Prague hazy

I bought this bottle of Staropramen Unfiltered in the possibly mistaken belief it was a lager. Czech brewers often release unfiltered versions of their core lagers and I assumed that's what the Prague-based Molson Coors operation was at here. The only indication on the bottle that that might not be the case is the oblique wording "finest hops meet a touch of coriander". They put coriander in a světlý ležák? No, of course they didn't. Turns out it's actually a wheat beer, and presumably warm-fermented.

It looks like one: a warm hazy orange tone, though lacking the tall tight head of a Bavarian weizen. And it smells lagery: a delicious grassy scent strongly indicating the presence of Saaz hops. Which side would win out on tasting?

Sadly: neither. The flavour is very bland indeed. There's a trace of that Saaz grass, while the texture is fun and fluffy, much like a weissbier, but that's pretty much all there is to say. No coriander, no yeast-derived esters and no crisp pilsner cleanness. If pushed I'd say it tastes closer to a lager than anything else, and maybe it has been cold-fermented after all, but if so, to the point of all the character being attenuated out of it.

Yes, Staropramen has never been close to the higher echelons of Czech brewing during my drinking lifetime. I still reserve the right to be disappointed by this latest one.