Invited into a Vat of Světlé

A Summer Trek in the Czech Republic, Part 6

Beer Travels December 1, 2005
Written by MartinT

Montreal, CANADA -

Apart from the wonderful Town Hall building, Plzeň’s center appeared drab and rough on this cloudy Friday. Not much to do here I’m afraid, apart from the beer-related activities. Luckily, I’ve been known to like beer. ;) So straight off to Na Parkánu we went, home of the unfiltered Pilsner Urquell. This version is only served here, seat of the original Plzeňský Prazdroj brewery, and at the end of the modern brewery’s tour, in small samples. Considering the fact that it was a little late to catch the last brewery tour, and that I was more interested in getting a full pint of Pilsner Urquell Kvasnicové than a tiny sample, an easy decision was made. Na Parkánu is also attached to a brewery museum displaying old brewing artefacts which give interesting insights into the Czech brewing world of old. You must tour this museum before or after your pint of unfiltered Urquell.

Speaking of Urquell Kvasnicové, it was a very flavorful pint. Vibrant pink grapefruit, starfruit, lemons, and fresh white pepper bursting from the hops presence. Regular Urquell is one of the hoppiest pints you’ll find in the country, and unfiltered Urquell is even hoppier. A biting but never overwhelming bitterness follows, softened by the suspended yeast, all in a quenching, slender body. Think American Pale Ale in terms of hoppiness and drinkability and transpose that into Bohemian Pilsner ingredients; you’ll have a pretty good idea of what this Kvasnicové tastes like.

Walking out to the underkept buildings of the city center, crossing dirty streets plenty of homeless people, we set out to walk for Minipivovar U Rytíře Lochoty, a brewpub situated about 40 minutes by foot north of the town center. Tram No.4 would’ve done the job a lot quicker, but we had time to kill, and we like walking, so the stroll was the best option for us. Not that the view was engaging though. The orange roof of U Rytíře Lochoty finally appeared before us, and a pint of their only available beer immediately put under the looking glass. They had the 14˚ Special Kvasnicový Ležák on, a strong lager pleasantly different from the archetypal bohemian pilsners. Plump, sweet oranges, apricots, and peaches form a citrusy dessert with abundant earthy yeast accompaniment, the combination being strangely reminiscent of coriander-spiced Belgian ales. A little too two-dimensional, and too yeasty, but a pleasant pint nonetheless. For a dollar a pint, again, you can’t really complain. To compensate for their lack of house beers, they had Gambrinus 10˚ on tap, which we tried again to discover a much drier and toastier version than the one we had had a few days earlier. A crunchy cookie of a pils. An uneventful evening followed, with dinner at Stará Sladovňa, a former torture hall, where old Czech cuisine is served. Many dishes on the menu weren’t available, and service was excruciatingly slow and disinterested; we had probably hit them on a bad day. The Kelt Stout which I tried was about as snoozy as the staff, as aqueous as Guinness, a lifeless pint of nitro but with some biscuity sweetness. The sweet, creamy sauerkraut was fun though, as was the chicken with apples and cinnamon. But the place was definitely not up to the standards of what I had read on the web. So ended our lone day in Plzeň, saved by the brightness of Pilsner Urquell Kvasnicové. Loudmouths in the street would disturb our sleep every 30 minutes during the night, printing an indelible impression of wear and frustration from this city. Perhaps if you can come here with a Czech friend, that would help you to obtain a more pleasurable experience.

And I even wrote in my notebook that I was getting tired of drinking beer.

