from New Jersey

Dec 08, 2020
Photo of ScruffySouthpaw
Reviewed by ScruffySouthpaw from New York

3.48/5  rDev -4.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Served in a snifter glass glass from the bottle.

Appearance: extra bubbly dark brown color with an off-white head rising pretty high at a nudge over one fi gets length off the body.

Smell: euro lager like aroma, dissipates quickly but granted I was expecting much potency.

Taste: Semi sweet, almost like a corn pudding with extra malts. Bitter not really complex with a better

Mouth: Full carbonation, semi sticky.

Overall: Descent brew, good for a starter beer when you have a line of different brews ready for the night. Salud.
Oct 08, 2020
Photo of FBarber
Reviewed by FBarber from Illinois

4.04/5  rDev +11.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Pours a very dark brown color with auburn tinged edges. Completely opaque and somewhat cloudy when held up to the light.

Aroma has notes of fresh bread, cocoa, caramel, a slighty twangy yeast note and some spicy hops.

Taste follows the nose with notes of fresh bread, cocoa, a bot of sweet caramel, and molasses giving way to a spicy hop bite on the back end. Its mildly sweet, but not overly so. Has a bit of pumpernickel character to it as it warms.

Feel is actually surprisingly fuller bodied for a lager. Closer say to a schwarzbier than a pilsner. Bright, vibrant carbonation. semi-dry, somewhat powdery finish.

Overall its a quite nice beer, well in line with the Czech dark lager style.
Mar 16, 2020
 
Rated: 3.25 by cryptichead from Illinois

Nov 24, 2019
 
Rated: 3.56 by chiefz1 from New York

Oct 13, 2019
 
Rated: 3.55 by KrissyKat6 from New York

Mar 16, 2019
 
Rated: 3.5 by paulish from New York

Feb 12, 2018
 
Rated: 2.58 by Branlott42 from Missouri

Jan 05, 2018
Photo of JayQue
Reviewed by JayQue from Virginia

3.78/5  rDev +4.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Pours a dark brown color with no light coming through the dimpled pint glass. Medium sized khaki head with good retention and thin bands of lacing. Aroma and taste are malty, not that sweet. There is some mild grassy hops to go along with bready malt. Mouthfeel is the best part. Light and crisp. I could sip this all day!!!;
Oct 24, 2017
 
Rated: 3.73 by rolltide8425 from Pennsylvania

Feb 22, 2017
Photo of BloodSoakedAleMug
Reviewed by BloodSoakedAleMug from New York

3.74/5  rDev +3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.25
Look: Pours a very dark brown color with a two finger khaki head that settles down quickly and doesn't lace the glass.

Smell: I'm getting notes of brown sugar and floral hops with very mild chocolate and caramel syrup in the background.

Taste: At first I tasted this, there were notes of sulfur and other offputting metallic notes. But as I worked my way through the beer my taste buds adjusted to it.

The flavor has a slightly charred, roasted malt, nutty character to it. It's predominantly sweet and malty with hints of caramel but balanced by a mildly bitter, burnt toast and dark chocolate taste. Mild flavors of tart red apples play a role in the background. There are also floral notes of noble hops and figs hiding somewhere.

Feel: For a lager, it's full bodied. Mildly carbonated.

Overall: This one is hard to review. I'm torn between a C- and a B+ here. Part of me wants to rip this beer a new one because of the off flavors upfront that sometimes rear their ugly head midpalate. But another part of me can overlook that and appreciate the roasted malty undertones of bitter chocolate and tart red apples with noble hops and fig.

I guess for a dark euro lager this really isn't that bad if you can overlook some of the beers initial faults.

I'd buy this again, but only if I was in the mood for a dark lager. That being said it was reasonably priced at $2.99 for a pint.
Jan 21, 2017
Granát (BrouCzech Dark) from Nova Paka Brewery
Beer rating: 83 out of 100 with 54 ratings