To the Darkside

It's always nice to find a twist in the mundane. I long ago started overlooking Krombacher Pils when gazing into pub fridges or perusing shop shelves. Many other lagers do exactly what it does and some of them do it much better. It makes me an ingrate I know, because at one time it was a welcome beer and I was happy to have it as an alternative to the macro lagers that swamped the Irish beerscape. The sight of the Krombacher label in dark ink grabbed my attention with precisely the equal but opposite degree of interest the pilsner label generates in my simple mind. We're quite well served for dark lager in Ireland. Budvar's is available, as is Köstritzer if you're lucky, not to mention the various more obscure ones found in the Czech Inn. Nonetheless, another is always welcome and Krombacher's proved to be very interesting, offering a little more than merely roasted notes on the back of an otherwise clean lager. I found lovely dark bread crust from the foam but more vinous alcoholic note in the mouth. Like rich cake with a hefty dose of dark spirit in it. It was surprise to find such dark ale like notes in a lager - perhaps they shouldn't be there at all, but it has certainly brought brand Krombacher back to my attention.