The dawning of vacation’s end was already upon us as we neared Prague again, having completed our planned tour of the country. We knew we had more to see in the capital, so we had put aside another 3 days before our departure to conclude our vacation, and reminisce in the wonders of the grandiose Bohemian city. Hordes of silver-haired tourists were cramming the city this time around, following their umbrella-crowned shepherd through a maze of flyer-toting and show-selling street salesman. Definitely not the same Prague as 2 weeks ago. On this first day of our last stint in the Czech Rep., we wandered around aimlessly sighing and already nostalgic. But we had a few more fun things to do! U Fleků for one, a 500-year-old brewpub, with a solid reputation gained for their sole beer, a tmavé. In the past few years, it had also inherited a reputation for being overly touristic, and money-driven, so we entered with our guards up. Servers were quickly upon us, but only to help us get seated and get our orders taken promptly. No attempt to slip us a “complimentary” shooter of Becherovka. Our pints of Tmavé Ležák appeared in a few seconds, and off we were into another jovial tasting. The aroma of this celebrated tmavé is very fruity, with wet earth tones, and faint molasses-like sweetness. The quickly diminishing head was surprising considering the foamy tap standards of this country. The flavor was quite spicy and roasty, with lots of fruit contributing a nagging sourness at the forefront. Mild caramel resting underneath the lightly bitter finish, all in a frail and quenching body. Frankly, I was expecting a lot more, and had had many better tmavés during this trip alone. Anyway, the accordion player was amusing, and the place was cheerful, so it was a pleasant one-pint experience. Beer here is 49Kč for 0.4l (so, not a real pint), which again is incredibly expensive by Czech standards, but for a Prague brewpub it matches that of Klášterní Pivovar and U Medvídků.

On our way to dinner in quieter Malá Strana, we dropped by Beer Shop/Galerie Piva, a smallish store very conveniently located on a side street right after Charles Bridge. A very decent selection of Czech bottles for this touristic area, and okay prices (around 1$ per bottle) for the prime location. After our venison ragout with cranberries and apples, we headed to the bedroom for a little tasting and relaxing. Nymburk Pivovar’s Postrivinské Francinův was a sweet and spicy rendition of the bohemian pilsner model, with cinnamon leanings on banana bread. Subtle and different, with mild hoppiness and enough hay to keep things interesting. A soft interplay of flavors which is not meant to arouse new interests. It took a while to figure out how we were going to tram to Holešovice, tomorrow’s destination, seeing that 3 different tram maps gave us conflicting information. We had the full day to spend in this northern neighborhood of Prague though, so no worries of getting lost. We like to get lost anyway.

After a good night’s sleep, we headed to Holešovice where we had lunch at Prague Market, a huge outdoor and indoor market where you can find all kinds of junk amongst fresh produce. Shopping for underwear with your cucumbers in hand must be a unique experience. Veletržní Palác was holding a superb exposition of Czech modern and contemporary artists, as well as French classics, so we of course spent a few hours there to bask in the talent of countless painters and sculptors. It was near the end of the afternoon when we made it to the famous Pivni Galerie, Prague’s best beer store, also located in this neighborhood of Holešovice. A gorgeous painting of a brewery worker rolling a barrel adorns the façade of the store, so you can’t miss it on the grey and dull street it is situated. A small and cozy store it is, but such a charming little place. An upright piano sits calmly on your left as you come in, a small fountain made out of beer bottles too, all is decorated with passion and, moreover, taste. Most Czech micros found outside of their town can be found here, so there is a lot to choose from. All the Vyškov lineup was here, as well as Svijany’s Rytíř Bitter, beers that still to this day I present as the best bottled Czech beers I’ve ever had. The Vyškovské General is particularly stunning. For each bottle I bought, the friendly owner gave me a matching brewery coaster, which was a very nice touch. They have Belgians as well, but as I was more likely to visit Belgium in the next couple years than come back to Prague, I stocked up on Czech lagers solely. Grinning from ear to ear, we moved over to Pivni Galerie’s small tasting room, consisting of 5-6 tables and 2 taps. Today on tap was Nymburk’s Bogan, their 13˚ světlé, and Primátor Weizenbier. Pivni Galerie is one of the few places in this country which does not serve only one brewery’s products, and on top of that, they are probably one of the only ones to change their beers frequently. So you never know what you’re going to get when you come here, which is a lot of fun for such a rigid bar system. Primátor’s weizen was spicy and herbal as hell, quite tart and effervescent, not at all what one would expect from the denomination. Bogan was as soft and well-organized as Francinův, with shy caramel and bananas over toasted malt crunch. A smooth and creamy pils with grassy hop bitterness developing within the sweetness. Another unique, if not impressive, number from Nymburk. The atmosphere in this tiny tasting room is as reverend as a library’s, which made the tasting so casual and restful that I felt like I was in a friend’s basement living room. A real gem this Pivni Galerie.

