Defenestration of Prague Bohemian Pilsner Fermented and Lagered on French Oak Chips

Review Date 5/18/2024  By John Staradumsky

  Style: Pilsner   Brewery: Nightmare   Country: USA   State: New York   $ Per OZ: $.36 (B)   ABV: 5.4%

Normally, when you tell someone to have a nightmare, they might look askance at you. But capitalization can make a world of difference, and if you tell them to have a Nightmare, they might well instead reward you with a beaming gaze of gratitude That is if you are telling them to have a beer from Nightmare Brewing Company of Bayshore, New York (I think).

I say I think because Nightmare describes itself as a phantom brewery, which is sort of like a gypsy brewery or a contract brewery. The latter is in my recollection the earliest term for the practice of paying another brewer to make your beer for you. It goes all the way back to the early days of craft brewing, when Boston Beer rose to prominence as a contract brewer.

Anyway, I drank a can of Nightmare Brewing Defenestration of Prague the other night. This is a Bohemian Pilsner fermented and lagered on French Oak Chips. I bought my can, which is marked Canned on 12/16/22, from Half Time Beverage on 12/25/2023. This means it was a year old at the time. It went right into my beer fridge and I further sat on it until May of 2024. You would never know it was a year and a half old almost. It was delightful.

As to the name, I immediately picked up on the window connection from my French language studies. Fenetre is French for window after all. It didn’t hurt that there is an image of a man being tossed out of a window on the label. The Defenestration of Prague is a bona fide historical event, and Nightmare does a good job explaining on their website.

Bohemia was the origin for this execution and as such, all the ingredients are from that Region - Bohemian Floor Malted Pilsner, Kazbek Hops - along with mimicking the water profile.

The word "Defenestrate" already existed in Middle French {out of the window} hence why French Oak was used.

The Defenestration of Prague had three notable events in 1419, 1483 and 1618.  The first triggered the Hussite Wars and the Third launched the Thirty Years War.

In 1419, Jan Zelivsky, a Hussite Priest, led a congregation of followers to the new town hall in Prague.  While marching, a stone was thrown from the building, which enraged the mob and they stormed the town  Hall. The group then cast the Judge, Burgomaster and Town Council Members from the window where they fell to their deaths.

In total, seven members of the City Counsel were Defenestrated by a crowd of Czech Hussites on July 30th 1419.

Nightmare Brewing Defenestration of Prague has an alcohol content of 5.4% by volume and I paid $4.99 for my can from Half Time. This was actually a good price, as Total Wine sells this beer in a 4-pack of pint cans for $22.99 at their Overland Park, Kansas location.

Nightmare Brewing Defenestration of Prague pours to a pale golden color with a towering rocky white head and a nose of fresh crisp biscuit malt. Taking a sip, the beer is firm and malty with the same crisp biscuity malt notes that the nose promised. The woody oak is readily apparent and adds a hint of vanilla, and a soft toasty note that accents nicely with the sharp grassy very bitter hop finish, indeed a harsh sharp bitterness. I love it.

Glad I tried it?  T

Would I rebuy it??