Beer Culture

Stories about great beer from the countries that invented it.

The Slunce ve Skle Beer Fest 2009

If you couldn’t make it to the Slunce ve skle beer festival last Saturday in Plzeň, here’s a YouTube video from the day. In a word: Awesome.

Above all, the one-day fest in Plzeň bears witness to the new diversity of the Czech craft beer scene. Two years ago, if you’d told me that at a regional Czech beer festival I’d be tasting a Czech Alt beer — newly arrived from Hastrman — or be able to sample domestically brewed stouts, Tripels, and American-style pale ales (and not those from Varnsdorf!), I’d have said you were just plain crazy. We’ve come a long way, baby.

Moreover, though draft remains king, many brewers — even tiny producers not far beyond the hobby horse — had their beer also available for sale in plastic bottles. And I was glad to see several Czech brewers going beyond the glass to offer glassware and even T-shirts for sale.

Personal bests of the fest: Klášterní Pivovar Strahov’s 14° wheat beer, a Weizenbock-like (though pale) Hefeweizen with a strong kick of Saaz and smooth, well-incorporated alcohol, as well as Hastrman’s new Velkorybnický Alt. In terms of atmosphere, you couldn’t ask for a better crowd or a better day. But you could certainly ask for more than one. Next year, can Slunce ve skle go all weekend?

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3 Comments

  1. Sounds, and looks, like it was even better than last year. But for the good local scene I have here, I may have suffered a pang or two of homesickness this weekend!

  2. That looked like an awesome fest to attend, How was the Alt?

  3. I hope that Evan will not mind me promoting my video from this event here:
    http://www.stream.cz/video/5/370200-pivni-festival-slunce-ve-skle

    There will be english titles added and interview with organiyers later on…

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