A couple of days ago, we wondered out loud what beers would be present at the first annual Czech Beer Festival, which takes place 23 May–1 June 2008. As we asked then,
Will Janáček serve its Comenius? Will Jihlava offer Jihlavský Grand? Or will it all be 10° and 12° světlý ležák, the pale lagers that dominate 95% of all local consumption?
We now have the answers: Yes, Yes, and No!
Color us at least slightly impressed: We’ve just received the finalized beer list from the organizers and not only are Jihlavský Grand and Comenius ready to be tapped, but several other great brews from small producers should also be waiting for you over at the Výstaviště exhibition grounds. (We also have a 3-D map diagram thingy you can print up to help plan your session.)
Here are the beers that are supposed to be there, organized by tent and/or brewing group.
Budějovický Budvar
- Budweiser Budvar světlý ležák
K Brewery Group
Černá Hora
- Páter 11° světlý ležák
- Kvasar 14° speciální světlé pivo s přídavkem med
Svijany
- Svijanský máz 11° světlý ležák
- Kvasničák
Janáček
- Patriot 11° světlé výčepní pivo
- Comenius 14° světlý speciál
Jihlava
- Ježek 11°
- Ježek 18° (Jihlavský Grand)
Platan
- Platan 11° světlý ležák
- Platan Granát tmavý ležák
Rohozec
- Skalák 11° světlý ležák
- Skalák 12° světlý ležák premium
Hols (Pivovar Konrad)
- Konrad tmavý 11°
- Konrad světlý 11°
Pilsner Urquell / SABMiller
- Pilsner Urquell
- Radegast světlé výčepní 10°
- Radegast světlé výčepní 12°
- Radegast Birrell (nonalcoholic)
- Velkopopovický kozel tmavé 10°
- Velkopopovický kozel světlé 10°
- Velkopopovický kozel medium 11°
- Gambrinus výčepní světlé 10°
- Gambrinus výčepní světlé 12°
Staropramen
- Staropramen Granát, ležák polotmavý
- Staropramen Ležák, ležák světlý
- Staropramen Světlý, výčepní světlé
- Staropramen Černý, ležák tmavý
- Ostravar Světlý, výčepní světlé
- Braník, ležák světlý
- Braník, výčepní světlé
That’s 30 beers and 1 nonalcoholic brew, if I’ve counted correctly.
Confused about what to order? Some off-the-cuff recommendations:
Session Beer: Svijanský Máz, Skalák 11° or Páter 11° (all K Brewing Tent), or Ostravar Světlý (Staropramen Tent)
Yeast Beer: Svijany Kvasničák (K Brewing Tent)
Doppelbock / Strong Lager: Jihlavský Grand (K Brewing Tent)
Bock / Medium-Strong Lager: Comenius (K Brewing Tent)
Classic Czech Pilsner style: Rohozec 12° (K Brewing Tent), Pilsner Urquell (Pilsner Urquell Tent)
Amber Lager / Vienna Lager: Staropramen Granát (Staropramen Tent)
Dark Lager: Konrad tmavý 11° (Pivovar Konrad / Hols Tent), Platan Granát (K Brewing Tent)
Flavored Beer: Kvasar (K Brewing Tent), a 14° pale lager with honey.
Here’s the map, which should click to a larger, slightly more legible version:
Get it? The “vstup” at the bottom is where you walk in. You’ll first encounter Radegast and Velkopopvický Kozel (tents 1, 2 and 3), then a long, long Pilsner Urquell tent (4), after which you come to the Budvar tent (5). Fans of smaller producers will want to cut over to the left to the tent for “Pivovar Hols,” aka Konrad (9), or the long tent of the beers from K Brewery Group (6).
That’s how it looks from here. If you do want to know more about the beers you’re enjoying, I’ve just been told that copies of Good Beer Guide: Prague and the Czech Republic should be available for purchase somewhere on the festival grounds.
Na zdraví!
Pivero
“I’ve just been told that copies of Good Beer Guide: Prague and the Czech Republic should be available for purchase somewhere on the festival grounds.”
Does that mean that you’ll be signing copies of the book? :)
Nice lineup by the way, a bit better than I expected.
Evan Rail
For you, Max, I’ll sign two copies.
Doesn’t sound bad, does it? Now if we could just ixnay the damn entry fee…
Pivero
Yeah, the entry fee. It’s not that expensive, though, 120Kc. I do have an issue, though, with the price of the pints, 39Kc is a tad too much.
Anyway, hope to smaller breweries do well, otherwise the organisers might not buy them next year.
Jay
They’re going to have to do better if they want something like the “Czech Oktoberfest.” Oktoberfest doesn’t charge an entry fee (half the fun is just walking around seeing everything that is there), and while the beer is expensive, they make it special: beer is only served in liter mugs and all the breweries brew special “Oktoberfest beer.”
Unless something is posted about how great an experience it is, I’m probably going to skip this– too much money for beer I could have at one of the many great pubs in Prague.
Now if Pilsner or Budvar brought their Kvasnicove pivo… that would be a different story.
andreea
ok ! believe it or not i will be in prague during the excat period for work. alk about the BEST coincidence ever !!!
any other suggestions on prague beer and food?
Evan Rail
Ciao, Andreea — as always, I’d recommend:
Pivovarsky Klub (Krizikova 17, Praha 8, near metro station Florenc; http://gastroinfo.cz/index.php?content=pivoklub ), a beer shop and pub with about 200 bottles and 6 different regional beers on tap.
Another favorite: the brewpub Richter Brewery (Pivovar u Bulovky, Bulovka 17, Praha 8 – Liben).
Ditto Pivni Galerie, a good local beer store (www.pivnigalerie.cz; U Pruhonu 9, Praha 7).
The brewpub inside U Medvidku (Na Perstyne 7, Praha 1, http://www.umedvidku.cz) makes two very good beers using traditional oak barrels.
There are about 1,000 great pubs in Prague, too. I’m sure you’ll have a great time here.