Day Five in Prague

A friend from Pilsen was coming into Prague to drink beer so we agreed to meet at Restaurace Sladovna, which acts as a tap room for Pivovar Cviknov

 

They had a 8º and I haven't see to many of these this trip so I ordered one.

It was definitely on the buttery side, just within my personal limit. Five standard beers on tap plus one special. I didn't ask about it as I had a feeling we wouldn't stay.

Ryan arrived and orders a small of the 10º and it was an undrinkable butter bomb. Now some people have a lower tolerance for diacetyl (and some can't taste it at all) so you should judge for yourselves. 

We hopped a tram to check out Žlutá Pumpa, a Mexican restaurant that reportedly had some interesting beers.

As we approached I saw a big Kamenice umbrella so I ordered the Kameice 10º. It was in good shape.

An interesting tidbit -- Kamenice uses different glasses for their 10º and 12º beers. The 12º comes in the traditional more squat mug.

Five beers on tap. The Rychtář 11º Grunt is not a bad beer for a more industrial brewery but the beer list wasn't as varied as I'd hoped. 

I ordered some tacos as a snack, In their fairness, they were available as the more traditional soft style but I went for the crunchy option. They were fairly decent, much better than I expected.

A couple doors from Žlutá Pumpa is Kaiser Franz Beer and Burger. Last time I was here they had a very tasty 8º but no such luck today.

I ordered the U Váčků 11⁰ and it was good but also a bit on the buttery side for me. A Czech friend once said complaining about butter in Czech beer was like complaining about hops in California beers. He has a point, I guess.

Ryan had to check into is room and his friend Marko (who lives in Prague) had joined us, so Marko and I headed to catch the tram to the next top.

On the way we passed a hole-in-the-wall pub called "Pink Floyd Cafe" with a chalk board listing two beers. Marko thought they were worth trying so we went it.

One was the Herold 11º -- I generally like the Herold beers but don't remember having the 11º. It was nice.

Marko had the other the Prdek from Na Perlíčku. It was really good -- Marko got the better deal (in fairness, we did share).

There was some sort of private  party about to start so we finished our beers and headed for the tram and soon were at Galerie Piva, a bottle shop with 5 taps to drink on site.

That Blitzgkrieeg is showing up everywhere.

If you've been paying attention, you know that I ordered the Sibeeria Patronus 10º.

Marko had the Estonian Watermelon Gose -- I had a taste and it actually wasn't too bad. I am a purist when it comes to Gose and most of the "craft" ones I've had are a nasty sour covered up with tons of sweet fruit syrup. But this tasted like the brewer knew Gose -- I'm not sure I could have identified watermelon as the fruit, it was so subtle.

A short walk away was our next stop, Lya Beer Cafe.  They opened about 3 years ago. When I visited then they were just getting started but had lots of promise.

They have five beers on tap.

Of course, I had the Chroust Jura. Very nice, it was. The outside sign had listed Oud Beersel Kreikenlambic and that one would have temped me.

Some Cantillion in the fridge. Remember that the Czech koruna is about 23 to the US dollar so these are decent prices.

We were behind schedule and decided to skip our next stop  and head to Valhalla Beer Club.

I had expected lots of Nordic style beers but basically it was a tap just you'd find at any "Craft" beer bar in town, except where it was brewed

I order the Vin Golden Ale and it was nice.

Ryan ordered the Amager IPA and it was much darker than I'd expect and was an undrinkable sour mess. Since I know Amager doesn't brew beers like that I assumed something got into the keg. Ryan sent it back and there removed it from the bill but there was more pushback than I liked. They also brought him the wrong replacement beer (he ordered the Golden Ale after tasting mine)

We had booked at table for 8pm at Hostomická Nalévárna, so I headed there while Ryan and Marko check out an Italian restaurant they had heard about.

I started off with the Fabián 10⁰ and there was a little butter in the finish but not at all objectionable and much less than the other "buttery" beers I'd had today.

I ordered some Utopenec to go with it. They had run out of bread and the tapper (Micheal) had called a regular who had reservation to bring some with them. 

After that, it as the 12º for the test of the night, with a shot of Becherovka as a final explanation point.

 

Day Four in Prague

My hotel WiFi has been acting up so am a day or two behind. Will do my best to update

Headed over to the former Pivovarský Klub, now Pivovarský Klub Benedict. 

