Budějovický Budvar
Czechoslovakia, 5.0% ABV
 
This Czech premium lager is not to be confused with the US Budweiser – brewers Budějovický Budvar and Anheuser-Busch have been embroiled in a trademark dispute for the best part of a hundred years. Budweis is a town in Germany famed for independent beer breweries, and ‘Budweiser’ is an adjective meaning ‘in the style of Budweis’, much as ‘Pilsner’ means ‘in the style of Pilsen’. In Europe, both Budvar and Anheuser-Busch use the ‘Budweiser’ name. In the US and Canada, an agreement between the two brewers means that Budvar is sold as Chechvar, and distributed by Anheuser-Busch. The legal arguments, however, continue. So that’s the name, but what about the beer? In a taste-test, Czech Budvar beats US Bud hands-down, mainly by virtue of actually having a flavour. It’s also a proper beer according to the Bavarian Reinheitsgebot Purity Law. (US Bud contains rice, and therefore doesn’t qualify.) No ‘Whassup!’-style nonsense from Budvar, either, although the blurb on its website is twaddle of the highest order. ‘You can taste Budweiser Budvar Czech Premium Lager with all your senses,’ it claims. ‘First of all you will delight your eyes with its beautiful colour and rich dense foam, then you will feel the fine aroma of the hops, in your palm you will stroke the dewy glass and, in the end, you will taste the fine to medium strong bitterness. You will remember well, our perfect lager.’ Actually, as marketing twaddle goes, that’s deceptively effective. It doesn’t half make me fancy a cool pint of Budvar. PB

24 August 2009 | Reviews, B