Isn’t it funny how you can overlook something that’s right there under your nose?

I do it all the time. Like snow for example. There’s lots of it up here in the north of Sweden but it took several years before I realised you could actually use it to ski on.

Primator Premium Dark is the first of three Primator beers I'm reviewing.

The same thing regularly happens to me when I visit my local Systembolaget store. I tread the same well-worn path through the isles, instinctively searching out the small orange markers that denote a new beer is in town. Failing that I tend to switch into autopilot, heaping bottles of beers I am on familiar terms with into my shopping basket.

I rarely seem to stray from this regime, and therein lies my problem because there’s no doubt I am guilty of overlooking beers that deserve some space in my fridge back home.

Primator Premium Dark is one such beer. This dark lager from the Pivovar Nachod in the Czech Republic is a multi-award winning brew, having been voted the World’s Best Dark Lager in 2008 by the British ‘Beers of the World’ magazine.

The Pivovar Nachod brewery dates back to 1872 and first registered the Nachodsky Primator brand name (the predecessor of the current dark beer) in 1935.  Since 2006 the brewery has undergone some radical modernisation but still uses only Czech ingredients in all is beers, including South Moravian malts and spring water from an underground lake in the Adrpach National Park.

All very interesting stuff for a beer I’ve overlooked for months and months. So what’s it like then?

Primator Premium Dark pours a, well, dark russet brown with a slightly off-white head. The smell is all malts, with freshly baked brown bread, treacle, muscovado sugar and raisin juice.

It is naturally quite sweet to taste, but there’s just enough hop bite to avoid it becoming too sticky sweet. There’s also an underlying mineral taste – I assume from the water – that increases the drinkability factor considerably.

This is great beer and for me (a die-hard ale drinker) it’s altogether more interesting than its paler lager cousins. I can imagine it would pair really well with shellfish and practically any meat from the BBQ, as well as Asian dishes with some spicy heat that require a little sweetness to lift the flavours.

Primator Premium Dark

A Dark Lager from Pivovar Nachod, Czech Republic

4.8% ABV

Systembolaget Article Number: 1615

Just glad I didn't have to do the washing up!

it may be too late. For the sixth year in a row the Soldaten Svejk pub in Östragötgatan in Stockholm is serving up unfiltered, unpasteurised Pilsner Urquell between 9-17th October. Or until the casks run dry, which last year only took five days.

This traditional-style Czech pub is the only place outside of the Czech Republic where the unpasteurised version of this beer (similar to the stuff you get at the end of the Pilsner Urquell brewery tour) is available.

I managed to squeeze into the launch party last weekend where the incredibly friendly Soldaten staff kept thrusting pint glass after pint glass into my hand. So what’s the difference between this and the regular PU you ask? For me it’s the exceptionally light carbonation and creamy mouthfeel. This beer feels almost flat and yet tastes intensely fresh, with the spicey saaz backlash it’s known for still clearly evident.

If you’re out of luck this time make sure to be in Stockholm around the same time next year. This is one of those rare beer opportunities you simply cannot miss.