Tally Ho Bakersfield - Expat in Kaliningrad, Russia

Craft, Imported and Specialty Beers: Primator Double 24

Mick Hart’s difficult job of reviewing craft, imported and specialty beers in Kaliningrad

23 January 2026 – Primator Double 24 beer – Mick Hart’s Dark Side

I’ve always liked them dark, so it’s been said. And yes, there was a time once when the proof was plain to see, but, in later years, I returned to the light and hoppy, and in the later years of later years learnt what Confucius never said and Confusion had no need to, that there comes a time in everyone’s life when you have to take not what you want but whatever is available.

You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes … you get what you need – Mick Jagger

Choice had no part to play on this auspicious occasion. Primator Double 24 was given to me as a present, and well received it was too.

Beer review links:

[Butauty] [Kanapinis (light)] [Kanapinis (dark)]
[Keptinis Farmhouse][Bistrampolio] [387 Osobaya Varka][Double Mother T.]
[Tapkoc Belgian Blond Ale] [Evening in Bruges]

Some beer drinkers, those who define value in terms of a beer’s strength, will latch onto Double 24 simply because its strength offers a ‘get me pissed quick’ option, whereas slow-session drinkers like myself err on the side of caution when brought face to face with potent ABVs, such as Double 24’s 10.5%.

Sampling for the purpose of critical appraisal is a mitigating factor. “Don’t be such a Nancy boy!” I heard a voice say, followed smartly by one with a Rushden accent: “Goo on, git it down yu!”

I always snub them, you know!

Primator Double 24 beer

Proceeding to uncap the bottle, the beer did not, I noticed, emit a strong, malty, hoppy whiff, which was what I was expecting. And you’d be hard pushed to say why not?

I always say ‘Why not?’ whenever I am offered something as succulent as this. Deeply rich and strong in caramels and malts, with plummy undertones, high notes, low notes, and where did I put my notebook? Who cares? Just keep on drinking. The body was muscular, but the head was wanting. Heads or tails and all that, but if I were a creamy head man, which I am not, I would not drink such beer, present or no present. I’d just tear off into the past, in my William Hartnell TARDIS, and drink Home Ales at the Tally Ho in Bakersfield before it got burnt down.

A Pilsner drinker (somebody’s got to drink the stuff) referred to this beer as “rather chewy”, and he might have a point. Not a very good one, but something just half sharp. Primator Double 24 may be a gob full, but it’s strikingly different and palatable. Biting off more than you can chew could be a worry if you intend to get home on a penny-farthing, but I blamed the slight light headedness felt halfway down the glass on any advance on chronic insomnia.

The very blackness of the beer brought back East London memories of evenings with Verina and potting the black in the middle pocket. I wouldn’t mind drinking this in my black bow tie and nothing else. It’s rich and slick and silky. But hear this! It’s also smooth and rounded; full-bodied, you might say, but then you’re a certified beer enthusiast, and I’m just a person who enjoys drinking beer.

Some of these Ace of Spades beers can, after a few attempts, go down like a four-sided triangle, but Primator 24 Double is 24/7 on the hangover clock – now, watch me get out of this one (I didn’t train Krav Maga 24 years for nothing!), but it will only give you a hangover if you drink too much. Take that!

Primator Double 24 beer

Predator, sorry, Primator Double, when whittled down to taste and quality, is a double six multiplied by 2. I cannot remember drinking anything like this when I was 24, and if I had drunk a lot of it in my younger days, I probably wouldn’t remember it, or anything else.

Sensible drinking, of which there is no such thing, dictates not drinking 24 bottles of 24 Double in one sitting, or else you won’t be sitting but slipping. However, as an occasional beer treat, no one, with the obvious exception of a crusty old teetotaller, would double down on you, as you double up with laughter, for doubling up on Primator 24 Double. It’s double black, and Black Beers Matter!

😊BOX TICKER’S CORNER
Name of Beer: Primator Double 24
Brewer: Pivovar Náchod (Primátor a.s.)
Where it is brewed: Czech Republic
Bottle capacity: 0.5 litre
Strength: 10.5%
Price: 340-540 roubles (£3.32 / £5.27)
Appearance: Dark with a cherry-red hue
Aroma: Complex blend of caramel, cherries and chocolate
Taste: Rich, prune-cherry sweet and chocolatey
Fizz amplitude: 0%
Label/Marketing: Subtly vintage-industrial
Would you buy it again? I never bought it the first time, but I wouldn’t hesitate buying it again!

Beer rating

The brewer’s website has this to say about Primator Double 24:
Special Dark beer: Unique, difficult to classify into one of the beer categories. Extraordinarily strong dark-garnet beer with a distinctly sweet and full taste. Features a malt aroma with dominating tones of caramel, dried plums, chocolate, and a pleasantly subtle bitterness.
Website: https://primator.cz/en/produkty/24-2/

Wot other’s say [Comments on Primator Double 24 beer from the internet, unedited]
🤔Sweet and noticable alcohol, but you can feel Czech pilsner taste a bit, which is a really original experience for me. [Comment: The man who was obviously drinking something that was completely not Primator Double 24]
😊 An exceptionally strong beer with a dark garnet color, a pronounced sweetness, and a full-bodied flavor, a malty aroma with dominant notes of caramel, prune, or chocolate, and a pleasant lingering bitterness. [Comment: And so say all of us!]
😘 Best damn beer in the Czech Republic, Primator 24 Double at 10.5%. It is strong, and it is sweet. I love it! Before Pilsner dominated the industry, starting in the early 1800s, all Czech beer was dark. How I wish that was still true. [Comment: Now here’s a man who knows what he’s talking about!]