I do know Panenka

It's a football term, apparently. You might expect a lager called Panenka to appear on a rotation tap when there's a football tournament on. Indeed, the same brewer created one called Maracanã for the 2014 Brazil World Cup. I don't know why this one is here and now. "Here" is The Porterhouse in Dublin's Temple Bar and it's branded as a house beer, though since the Porterhouse brewery was sold on, all beers are produced elsewhere, and this is the first of them to come from Hopkins & Hopkins, upriver in Smithfield.

A Czech-style pils is what's on offer, which seems like a reasonable prospect from a brewery that has made Helles its unlikely but welcome flagship. Magnum hops from Czechia are the signature feature we are to be on alert for. I didn't expect them to be fruity, so was surprised by the waft of light yet ripe pear in the aroma, and the same in the centre of the flavour. Around that, it is the light summer pilsner we're promised, despite a not-insubstantial 4.7% ABV. The base is very crisp and dry lager grain, teaming up with an almost aggressive carbonation. Nevertheless, it's not basic or bland. I would have liked a little more assertive noble hop bittering, beyond the faint green herbs of the finish, but it still stays on the right side of the boring/interesting divide.

I don't mean interesting as a euphemism for wonky. I think this would pass muster in a proper lager culture anywhere in the world. Obviously, nobody else who comes to The Porterhouse to drink it will appreciate what's going on the way I do, but I hope it brings a little bit of golden continental sunshine into their otherwise dreary lives.