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The Herolds Dark/Harold's Dark (can't remember) is quite delicious; finally got to try it tonight and had food there for the first time.

The Gulash was better than anything that I had in Prague and the chili pepper was a great addition (although I do prefer my dumplings a little more doughy...).

I also tried the Harold's "Semi-Dark" which is really a Red/light Brown and pretty strong at 5.8% abv. (Definitely tasted stronger than 5.8%.)

After having a good conversation about Czech beer with the Czech girl behind the bar she gave me some random free samples and then I hit the jackpot: a map of the breweries of the Czech Republic. Both in English and German (although the English translation isn't great), it has a blurb about the history of each brewery, including a picture of the brewery, a list of the styles brewed by each brewery locally and the map section has a 3D "pop-up" of the brewery buildings on a map of the Czech Republic and has the 3 major hop grown regions outlined.

I also learned that after 30 or 40 years working for Pilzner Urquell the head brewer "retired" and went to start/work for Harold's. The Czech Inn has a pretty strong relationship with Harold's and unfortunately it sounds like the only Dark Lager that they're going to carry is Harold's for that reason.

-If you're a fan of Czech Dark Lagers (and I certainly am) don't forget to bring up the fact that it sure would be nice if they'd carry more dark lagers in the future next time you pop in!


Adam

On a completely random note, tomorrow I head to Boston for 2 weeks and then to Indiana for 1 week (3 Floyd's is on the list and I will be picking up my bottle of the 2010 Dark Lord Stout from my connection! Woohoo!

On another random note, when I get the passport stamp from Dublin to Boston, it will be my 100th passport stamp since January 2007 when my passport was issued. (Let the beer tourist adventures continue! -although slightly less frequently would probably be a good thing...) -I'd say that this is a perfect reason to drink a "special" beer to commemorate the occasion, but with Westy 12, Pliny the Elder, and Dark Lord Stout in my cabinet, what would I buy?!? ; ) (It's been an incredible year for beer, definitely.)

-I'm going to have to buy that 20 year old bottle of Westmalle Tripel, aren't I?...

Adam