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Travels for Beer Czech Republic 2007
Nina was taking photos of the bar and bartender and soon got him to smile and pose for a couple of photos, including the two of us behind the bar with him. Soon after, a large group of about forty walked in and the bartender had a surprised look on his face. After watching a few minutes of the chaos, Nina jumped up to the occasion and offered her help in pouring the beers. The bartender loved the idea. He trained her with the first few, then left her alone to pour the next several trays of pivo. Her new boss seemed very pleased with his new employee
After the hard work there was one Budvar variety we still needed to taste, and that was by the bottle. It was the Super Strong Beer, Specialni Pivo, at 7.6%. This fine beer was served in a snifter style glass, with Bud etched in large script letters. The beer was 14 carat gold in color, had deep flavors, a little spiciness, and hints of bittersweet chocolate. We kept thinking we were leaving, but we kept sharing another bottle.. They don’t call her the Bavarian Bock Babe for nothing!
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Prague is one of the most beautiful European cities and has had many nicknames such as “City of 100 Towers”, “The Heart of Europe”, or “Golden Prague”. It was a crossroad, where many merchant, artists and scientists met. It is a 1000 year old, well-preserved city, straddling the Vtlava River. There are seven bridges crossing the river, the most famous being the pedestrian Charles Bridge. The size of the buildings, the different styles of architecture and the shear amount of these beautiful buildings will wow you.
Start by walking across the Charles Bridge. Visit the Castle, and St. Vitus church which stands within the castle grounds. When we stopped for lunch, it was off the main streets in a small bistro, Restaurace U Urloje. The sun was shining so we sat outside. They were serving a pilsner that I had never tasted before, Krusovice. The beer was a deep gold color, with a bright white head, that tasted less flowery than the Urquell |
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With a slight buzz on from Krusovice, we crossed back to the new town area to search out the famous brew pub U Flecku. It has just celebrated it’s 500th anniversary. Our two mugs of beer are brought to us by a waiter without us having to ask. We have no choices. The beer served is a brown lager. It was slightly sweet with a hint of roastiness, and probably low in alcohol. Soon, a two-piece band struts in to play with a tuba and an accordion. They were good and earned frequent tips by having the coins tossed into the tuba. As the coins fell, the musician played musical notes that sounded as if an elephant was laughing through it’s trunk
Until the 1990’s Urquell was still lagered in giant wooden barrels and stored underground in nine kilometers of cool, dark tunnels. The beer sat here for six to eight weeks. Our tour was the last of the day for our guide so the usual one, free, small beer, turned into two, large, free beers! There we stood at 5:30 on a Friday afternoon, in a sandstone tunnel, 30 feet underground, with a temperature of 40 degrees, drinking an unfiltered, unpasteurized Urquell from a wooden barrel.
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