It is not just the addition of a word, the place has better pretty much totally changed. Only the taps are the same.

In the Before Times they always had the Benedict 12º so I had one of those.

Delicious as always.

I wasn't really interest in any of the other beers and hopped a tram to the Urxova stop. If you are headed eastbound, this is what you see...

M*A*S*H Bar? Does that mean what I think it does? 

It does. The inside is covered with murals from the M*A*S*H TV show. Usually I am there on a weekday and it isn't very full. But this Saturday it was full so I couldn't sit at my usual seat with Radar O'Riley looking over my shoulder...

They serve Holba beers so I ordered the Šerák 11⁰

It is not the best beer I've had, but far from the worst. And the price is right...

It is (for me) a one beer and done place so I headed out. Then my plans went south. I had forgotten the next place I had in mind, Diego Pivni Bar doesn't open until 5pm on weekends (11am weekdays), I should have checked my own app!

Next I headed over to BeerGeek Pivoteka Karlín. It is mainly a bottle shop but they have three taps for onsite drinking.  But my choices were a Hazy IPA, Passion Fruit Sour and an Oud Beersel Oolong Tea Lambic.  In other situations I might have tried them but not today.

So I headed over to the Prague Market and Burza#4 . This is an "urban beer garden"

It is a decent (but not great beer list)

I ordered the Vinohradský 12⁰ and burrito to go with it. I had to wait a bit for the burrito so it was not a bad pour.

The burrito was a bit strange. It was heated in a panini press so it was bit squished. It had all the expected ingredients and filled the space in my stomach so I was happy.

 

 

Next stop was a place that has only been open 3-4 weeks,  Čep & Pec. They advertised themselves as a "bakery and brewery" but the bakery isn't set up yet and the beers are contract brewed (under the name Four Elements Brewing)

I ordered the house Malostranská 11⁰. It was quite enjoyable.

They had seven beers on tap, two of which were their own.

Since I came all this way, I thought I'd have another. This is the Panaczech Red Imperial Pilsner ("R.I.P.")

It was Ok but a bit on the sweet side for me. More "sugary" sweetness than "malty" sweetness. The small pour was about right.

So I wend back to the trams stop and I could see that tramp in the distance but it didn't seem to be moving.???

After a while the reason became clear, they were stuck behind a horse drawn carriage. The carriage driver tried to pull over but they couldn't' move over enough for the tram to pass. Finially, she just pulled in the opposing lane and let the tram pass.

Tram 14 to Spořilov -- if you know me or know Prague you know what this means: První Pivní Tramway!

As usually, 8 beers on tap

I started with the Tramway ale, brewed (for now) at Pivovarský Dům. Just glad it wasn't a house IPA, then I'd have a moral dilema. And if anybody is wondering, the artwork in the Gents is still there...

Net up was a Malešov Zlatokop 12⁰. When I sat down with the beer a man came up and asked "Are you Fred?" When I said I was he said we was Steve and he followed me on Twitter and lived close by and so popped over to say "hi."  Fame, I guess. 

I got back on 14 Tram and headed up to Zlý Časy

The pandemic hit them hard. One of their claims to fame is that they had three bars, all with different taps. If you didn't like what was on one, you could try another. Sadly, they are down to one, the front bar and the downstairs bar are closed. That leaves them with a lot few taps.

I ordered the Mouflon 11⁰ I was having trouble with the lighting so it took a whole to get a good picture. Jus not my day for photography.

Quire a reduced tap list

I was hunger and ordered a schnitzel. Immediately I heard pounding from the kitchen. Always a good sign.

The schnitzel was good.

Suitable fortified, I headed back to towards my hotel. I had to walk right by Minirest, so I popped in for a Hrádek Karpat 11⁰. The Hrádek beers are nothing to write home about, but they get the job done, I guess.

The taps had changed a bit since my last visit.

One liter PET bottles to go of the standard beers.

For a second nightcap I had then Všerad 11⁰ Světlý Ležák.I liked it much better than the Hrádek

Just as I was leaving, I head a voice behind me, in accented English (not American!) say "Two Corona."

I first I thought he was talking about money as the Koruna is the unit of Czech currency. But no, he meant the beer.

 Why?