Slick Zich

Back in September I promised a return visit to the beers of Zichovec, as they had been starting to appear in their stylish new livery. And I promised to include a lager. So here we are.

The pleasure of Zichovec begins with picking up the can: that extra 60ml over the standard results in an immediate feeling of being treated. This can contains Devítka, a session lager of 9° Plato, or 3.6% ABV in our money. That's a tricky format in which to make a good beer, though the visuals here are excellent, with a bright golden body -- slightly hazed -- and a handsome head of stiff white foam. The aroma is rich and sweet, like that of a luxurious Munich Helles, while the hops wait for the flavour to arrive. That's classically Czech, of course: lightly grassy with a flinty mineral edge, and meticulously balanced. But they can't possibly have given it a properly full body at 9°, can they? Reader, they have. I found this indistinguishable from a precision-engineered full-strength světlý ležák, with enough depth to keep it interesting while being, in accordance with the label's claim, seriously sessionable. This is a rock-solid beer by any measure, but at only 3.6% ABV it's a triumph.

"Nothing But Strata" is a bold statement of intent for the next one, a hazy New England-style IPA of 7% ABV. It's one of the very beige sorts, heavily murky, though with a similarly handsome head to the foregoing lager. That struck me as perhaps not entirely compatible with the clean tropical juice that is Strata's best attribute, but the aroma is all juice -- bright and fun -- with no sign of any dregs. There's a sideways move in the flavour. It's still completely clean, and sings with fresh American hops, but it tastes of fruit candy rather than real juice. I got orange-flavoured Skittles and Starburst in particular. A hint of vanilla adds to the candy effect, though there's also a much more grown-up heat from the booze. But no garlic, and no dusty plasterboard. This has been thought through in advance and, I suspect, flawlessly executed. Hazy IPA promises fluffy sweetness and mouthwatering fruit; this is one that delivers on that perfectly. It's not a style I'll ever get excited about, but to find one done so competently when that's far from the norm, elicits a nod of approval from me. My main takeaway is the question: why doesn't every brewery make them like this?

And if you thought that was unCzech, our finisher is Like A Pickle Shot, a sour beer (purportedly a gose) with pickle brine and oak chips. One might think something like this is done at minimal ABV but this one is a sizeable 5.1%. It's a bright hazy yellow and smells sweet, and a little plasticky, with a vinegar tang, like if the candy companies made a pickle gumdrop. I'm used to these being crisp and fizzy, because they're usually much lower-strength, but this is full and smooth, with a slickness to its brine foretaste. Immediately after that, there's a green, gourdish, central flavour: cucumber and courgette, laid on strong and earthy. That gives it an acidic bitterness which is entirely separate from the one provided by the souring culture, which is third in the queue after the salt and vegetable. As a result, this is a bit of a workout, and is not going to be a beer for everyone. Or most people. Or, indeed, many people. The Zichovec attention to detail is apparent once more, but the detail here is making a beer that tastes of gherkins. They've completely nailed it, and you might not want them to have. I enjoyed the gimmicky, but ultimately the beer isn't the cleansing and tart refresher I want from this format. Polite applause for the technical side, but it's not quite to my taste, and I'm one of the few people I know who actually enjoys this kind of beer. I'm sure they'll be all over it in the Slavic lands, however.

The IPA in particular gives me hope that that side of Zichovec's output, which is a significant proportion of it, might be worth exploring further. Overall, their blend of brewing skill and unusual ideas makes them a brewery worth coming back to.