Trains, Trams and Automobiles Part 2: Beer Hunting in Prague

Crammed into the front bench seat of a small delivery van, three of us left Brno in the dark and rain, rolling into a warmer and dry Prague about two hours later. It was a bit of a bumpy ride, as Czech highways don’t seem to be the most well kept. I was left at Libeň Novoměstský Pivovar as Lukáš headed to school for the day and Cipis went to drop off and pick up kegs. Novoměstský is known as a traditional restaurant for authentic Czech cuisine, with the brewhouse front and centre in the main room and at 10 am, they were packed! They make two beers of their own, a light and a dark lager and both are unfiltered. The light was deliciously refreshing, hazy pale gold, smooth and balanced with enough hops to support the malty architecture. The dark was amber brown in colour and had more malt sweetness, but again, hazy and balanced, smooth and creamier, but the hops were buried in the finish. I surveyed the list Lukáš had left me and decided to concentrate on the brewpubs in town, of which there are at least 8 or 9. His list also included 6 or 8 beer bars, so I was going to have to be selective with the time I had.
U Medvídků Minipivovar is billed as the smallest brewpub in Prague, and perhaps one of the more expensive as well. They make three beers fermented in open wooden barrels. The brewery itself is located way at the back of the large and rambling traditional beer hall and up some stairs. Only here in this smaller room can you try all three beers on tap. Ležák Oldgott Barique (13° Plato, 5.2%) is a red brown colour with a big white head, smooth malt flavour is what first hits the tongue, but it is well balanced with a good underpinning of hops, goes down easy and exhibits hints of wood and a hop dryness in the finish. The Rouge Lager (5%) is slightly more red in colour than the Oldgott, with pinkish hues in the head and a sweet honey aroma. The palate is mildly sweet with overtones of honey (the brew master uses a blend of herbs, but no real honey) but it has a smooth mouthfeel all the way through. It is a nicely balance brew and kind of grows on you, the sweetness falling off towards the end. Almost the same colour as its sister brews, X33 could be the strongest beer made in the Czech republic (33° Plato). Surprisingly light malt nose, moussy head and somewhat hazy, there is a smooth creamy mouthfeel, full body and a malt accented palate, but it is really well balanced with tones of honey, caramel and a sweetish malt finish.
U Fleků is the oldest brewery pub in town, dating back to 1499, is a typical Czech beer hall with long tables, now perhaps serving more tourists than locals, accordion player entertaining the diners, with a small army of wait staff continually cruising the room with trays of their one brew, Flekovský ležak, a deep black lager, registering in at 13° Plato. Delicious and roasty, full bodied with a beautiful flavour profile, offering tones of toasted and black malt, creamy mouthfeel, excellent balance with a small malt sweetness edging out the underlying hoppy structure, but the finish is a nicely dry one. It went very well with the excellent house goulash I ordered for lunch served in a thick, dark gravy with onions including potato and bread dumplings.
