Pivovar Náchod - Primátor Polotmavý Märzen

Prior to the age of refrigeration it was barely possible to brew beer during European summers due to hot weather and increased likelihood of bacterial infections, so, brewing generally ended by mid-spring and resumed when fall set in. Most spring brews were brewed in the month of March (or "Märzen" in German) and were kept in cool storage over the spring and summer months. Märzenbier, as it became known, is full-bodied, rich and toasty and became the traditional beer consumed in fall during Oktoberfest. Primátor Polotmavý Märzen is a great Oktoberfest/Märzenbier—and if kept at cellar temps (or refrigerated) it will be just as good 7 months from now in October if you age these in a cool, dark place. Look for a creamy, somewhat floral nose with noble hop aromas and a hint of rosewater. Also expect some bubblegum-like notes and note how, when the beer is first poured, there's a nearly cotton-candy-like note. Expect a rich, toasty malty flavor with considerable grassy hop bitterness in the mix for balance. Note a sweetness with obvious melon character (cantaloupe). Moderately bitter, lightly zesty hops clean and refresh the palate in the finish, leaving it ready for another quaff (and another, and another). Great with fennel-spiced sausages, potatoes, pierogies or pork chops.

The Bohemian brews we've sent you have been crafted by Czech beer artisans who possess an appreciation of beer unlike that of any other nation in the world. After the split of Czechoslovakia in 1993, the Czech Republic (having a total area just smaller than the state of South Carolina) achieved a major beer victory: first place in beer consumption per capita (many Slovaks prefer to drink wine and thus pulled down the per capita values prior to the split). The results from a 1998 study completed by the German Brewers Association showed that the Czechs were not only number one in this ranking; they were number one by a large margin. The study revealed that, per capita, the Czech people drink approximately 334 U.S. pints per year! That's about a beer a day per man, woman and child (and if you consider that the youngsters probably aren't tossin' back too many of those pints, that's a heck of a lot of beer). This proud heritage of brew drinking has a long history. Local agricultural conditions are ideal for growing hops, and their cultivation in Bohemia has been chronicled as far back as 859 A.D. These hops were exported to Germany via the Elbe River to the Hamburg hops market in 1101, and to this day the world still cherishes Bohemian Saaz hops. The first documented account of home-brewing in the Czech territories dates back to 1088, and the first Czech brewery was born in the town of Cerhenice in 1118. The U Fleku microbrewery in Prague has been in operation since 1499! Put that in historical perspective by considering that Columbus discovered the new world just seven years prior! This month's featured international brewery, Pivovar Náchod (pivovar means brewery in Czech), was founded in 1871, making it a relatively "young" brewery if you can believe it. Within two years the Náchod townspeople enjoyed beer from the first brewing. The popularity of Náchod's beer grew steadily enough over the following 50 years to mandate enlargement of the brewery between 1925 and 1930. However, with the invasion of the Third Reich on March 15th, 1939 many Czechs were drafted to work in coal mines, the iron and steel industry, and armaments production. Consumer goods production, dramatically abridged, was largely directed toward supplying the German armed forces. Within 4 years, all non-war-related industry was prohibited, halting the brewery's (and the industry's) development until after World War II. Later, under Communist rule, very little was invested into the country's breweries. On the upside, however, beer was very cheap. This helped establish beer drinking as perhaps the single most popular hobby among Czech men. One of the Czech Republic's most famous beer drinkers, the protagonist of Jaroslav Hasek's novel "The Good Soldier Svejk" proclaimed that the government that raises the price of beer is destined to fall within one year. In 1984 the Communists almost doubled the price of beer. Though off by four years, The Good Soldier's prognostication was fulfilled. These days, Czech beers command top dollar from the many foreign countries that import them, and this has permitted prices to stay low for the locals.