Perhaps the most intriguing beer we tasted on our recent tour of Czechia was not a pale lager—though we enjoyed plenty of great ones. Instead, it was this very tasty wine barrel–aged ale from Pivovar Proud, Pilsner Urquell’s experimental brewery in Plzeň.
It was all the more surprising when Proud head brewmaster Lenka Straková informed us that the beer was an imperial-strength, barrel-aged brut IPA checking in at 13.5 percent ABV.
Straková says her goal was a fruity, floral, light-bodied, vinous ale of wine-like strength; she saw the possibilities in a highly hopped ale fermented down to almost zero with help from enzymes, and she designed it specifically for aging in a white-wine barrel. We tasted it at the brewery in Plzeň, and we believe she succeeded.
Proud brewmaster Lenka Straková
.For more from Straková about Pivovar Proud and running a modern, experimental brewery at the birthplace of pilsner, check out Podcast Episode 297: Pivovar Proud Brewmaster Lenka Straková Has a Place to Play in Plzeň. Also watch out for our upcoming, lager-focused Summer 2023 issue, including technical approaches to Czech lager, West Coast pilsner, cask lager, and more.
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.092
FG: 1.000
IBUs: 28
ABV: 12% (before barrel-aging)