Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
to catch up on local trends and beer lore. Find it at
www.pivnifilosof.com
or at the
Prague Post
Czech beer drinkers are conservative, and more exotic brews such as wheat beer
(pšeničné pivo)
and yeast beer
(kvasnicové pivo)
have only begun to gain traction in
recent years. You'll almost never find these at traditional pubs, but they're often a
staple at the growing number of brew pubs and at more modern, multi-tap places that
specialise in a wider variety of beers.
The Czech language is filled with proverbs about beer. Our favourite is:
'Kde se pivo vaří, tam se dobře daří'
, which translates loosely as 'Life is
good wherever beer is brewed'.
DRINKING BY DEGREES
By tradition, Czech beers are usually labelled either
dvanáctka
(12°) or
desítka
(10°),
a designation that can lead to confusion among visitors. This measure does not refer
directly to the percentage of alcohol; instead, it's an indicator of specific gravity
known as the 'Balling' rating (invented by Czech scientist Karl Josef Balling in the
19th century).
In technical speak, 1° Balling represents 1% by weight of malt-derived sugar in the
brewing liquid before fermentation. In practice, a 12° brew, such as Pilsner Urquell,
tends to be richer in flavour (as well as being slightly stronger in alcohol) than a 10°
label, such as Gambrinus, which will be slightly sweeter and less bitter.
Czech beers are also rated according to the alcohol-by-volume (ABV) content, and
the law recognises a handful of categories: '
výčepní pivo
' (less than 4.5% ABV), '
ležák
' (4.5% to 5.5% ABV) and 'special' (more than 5.5% ABV).
LAND OF THE GIANTS
Though there are more than 100 breweries, large and small,
around the country, the local market is dominated by a
handful of giants. The largest and most important remains
the Pilsner Urquell brewery in Plzeň, now a subsidiary of global mega-brewer
SABMiller. Pilsner Urquell produces not only its signature 12° brew, but also the 10°
Brewery Tours
