2004 bottle. Deep gold beer, with some corn-yellows and light copper tones. Huge white head, good lacing and great retention throughout the whole glass. Very clear and filtered. I must say, "Premium" beers are usually quite the opposite, but this one I enjoyed thoroughly. Good aggressive malt and hops aroma, saazy and spicy, with notes of perfume and yeast. Very strong herbal sense to it, like basil and sage almost. Flavor begins with a ton of honey pils malt, warm and quite thick. The medium to medium full body holds up nicely and there is no alcohol or skunkiness. Initially quite hoppy, lots of spice and grassy-meadow appeal. This beer can go either way, really as far as preference. On one hand, it loses it’s hops flavor quite quickly and the carbonation dies off as well. This presents a more thick, malty beer with less a crisp finish, though the yeast is still there. It certainly as the requisite 28-30 IBUs, but not a whole lot more. Not caring for hops all that much, I think this one gets them out of the way quickly and focuses on malt. Warm honey bread, lots of sweet dough and grains. By the end of the glass, I will admit to wanting more crispness on the end, but I also did let this beer warm up a good deal (I cant help it, I always do) and maybe that’s not such a good thing as far as crispness and carbonation. Ok, ramble over, I liked it.

The aroma is very light of sweet malt. The color is orange and it has a huge off-white head. The flavor is sweet malty with notes of straw, loads of hops, and hints of grass and caramel. It ends on a good bitterness.

The aroma is slightly sour with notes of yeast. It reminds me of the aroma in a brewinghouse. The color is orange with a beutiful white head. The flavor is sweet and very hoppy and herbal, with a lot of bitter hops, which gives it a very dry end on a sweet background.

The aroma is sweet and very fresh with notes of grass, hops, and hints of caramel. The color is orange and it has a beutiful long lasting white head, though the body is thin. The flavor is of caramel, brewingmash, grass, hops, before it ends on a rather dry hoppyness on the tongue.

Bottled (BB 02/2004, label says "original")
Dry hoppy and woody aroma. Dark yellow - copper color. Small but steady white head, some lace. Very dry, almost sour hoppy mouthfeel, quite unique. Sweet malty body. Dry bitter and hoppy aftertaste. Interesting pilsener, but needs to be re-rated with a fresh bottle/tap.

(500 ml bottle). Okay, I've finally figured out that the % in the name of Czech and Slovakian beers is NOT the ABV, but has something to do with the malt content. Well, 5,6% alcohol seems just right for this beer. A golden beer with a faint haziness and moderate head, and a grassy, yeasty and malty aroma and flavour that makes me wonder for a second if the beer is bottom or top fermented. Bottom fermented it is, but the Czechs would hardly call this "Special" a pilsener (it's brewed in Praha, too). Great hops bitterness in flavour and aftertaste. I always like beers where the elements yeast (not too much), malts and hops are all clearly detectable. In other words, I like this beer a lot!