Robin Shepard
Tmavé Pivo is a re-creation of a traditional dark Czech lager. This is a beer for those who love the nuance of malt as well as those who get excited about beer-geeky brewing techniques like decoction mashing.
What is it? Tmavé Pivo from Next Door Brewing.
Style: Tmavé Pivo means dark beer. It’s based on a Czech lager that is dark copper to black in color with a rich and complex maltiness. It isn’t intended to be thick or sticky on the palate; rather this dark lager is smooth and lightly roasted with hints of chocolate and caramel. It has a clean finish, much like a pilsner, with very little hoppiness (roughly 25 IBUs) and a 4.4 to 5.8 percent ABV. Historically, the style is often associated with Prague’s oldest brewery, Brewery and Restaurant U Fleků, that dates back to 1499.
Background: Brewmaster Dave Hansen came to Next Door Brewing last December after nearly 10 years of working at MillerCoors in Milwaukee. Hansen is a good fit at Next Door’s small brewhouse and is a good steward of its ambitious beer menu. Among recent standouts have been last winter’s Integrator Doppelbock, and this spring the brewpub’s first regular hefeweizen called Wheat Fork.
Next Door’s Tmavé Pivo is based on a style that is believed to have been brewed in Prague for hundreds of years and is rarely seen outside of the Czech Republic. Hansen and a handful of other U.S. craft brewers have been trying to re-create the recipe. Hansen was inspired after reading an article about the little-known beer: “This is something that is dark and looks heavy, but is light enough for summer.”
Hansen uses pilsner, Munich and black malts, along with Czech Saaz hops and Czech lager yeast. Hansen credits the beer’s soft, rich and complex malty backbone to decoction mashing. This process involves removing part of the mash, heating it to near boiling, and then returning it to the main mash. That method of temperature infusion to the mash helps make the starches more accessible and the result accentuates the smooth sweetness of malt. “Between decoction and all the dark malts there’s a wonderful light roastiness to this beer,” Hansen says. Decoction isn’t used very often in Wisconsin breweries — it takes more time to brew, plus requires multiple brewing vessels and a lot more intensive cleanup time in the brewhouse once it’s all over.
A few other notable Wisconsin dark lagers include Ale Asylum’s Dumb and Dunkel (German dunkel lager), Sprecher’s Black Bavarian (German schwarzbier) and Leinenkugel’s Creamy Dark (dark lager). These are all similar lagers with clear malty signatures. However, Tmavé Pivo has what I consider to be the richest flavor and mouthfeel combined.
Tmavé Pivo finishes at 5.2 percent ABV. It’s sold only at Next Door for $5/glass and $13.50/growler (refill).
Tasting notes:
- Aroma: Lightly roasted chocolate malt.
- Appearance: Dark black body with bronze highlights. A medium, soft, creamy tan head.
- Texture: Medium-bodied with softness.
- Taste: Smooth chocolate and toffee notes throughout.
- Finish/Aftertaste: A light roasted chocolate maltiness, yet very clean finish.
Glassware: A heavy footed pilsner glass pays tribute to the lager style while showing off the beer’s color and allowing the light roasted notes to expand under the nose.
Pairs well with: the Barleyfork Burger from the Next Door menu; it matches nicely with the sweetness of this beer. Chicken or steak kebabs skewered with big chunks of sweet vegetables and grilled would also pair well.
The Verdict: With its deep black color and thick creamy head, this beer looks deceivingly thick. However, its body is much lighter than it appears, almost silky soft. It’s a wonderful dark lager with smooth chocolate notes that come off amid lightly roasted hints of toffee and caramel. That really accentuates its malt complexity without the beer being sticky sweet or cloying. Yes, it’s malt-focused, yet it finishes clean. Next Door doesn’t serve it on nitrogen, but let’s hope that Hansen considers that. I really like Tmavé Pivo a lot and it’s high on my favorites so far this year.