I did some touristy things too, like walk across the Charles Bridge and exploring the Old Quarter with its quirky side streets and incredibly crafted architecture. Not far from the bridge I found Pražský Most U Valšů, a small bar off the street and the brewhouse situated in a bigger room down a set of stairs. They make two brews, a light (nice gold colour, big rocky head, initial hoppiness gives way to a more balanced middle, with both malt and hop notes, dry finish) and a dark lager, both unfiltered.
I do understand what Lukáš had been telling me the night before. There are many beer bars in the city centre serving the many beers from the large industrial breweries, some tied houses, some independents offering more interesting local favourites, and though I found the quality of these beers generally high, more so with the unfiltered varieties I found at the brewpubs, there was a certain sameness to many of the selections. Where was that elusive crisp Czech pilsner I had been longing to try? Most beers seemed to be light, pale lagers geared toward mass market consumption or the many tourists, for whom beer is, generally, just beer.
I was to meet Lukáš at Zly Casy late in the afternoon, and he had obviously saved the best for last. There were no less than 22 beers on tap, most good Czech beers from all over the Republic, but some German as well and even Trashy Blond from Brew Dog in Scotland. Keeping track was hard to do. I tried Chotebor Premium, a 5.1% Bohemian Pilsner, full bodied, pale amber colour, hop accented, well balanced, wonderfully bright mouthfeel. Rambousek Kaštanomedový, a Styrian Goldings hoppy brew with Slovenian honey, a darker shade of amber, froth head, a good balance met between bitterness and sweetness, the hop rescuing the finish from being too cloy. Rychtar Natur (12° Plato) was smooth, hazy gold hued, fresh aroma, well balance and naturally carbonated (as I am told most Czech beers are). Tambor 11° unfiltered lager, nutty maltiness, fresh hoppiness, bright on the tongue, crisp, clean and delicious, considered by Lukas to be one of the best beers in the country, a classic Czech Pilsner. I also tried a couple of Franconian beers I had not gotten around to in Bamberg: Mahr’s Ungespundet, a 13° Plato, an unfiltered kellerbier, smooth, full bodied, gold hued, hints of honey, malt, understated hop, dry finish and St. Georgen Bräu Kellerbier, a 4.9% dark amber, fully flavoured malt accented but dry palate, well balanced brew. This was one of the best of the evening. I also met Petr Burianek, considered one of the best home brewers in Prague. Lukáš has tried his American IPA, Porter, Witbier, Weizenbock and even Barley Wine and says he is really, very good. He had a beer on tap that a local brewery allowed him to make on their 10 hectoliter system, it was a Rosemary Hefeweizen. 12° Plato, beautiful pale yellow and very aromatic with flowery rosemary (of course), big head, good carbonation. A great balance was met here with wheaty fruitiness on the palate and rosemary that never quits, creating a smooth, creamy mouthfeel and a big herbal finish. He said he had made a rabbit stew with this brew, I would have liked to have tried that!
Time had kind of gotten away on us and we had to rush to get the bus after all these great beers, , for Lukáš was now taking me out to his hometown of Hradec Kralove, where we were to stay at his family’s home in the small village of Libcany.

