There’s a centuries-old brewing center in southern Bohemia called Ceské Budìjovice. In German, the town is known as Budweis. In America, there’s a beer made in St. Louis that’s named after it (you may have heard of it).

The lager beers brewed in Ceské Budìjovice are starting to escape their continental confines. One of them arrived on these shores five years ago, and is sold under the name Czechvar. Now another makes its stateside debut.

B.B. Bürgerbräu Beer has been crafted since 1802 by Budějovický Měšťanský Pivovar, Ceské Budìjovice’s oldest brewery. Like Czechvar (est. 1895), it’s referred to back home as a Budweiser beer. That is, the term is used in its adjectival sense. Whatever you call it, it’s an exemplary version of the Czech Pilsener style.

Pouring rich and golden, with a generous white, foamy head, it gives off a pungent, almost skunky tang. A sip reveals a lager that’s light but full-bodied, hinting at citrus and green apple, with the faintest trace of peppery spice. It finishes dry and clean, just like it should.

The Bürgerbräu name has seen some interesting ups and downs. When the Communists took control of Czechoslovakia in 1948, local apparatchiks, erroneously thinking Bürgerbräu to be the town’s "German" brewery, compelled the owners to cede their trademark rights and brew under more generic-sounding appellations. But Václav Havel’s 1989 Velvet Revolution paved the way for the brewery to reclaim its name. Now it’s got a different label stateside.

But what’s in a name? Not much at all. To paraphrase the Bard: that which we call a beer by any other name would taste as sweet ... Na zdraví!

Available at Blanchard’s Wine & Spirits, Marty’s Liquors, Bukowski’s, Redbones, Sunset Grill & Tap, and other bars and package stores.