CAMPAIGN FOR REAL ALE

• Wild For Mild
• Microbrewery Takeovers
• George, Buckden
• Good Beer Guide Prague

The “Good Beer Guide for Prague and the Czech Republic” had not been published when we booked our flights to Prague early last year, but as soon as we saw it advertised in “What’s Brewing” we thought that it would make a useful complement to our Lonely Planet city guide. Prague is a city so well supplied with pubs that were we left to our own devices, we would surely never have sampled such a huge variety of beers as we were directed towards by the Guide.

We started our stay with a walk through the more touristy areas of the city centre. We looked at the astronomical clock, and after a few moments careful consideration, decided that it was trying to tell us that it was pub o’clock. The Guide indicated that “Kolkovna” (No.3 in the GBG Prague) was not far away, and served “tank” (i.e. unpasteurised and unfiltered) Pilsner Urquell. Not being particularly familiar with Czech beer, we weren’t sure what to expect – what we got were tankards of rich golden creamy lager with improbably large heads. Served at cellar temperature, the luscious malt flavours and aromatic hops were free to fill the mouth. We enjoyed the beer so much that we had another. We were really starting to get the hang of things, so we had some dumplings too.

Our next stop was “U Rudolfina (6)”, which again served excellent tank Pilsner Urquell in surroundings described somewhat ungraciously by the Guide as “dingy”, but which we found most agreeable. By this stage we had realised that almost every pub sign in Prague advertised Pilsner Urquell, and with almost all pubs selling only one type of beer, it became apparent that we might have to make more effort to try some of the different styles and brands on offer. This is where the guide became indispensable. The descriptions of different beer styles and the maps provided made it relatively easy to find an ample selection of interesting drinking establishments all within walking distance of the main Wencelas square. “Duende (2)” was only a short walk from U Rudolfina, and provided us with our first experience of “Bernard” beer – an excellent well balanced lager. From the cellar bar of “U Zeleneho Stromu (7)”, we could actually see the large tanks containing the Pilsner Urquell.

We then moved on to what turned out to be probably our favourite Guide recommended pub – “U Medviku (5)” – a brewpub serving dark (Tmave) and light (Svetle) Budvar, and their own bottle-conditioned “Oldgott”. This is an old fashioned unfiltered “half-dark” lager. A gloriously complex malt flavour is balanced by strong hoppiness. From here, we also helpfully directed a hen party towards an Irish pub.

Having visited the various sights of Prague castle, we dropped in to “U Hrocha (meaning ‘Hippo’)(28)”, which was a miniscule pub nestled on the side of the hill beneath. The single room was heaving with moustachioed Czech men drinking tank Pilsner Urquell, and pouring it on their beer cheese (a curious, yet strangely compelling Czech tradition – “beer cheese” is usually quite soft and eaten mashed up with some beer and then spread on some garlic-smeared toast). The nearby “U Kocouru (29)” afforded us our first taste of Kvasnicove Pivo – a Czech Hefeweizen style beer, and a real bargain at around 75p per pint.