Debacle’s Czech Beer Degustation

By Patrick Baggoley

Debacle in Braddon is keen to become known as a high-quality beer destination and at the forefront of this noble aim are its beer degustation nights.

The Czech Beer Degustation on March 4 was Debacle’s third in what hopefully becomes a long tradition. While I didn’t attend the first, a German night, I was lucky enough to attend the Belgian night and based on that alone I’ll be doing whatever I can to make it to more.

The Czech night cost $85 per person which included five courses and five matching beers. And we’re talking decent serves of both.

It is quite obvious host Vladimir Hatal and general manager Danny Le Flay put a great deal of work into planning these nights, with Hatal explaining he spent time in Czechoslovakia tasting beers and planning for the night. Some of this resulted in a series of rare prizes of beer or spirits for quiz questions between courses (most of them beer or brewery related, Canberra Brewers would totally clean up here!). Unfortunately a keg of a particular rare beer didn't make it through customs in time for the night, but a suitable replacement was found. I have a hazy memory it was a blueberry beer, but can't be sure.

The real standout of the night was the menu and food by chef Katherine Brown. She must have a genuine appreciation for beer to match the flavours as well as she does. The first course was a "Tasting Plate of Slovak Specialties", specifically stuffed cabbage rolls, cheese bites and Sunkovy salad on sour dough. Each piece was delicately flavoured and attractively presented. This was matched with Krusovice Musketeer Lager (4.5%).

The Musketeer was an excellent beer to start with, clean and light with enough spicy bitterness to stand up against the food flavours. A classic Czech malt character (that I always associate with fresh grain) comes through as well.

Second course was chicken dusted with paprika on a tomato, cucumber and goats-cheese salsa with a red pepper sauce, matched with Pilsner Urquell (4.4%) fresh from the keg. (Debacle lays claim to being one of the few places in the country to have Pilsner Urquell on tap.)

It would be heresy to have a Czech beer night without this beer, but it was nice to see that it wasn't held up as the pinnacle of the night — having it in the second course set the bar high and they did well to keep it there for the rest of the night. The paprika and creamy pepper sauce complemented the beer's hop character nicely, and the salsa prevented any one flavour from being overbearing.

The next course demonstrated how wonderfully food and beer matching can work when done well. The third beer — Kozel Premium Lager (5%) — arrived before my food did, and initially didn't seem to have the flavour profile to stand out from the previous course. I was still tasting the Pilsner and paprika. But when the char-grilled lamb cutlet arrived on a potato and cabbage salad, balance was restored.

Sampling food and beer together in a way that makes both taste better is one of life's true pleasures. To me, the Kozel was a more rounded beer, with a softer malt character than the Pilsner and its subtlety came out nicely with the lamb. (Disclaimer: by now I've been enjoying myself immensely, so the memory is hazy ;-P)

Next up was roasted pork fillet with pickled cabbage wrapped in pastry and served with green beans. This was accompanied by Bernard Dark Lager (5.1%). The Bernard was a fantastic example of what I feel a dark lager should be – rich, roasted malt character, much like a stout, but with a sharp, dry finish. Each mouthful delivered a hit of flavour which disappeared quickly enough to have me going back for more.

Finally, the desserts: apricot dumpling, pancake with blueberry compote and vanilla crescents provided subtle sweetness that didn't clash with the beer flavours from earlier in the night. This was served with the Ostravar Velvet Special Lager (5.3%). This was a nice, sweet beer with almost a real ale texture about it.

At the end of the night we were also allowed to take home two glasses (they figure people would pinch them anyway) and a bottle of Bernard Light Lager (3.8%) A superb example of how a lower-alcohol lager can still have character. A tip for the uninitiated though – pick up your free glasses early. We only got one each and it looked like some tables collected more than their share :-/ That said, they were great glasses!

Service throughout the night was excellent. You could tell the staff were excited to be putting on a special night and to see the customers enjoying it.

At the end of the night, they hinted that the next one would have a Japanese theme, although I understand it's expanding to more of a "taste of Asia" concept. One of the beers is rumoured to be Sinha Stout (8%) from Sri Lanka. I've never really found Japanese beers particularly interesting but based on the quality of Debacle's nights thus far, I'll try anything they choose to offer!