Once a year, we celebrate the great festival of hops, Dočesná. Our community comes together to pick our whole-cone Saaz hops, which are added to the brew that very same day for the absolute freshest flavour. It’s a festival of thanks to our people, our spirit, and our beer.

Fast forward 200 days of maturation in our cellar tanks (or, in the case of this year’s edition, one whole year!), our Brewmaster opens the first keg of last year’s Imperial Fresh Hopped Lager. It symbolises our gratitude as we wish for another year of good harvest.

The ‘Imperial’ part of the name comes from its strength, weighing in at around 7.5% ABV and dating back to a time when beers like this were built to last through the cold winters. To achieve the higher alcohol content and additional aromatic compounds requires longer in the tanks, usually a massive 200 days. Over that time the beer has a chance to really develop in complexity. Few other beers in the world are matured for as long.

It’s not an easy beer to make, the volatile hop compounds and the timing required to bring the whole-cone hops to the brewery while still ‘live’ makes for a challenging brew.

But, the result is simply exquisite – uniquely grassy, floral aroma with a striking, honeyed taste.

Try it for yourself – find your nearest stockist below!