Trains, Trams and Automobiles: Pub Crawling in Brno, Moravia

Back at the beginning of this trip, Paul and I met a young man in Beersel at the 3 Fonteinen Brewery, Lukáš Provaznik. Like us, he was in town for the Brussels Beer Weekend and was now hunting down beers in the lambic towns just outside of the city. He is a beer geek like me, but with a depth of knowledge about the industry, ingredients and beer styles that was surprising. He is from Brno, the Czech Republic’s second largest city. During the afternoon at the 3 Fonteinen open house, I told him about my tour and that I was eventually on my way to Prague. He said he would be happy to provide me with a list of brewpubs and good beer bars to check out. We exchanged emails and went our own separate ways. About two weeks later he sent me a note, saying he had some time off, would be happy to be my personal beer guide in Brno and that he would be studying at a brewing school in Prague, and would be happy to show me the best beers and beer bars there as well. So, I added Brno to my list of places to visit and went to visit him there.

I took the train out of Vienna and into the Czech Republic on a Monday morning, not really knowing what to expect, other than I thought this to be the land of the original crisp and clean pilsner. On route, while studying my own list of Czech Breweries, I met Jessica and Johann, a Canadian couple on their honeymoon in Europe, and they just happened to be from Calgary too. Wow, it really is a small world, isn’t it? We exchanged stories of our travels and then I hopped off the train in Brno, while they carried on to Prague. Brno is home to one large brewery, Starobrno, and two brewpubs. So, I made my way to one of the brewpubs, the Pegas Hostinsky Pivovar, attached to the Hotel Pegas in the downtown area.
This brewpub was established in 1991, not long after the Velvet Revolution. They have a traditional style beer hall with the brew house on display in the middle and serve four unfiltered beers. The waiter seemed to speak no English, so I pointed to one of the beers on the beer menu card to start. He brought me Psenicne pivo (12° Plato), some sort of wheat beer served with a slice of lemon floating on top of the beer, but hidden by the big, frothy head. I was a bit surprised, but it was refreshing enough after my walk there and light in body, with an obviously citric dominance, but not really what I expected for my first beer in the Czech Republic. I next pointed to the bottom of the list, at a beer called Pegas Gold (16° Plato), the house special. It certainly was a gold coloured and malty brew, with a nice head that falls quickly, some hop aroma, but the palate is one of malt and alcohol. It is rather thin for a beer of this strength and finishes sweetly. As I waited for Lukas to arrive, I ordered the 12° Plato Tmavy Lezak (dark lager). It had a creamy tan head, full body, smooth mouthfeel with some roasty-toasty hints of black malt, chocolate and caramel with a hop bitterness that balanced the finish. I soon realized I was having my own private Oktoberfest as the waiter kept bringing me ½ liter steins (I didn’t know how to order anything smaller) and was half gunned by the time Lukáš arrived and dragged me out of there.

Next we had an 11 degree Plato unfiltered lager at Zelena kocka, a tied house for Akciovy pivovar Dalesice. It had fresh, almost citric overtones, slight haze, gold colour and a beautiful white head that left some lacing. The 13 P Dark Lager was very brown with a tan head, slightly sweet malt nose with a smooth mouthfeel and pleasant palate. We got these served, by the way, in smaller glasses. Lukas tuned me in: a stein is a krygl (500 ml), a glass is a stuc (300 ml), ½ liter is called pullitr and a tuplák is a full liter (Krýgl is Mug or Stein or Seidel, štuc is glass without handle - similar to Stange. It could be in variety size, usually 500 ml or 300 ml.).

By way of comparison, we went to U Richarda, not one of Lukáš’ favourite places, and quite frankly the beers were unremarkable. They had a bottom fermented pale wheat beer (11° Plato, no real fruitiness, cold, cloudy) and some sort of fruity pale lager (12° Plato, some malt present, some hop in the finish). Lukáš has understandably high standards and does not have too many good things to say about some of the beers one finds in Brno bars. I laughed sometimes at his descriptions, but he is studying to become a brew master and says (with a wry smile) that this situation is no laughing matter. Too many beers are boring mainstream industrial clones of each other, too many bartenders never clean their taps, too many servers have no idea, nor do they care, what they are serving. Sound familiar Canada?

So, we ended the night at the bar where he works, Na Bozence, named after the famous Czech writer, Božena Němcová. It was Monday night, but the place was packed. They have three taps. Only one tap is for guest beers, other two are reserved for extra hoppy Poutník and unfiltered Poutník. That night they were serving a beer from the Malostransky pivovar Velke Mezirici. Harrach Vidensky lezak is a 13.8° Plato (6.2%) sort of Vienna style lager. The Czech pale lager from Poutnik from Pelhrimov, 12° Plato, filtered and extra hoppy. They did have a Mahr’s Undespundet-hefetrüb (kellerbier) from Bamberg, but, alas, it ran out earlier in the evening. There were a couple of other kegs waiting in the beer fridge for the days to come. This is a typical neighbourhood pub, a small hole-in-the-wall kind of place, with no food available, except some local cheeses and sausage, and very popular with the locals. We had great conversations, of course, all about beer. The origin of Maerzen, the near extinction of the Vienna style lager, how important balance is in a beer versus the over-the-top styles so much the fad right now, North American beers versus European, North German lagers versus South German lagers, Slovak versus Czech and Bohemian versus Moravian beers. Lukáš is a great conversationalist when it comes to beer.

It was a good day and a great night, for my first 12 hours in the Czech Republic and I would especially like to thank Lukáš, since the reason he wasn’t working was because he had broken a finger the week before, had his left hand in a cast and was wrapped in bandages up to his elbow. He informed me that he had classes at the brewing institute in Prague the next day and we could get a ride with a friend of his, Cipis, who was going there on a beer run to pick up new beers for his pub. Sounded good to me!