Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Post Work Drinks

On Friday afternoon I met up with Evan and Pivni Filosof, as I had bought them back from the UK a bottle of beer, so naturally we met up in Pivovarský klub for a "quick beer". On tap they had the Bernard 13° dark beer, which is nicely roasted and very smooth to drink as well as Démon from Pivovar Lobkowicz, a thorougly inoffensive and unmemorable polotmávé. I also indulged in a couple of Primátor Weizens, which were lovely, especially after the flat and lifeless one I had at U Sadu a few days previously.

The drinking highlight though was discovering bottles of Paulaner Salvator in the fridge, a beer I had never tried before, although heard much about. It poured a very deep red, which I really liked, and had a slightly beige head. There was a powerful sweetness to the smell which was more than backed up in the taste - I was rather surprised at just how sweet the beer was. It was big, full bodied and syrupy in the mouth, nor syrupy in an extract kind of way, but rather full of sweetness and smoothness. I liked it alot, a hell of alot. Not a beer that I could drink plenty off in a night, but certainly one I could enjoy sitting at home watching the idiot box (well, in our circumstances, DVDs on the computer).

Eventually Mrs Velkyal turned up, having told me to just have a couple and then come home - I knew she would give in and come to the pub. I don't think that she even had her coat off and Karel, the barman that day, had brought over a bottle of Primátor English Pale Ale fresh from the fridge for her - they know what she likes.

Some places are just perfect.

7 comments:

  1. Speaking of Evan, what happened to Beer Culture? Is the site ever going to be up again?

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  2. The Prague Monitor server and back-up server both got fried, so he is blogless for the time being.

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  3. To my shame I have never had the Salvator, but I do have two bottles in my cellar right now (along with close to a dozen other bocks and doppelbocks that I went crazy buying the other week). Looking forward to trying it now!

    Out of curiousity, what beers did you bring back from the UK?

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  4. I bought back the following:

    BrewDog Punk IPA
    Sam Smith's Imperial Stout
    Sam Smith's Oatmeal Stout
    Sam Smith's Taddy Porter
    Sam Smith's Old Brewery Pale Ale (Mrs Velkyal's)
    Young's Double Chocolate Stout
    Fuller's 1845
    Hook Norton Twelve Days

    Wanted to bring some more Hook Norton stuff, but my bag was pretty much at capacity with bottles wrapped in t-shirts and jumpers.

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  5. What a topic, Salvator.
    I wish I could like it as much as that first time nine years ago....

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  6. Funny you should say that, PF - I remember that we both had our minds blown by our first bottle of Salvator, but it's never been as great since. Probably just a change in our tastebuds - I now find it rather too sweet.

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  7. I wonder if my in-built Scottish sweet tooth explains why I liked it?

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