Those of you who know me will agree that I have a dream vacation: to travel from Nice, France all the way to Istanbul in Turkey, along the Mediterranean Sea. I have dreamed of this vacation for all of my life. Unfortunately, due to the tuition at Canisius for Andrew, I had to settle for my trip to the Czech Republic. Formerly known as Czechoslovakia apparently the Slovaks could not even stand the Czechs and so now Czechoslovakia minus the Slovaks = The Czech Republic. If you have never been to the Czech Republic and cannot afford to go there, a cheaper solution to afford yourself of the same sensory experiences would be to live in a fat man's pants in mid-August!
For the most part, the place is a pest hole. But thank whatever God the Czechs believe in that they know good beer. Czech beer has a long and important history. A brewery is known to have existed in 1118 , the city Brno had a right to brew beer from the 12th century, and the two cities most associated with Czech beer, Plzeň and České Budějovice (Pilsen and Budweis in German), certainly had breweries in the 13th century.
Hops have been grown in the region for a long time, and were used in beer making and exported from here since the twelfth century. The Czech Republic has the highest beer consumption per capita in the world.
In 1842 a brewery in Plzeň employed Joseph Groll, a German brewer who was experienced in the new cold fermentation lager method. Their beer at the time was not of very good quality and they needed to compete. Groll developed a golden Pilsner beer, the first light coloured beer ever brewed. It became an immediate success, and was exported all over the Austrian Empire. A special train of beer traveled from Plzeň to Vienna every morning. Exports of Czech beer reached Paris and the U.S. by 1874.
Originally Pilsner was a specific term for beers brewed in Plzeň (with Pilsner Urquell being registered as a trademark by the first brewery), and Budweiser for those brewed in České Budějovice (the most famous being Budweiser Budvar today). Both terms have lost their original meanings by different means, Pilsner because all the imitations of the original style (especially in Germany where the style became extremely common) used the name, Budweiser because of the American Budweiser brewery, set up by a German immigrant. The problem is that the name Budweiser Bier does not historically belong to either of them, since it was used for the first time in 1802 by burgess brewery, which exported its beer under that name to USA in 1875 while Anheuser-Busch started operation in 1876 and their first trademark registration is from 16th July 1878 (made by C. Conrad as Budweiser Lager Bier and transferred to the company on 27th January 1891). In 1911 an agreement was settled that Anheuser-Busch may use the Budweiser name in North America and in 1939 it was banned to use Budweiser by Czech breweries there. Nowadays, Anheuser-Busch is trying to extend this to the rest of the world by various lawsuits.
The German Reinheitsgebot, their purity law, was imposed when under German rule, and has been retained. Communism meant that the breweries, while nationalised, were not given funds for modernisation, so traditional methods were retained. Since the reintroduction of a full market economy, however, production methods of most mainstream Czech beers have been altered to take advantage of new technology. Lagering times have been, on the most part, reduced, and the quality of the final product is increasingly being questioned. Some Czech breweries have even begun to allow their trademark beers to be brewed abroad in Poland, Russia and other countries. Most beers are Pilsners, but some wheat beers and a large amount of dark lagers are produced.
Hops have been grown in the region for a long time, and were used in beer making and exported from here since the twelfth century. The Czech Republic has the highest beer consumption per capita in the world.
In 1842 a brewery in Plzeň employed Joseph Groll, a German brewer who was experienced in the new cold fermentation lager method. Their beer at the time was not of very good quality and they needed to compete. Groll developed a golden Pilsner beer, the first light coloured beer ever brewed. It became an immediate success, and was exported all over the Austrian Empire. A special train of beer traveled from Plzeň to Vienna every morning. Exports of Czech beer reached Paris and the U.S. by 1874.
Originally Pilsner was a specific term for beers brewed in Plzeň (with Pilsner Urquell being registered as a trademark by the first brewery), and Budweiser for those brewed in České Budějovice (the most famous being Budweiser Budvar today). Both terms have lost their original meanings by different means, Pilsner because all the imitations of the original style (especially in Germany where the style became extremely common) used the name, Budweiser because of the American Budweiser brewery, set up by a German immigrant. The problem is that the name Budweiser Bier does not historically belong to either of them, since it was used for the first time in 1802 by burgess brewery, which exported its beer under that name to USA in 1875 while Anheuser-Busch started operation in 1876 and their first trademark registration is from 16th July 1878 (made by C. Conrad as Budweiser Lager Bier and transferred to the company on 27th January 1891). In 1911 an agreement was settled that Anheuser-Busch may use the Budweiser name in North America and in 1939 it was banned to use Budweiser by Czech breweries there. Nowadays, Anheuser-Busch is trying to extend this to the rest of the world by various lawsuits.
The German Reinheitsgebot, their purity law, was imposed when under German rule, and has been retained. Communism meant that the breweries, while nationalised, were not given funds for modernisation, so traditional methods were retained. Since the reintroduction of a full market economy, however, production methods of most mainstream Czech beers have been altered to take advantage of new technology. Lagering times have been, on the most part, reduced, and the quality of the final product is increasingly being questioned. Some Czech breweries have even begun to allow their trademark beers to be brewed abroad in Poland, Russia and other countries. Most beers are Pilsners, but some wheat beers and a large amount of dark lagers are produced.
Here's a photograph of of the main gate at Pilsner Urqnell. I had a grand old time here! I met many new friends and the more Pilsner I drank, I thought of some of my old friends.
These were some of the most fun Czech guys I met. Clubs and pubs are all over Prague – being at the best ones is the key. Pivos are so cheap, people go out with the equivalent of 20 Euros, drink like a fish and return home with enough cash for a hangover breakfast the next morning. There's a certain joy in ordering another when it costs about the same as a pack of gum back home.
In this compact city with a casual conscience there's no worrying about driving or even cab rides, only the biggest clubs have lines and cover charges (and even at that it's just a couple hundred KC) and places stay open until 4, 5, even 6 in the morning. There's no real closing time and it's not uncommon for some people to be getting home when others are headed to work.
This is nightlife in Prague.
In this compact city with a casual conscience there's no worrying about driving or even cab rides, only the biggest clubs have lines and cover charges (and even at that it's just a couple hundred KC) and places stay open until 4, 5, even 6 in the morning. There's no real closing time and it's not uncommon for some people to be getting home when others are headed to work.
This is nightlife in Prague.
Beers are from 25-35 krown (or KC), depending on where they are consumed. That's about one Euro for those keeping count. And while the Czech Republic is world famous for its excellent pivo, there is also a quite potent Czech vodka as well as a drink called Absinth, "the king of spirits."
If you see me, ask me to tell you of my new friend Blokus. He showed us all around Prague and was an absolutely wonderful man -- a man I now call, Blokus My Brother!
Love,
Phil
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