Franconian Beer Message Board

OT: Visit to Czechia 3

Posted by barry on 2017-10-09 08:16:48

Now on the final leg of my Czechia mini-tour (thank goodness, I hear you say, but it has been a quiet time on the Forum!).

Arrived in Prague on Sunday afternoon; my apartment in Holesovice suburb was small but very nice and it was really easy to reach from all parts of the city because of the amazing public transport network (and FREE for over 70s - so there is some advantage in getting old, not much, but some). After the previous few days activities, I was pretty knackered, so, after a little food shopping, I decided to stay in that night.

Fresh from my rest, I hit the streets on the following morning, renewing memories of my previous visit, 49 years ago. Wandered over 'Charles Bridge' to the Mala Strana, which was nice but not quite as interesting as some guide books suggest. Found a nice little cafe/bar and had a much needed light lager, before moving on to Hrocha. This is my type of place, even the Urquell tasted ok because of the ambience! Took a tram out to Zizkov and Pivo a Parek, which was a bit disappointing (IMHO). Sort of a bit kitsch but in a knowing kind of way. Anyway, Bakalar semi 12% was pretty decent but, at 49kor, it should have been! Then wandered across to Lokal Okry, another newish place, home of Aldersbacher beers. Tried Urhell 11%, which was good but a little bit sweet for me, then the Albrecht 10%, which was lighter and much more bitter and more to my taste. I liked this place, it was not pretentious and the barmaid was really nice and friendly!

Wednesday was a pilgrimage to Pivovar Berounsky medved. Wow, this is some place, really strange location, all the wrecked cars and miltary stuff, but it is really good inside, espcially that beutiful carved wooden replica of an old brewery. I tried the Zlaty 11 unfiltered, the dark 13% and the semi-dark 11, both of which were excellent. An absolutely highly recommended visit! One thing: make sure that you turn immediately left when you leave the railway station and walk through the bus station, otherwise, you'll end up in town - like I did! The evening saw a visit to Kolcava. This should have been a simple walk from the metro but, somehow, in the dark, I took a wrong turning and a 10 minute walk became a one hour one through a housing estate! Never mind the place was lovely and the beer excellent: Svetla 11%, a pleasant unfiltered light beer, sweetish at first but with a bitter finish; then Cerna 13%, a dark beer, very caramel malty, with no hoppiness but lovely!

Thursday saw a visit to Chyne Pivovarsky Dvur. I was lucky, it was a brewing day Friendly people, took lots of photo's; the brewery is right inside the main (only?) room, so I was able to while away a couple of hours watching the action. My knowledge of brewing is such that I found it hard to follow but they have 3 tuns and the brew used 6 x 50k sacks of Weyermann malt, mostly Munchner but with some wheat malt, so I'm not sure what they were making. First beer sampled was a light lager 10%, really well-made, quite bitter, no maltiness, and reminiscent of British summer ale type. Second beer was a 15%; the waitress told me it was wet-hopped. Whatever, it really tasted like a stronger version of the first. But both were excellent and very, very dry. Absolutely recommend a visit!

If nothing else, so you can walk 50 metres next door to Pivovarsky Krema - I'm not sure whether this spelled correctly but, anyway, it's great, really my kind of place. Very small, intimate, a bit dark and very much a locals pub. Although the barman didn't speak English (a rarity), I had no problems. First beer was a light lager 11%, really bitter and dry, with a bit of sweetness coming halfway. Second beer was dark 12%, which was like a more malty version of the first. Both were lovely, so I asked the barman which brewery they came from: he pointed to Chyne on the glass and said 'Here'! Well, it says 'Pivovar' on the wall outside, so I suppose that's it. Apart from anything else, the beer costs only 25kor, the cheapest of the trip. If you like local little pubs, go!

In the evening, I rode the tram a couple of stops to Palmovka and Na Palme, mainly because this was the nearest place to try Uneticke pivo and my time in Prague was running out. I tried both the 10 and 12% and, to be honest, I wasn't really impressed with either. There wasn't a lot of flavour, other than dry bitterness and they were very gassy. Maybe I'll try the brewery tap next time.

My final day was dedicated to a museum visit (Museum of Communism (ok, expensive 670kor for a senior, and very static) and a longish tram ride to Pivni Tramway. This place has fascinated me since I saw photo's of it, so I had to try it. Interesting location at a tram terminus and it's quite nice drinking in an old Prague tram car but the beer list was really disappointing. With the exception of Konrad light 10%, all the beers were recreations of other country's beers, IPA's and the like. Fortunately, the Konrad was very pleasant, so I whiled away the time with three Seidels. I picked up a little booklet that explained that the Tramway was a member of the Alliance P.I.V. (The Beer-Intelligent Pubs Alliance), which also incldues Klub Malych in Plzn and another dozen or so. You can read about it on http://www.aliancepiv.cz/.

End of Part 3 - conclusions to follow!

OT: Visit to Czechia 3 by Nick B. on 2017-10-10 00:48:00

OT: Visit to Czechia 3 by Jason on 2017-10-10 01:10:08

OT: Visit to Czechia 3 by Nick B. on 2017-10-10 02:14:28

OT: Visit to Czechia 3 by Jason on 2017-10-10 02:25:41

OT: Visit to Czechia 3 by Nick B. on 2017-10-10 02:50:13

OT: Visit to Czechia 3 by Jason on 2017-10-10 03:31:15

OT: Visit to Czechia 3 by barry on 2017-10-10 03:43:39

OT: Visit to Czechia 3 by barry on 2017-10-10 04:05:01

OT: Visit to Czechia 3 by Jason on 2017-10-10 05:25:32

OT: Visit to Czechia 3 by Mosquit on 2017-10-10 05:37:40

OT: Visit to Czechia 3 by Jason on 2017-10-10 05:54:59

OT: Visit to Czechia 3 by barry on 2017-10-10 06:04:45

OT: Visit to Czechia 3 by Jason on 2017-10-10 06:32:47