After having dropped off our heavy bags in our room on the 5th floor (with no elevator, remember?), we proceeded to get dinner in the center of the city, still nostalgic every time we passed by the Powder Tower and many beautiful squares we were getting used to. I had the heaviest gnocchi known to man, and regretted it severely. Marie’s risotto with vegetables was tame at best. We should not have attempted to have something else than Czech food. That’s what they’re good at! Not necessarily thirsty for beer (I know, blasphemy), I read the drinks card to find something else which would suit my mood. That’s when I officially realized that beers here are so much cheaper than any other form of drink in bars and restaurants that you have to have one. Example: 0.2l of Fanta in Prague can go for 20Kč. A pint of Pilsner Urquell : 25Kč. You do the math yourself. So it is with great reluctance (;P) that I ordered a Ferdinand Tmavé, Benesov’s dark offering. Lots of berries, grapes over dry roasted maltiness. A nice malty body with a prickly sourness which made it very quaffable. Another good tmavé.

Beggars can be found in Prague near the Charles Bridge, but these guys are really not a nuisance. Crouching humbly with their foreheads on the asphalt, a poignant representation of their miserable condition. And a constant reminder that we are so lucky to be living the lives of enlightenment and pleasure we have.

Marie’s dust allergies were acting up again, ancient buildings will do that to you, so we headed back to our room to prepare our last day in the Czech Republic.

One brewpub remained on our Prague tour: Pivovar U Bulovky/Richter Brewery. Located in the Libeň neighborhood, a 15-to-30-minute tram ride from the center depending on where you are staying, U Bulovky Richter is a recent addition to Prague’s beer panorama, and was suggested to me as being the most authentic Czech brewpub experience in the capital. Only problem was that the doors were locked though, the brewery undergoing renovations from August 1st to the 28th, if my Czech served me well. I want to come back to this country anyway, so Bulovky will be a priority on my list. So we headed back to the city center, in fact all the way to the other side into Prague Castle, to see the Zlatá Ulička (the Golden Lane) where tiny postcard houses were lined up in a poetic and heart-wrenching pose. Nearby, the Daliborka Tower can be seen, where a hole in the ground was once dug to drop convicts into the confines of the earth, left to die of hunger. A kind and sympathetic period that was.

And we climbed up the 125 steps to our room one last time.

Walking is by far the best way to feel a town’s heartbeat, so that is what we did, again, for the rest of the day. What a beautiful city this is, our favorite tied with Český Krumlov in the whole trip. My last meal consisted of chili guláš and potato pancakes. Can’t get more Czech than that. Today still, when I go to my local lager haunt, a brewpub called L’Amère à Boire, and I have their fantastically authentic bohemian pilsner, I start salivating and dreaming of goulash and potato pancakes. My tastebuds have forever associated the pils malt and Saaz hop mix with those of meat, paprika, and spiced potatoes. These have branded me, and I will always be grateful for it. The last beer of the trip? Staropramen’s Světlé. Minty, fresh, toasty, quenching, and solid. Like the majority of Czech beers and food we have had in the country. Great quality, nourishing, and uplifiting. I wish more people had the humility, rigor, and respect for traditional quality products the Czechs possess.

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An upright piano sits calmly on your left as you come in, a small fountain made out of beer bottles too, all is decorated with passion and, moreover, taste. Most Czech micros found outside of their town can be found here...

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