Glossary
Tank beer
Unpasteurised beer delivered in bulk to a bar’s own refrigerated tank and dispensed with the gas pressing on a bladder rather than dissolving into the beer.
Also called tankové pivo, unpasteurised tank beer.
The full record
Tank beer has its own catalogue entry with the detail this page summarises — causes, thresholds, related styles and evidence.
Tank beer — Unpasteurised beer delivered fresh to venue tanks — the Czech format that shows a pale lager at its best.
Common in Czech beer culture, where tankové pivo is regarded as the best way to drink a fresh pale lager. The beer is not pasteurised and not filtered as hard, and the supply chain is short enough that freshness is achievable.
The trade-off is commitment: a tank is a large volume of one beer with a short window, so it only works where that beer sells fast.
Related
- Tank beer — The dispense record.
- Czech premium pale lager — The style most associated with it.
More vocabulary
Beer-clean glass · Brewer’s barrel · Cask · Cellar conditioning · Crowler · Draught · Firkin · Growler · Imperial pint · Keg
See every term on the glossary index.
Last reviewed 2026-08-16.