Drink Craft Beer Goes to Prague [Part 2]
Pilsner Urquel is ingrained into Czech culture in a way I’ve never experienced before. You really can’t compare it to anything in the US. Sure we have regional breweries, but even then people have their favorites. Pilsner Urquel is available everywhere in Prague; I couldn’t find a bar that didn’t serve it. The bars don’t compete on who has the best variety of beer, but rather who has the best Pilsner Urquel. When I arrived in Prague I was determined to experience more than just this beer. This is not to say it isn’t a good beer, my first article from Prague illustrates just how good it can be, but I wanted to experience more.
When I checked in to my hotel I asked where I could go buy some beer. The concierge directed me to the local grocery store so I made my way down the street to the store only to be met with stacks of Pilsner Urquel. Clearly this wasn’t going to be the easiest of endeavors. At this point I took to Twitter, asked all of you where to go, and within 30 minutes I had a list of places I was told I had to check out. I ended up checking out a few places, but the following stuck out for me as places everyone should check out.
U Fleku Brewery
I’m going to start of right away by saying this place is really touristy. As we walked in an older gentlemen started playing American songs on the accordion, it just felt odd. I know I’m not exactly selling the experience right now but it does have some things going for it. First off it’s the oldest brewery in Prague, founded in 1499. Secondly, their dark lager is smooth and malty and worth the trip. I had almost forgotten what dark malts tasted like and this trip saved me. Make it a quick trip though, I’d recommend popping in for a pint and moving on. Sit at the bar if you can; we found getting the check at our table to take an insane amount of time.
Pivavorsky Dum
I actually ended up here by accident. We intended to go to Pivavorsky Klub (more on this bar next) but our taxi driver took us here instead (lost in translation I suppose). We looked at it as a happy accident and rolled with it. It turns out this a a satellite brew-pub of Pivavorsky Klub. As we entered we saw a gorgeous copper brewhouse and what appeared to be mostly local patrons. What we found here was the beginnings of a craft beer culture in Prague. It was clear that this place was not the norm. We got the sampler, which was comprised of eight beers. For my taste there were too many flavored beers; banana, cherry, coffee, and spruce made up half the offerings.The beer itself was secondary in an odd way. It was clear to me that hundreds of years of brewing tradition was evolving here. The basic pilsner was augmented with completely different styles. We really take our craft beer culture for granted in the US and it felt special to experience the beginning of that culture in another country. I’d bet that if I went back to Prague in five years I’d see far more places like this one. For that reason I’d recommend anyone headed to Prague check this place out.
Pivavorsky Klub
This is a must find spot if you’re in Prague. With hundreds of beer in bottles and 6 beers on tap nothing I found even came close to the selection here. There were pages and pages of Czech beers from who knows where, but they were good! There were also imports from all over Europe and the US. Our waiter spoke little English which made it hard to ask too many questions but in short this place a gold mine of good Czech beer. The bar is very brightly lit which made for a slightly odd atmosphere but the sheer selection of beer made it worthwhile.
Mystic Brewery Sauvignon Blanc Barrel Fermented Saison [Review]
A little while ago, we were over at Mystic Brewery, one of Massachusetts’ newest breweries, in Chelsea, MA. Their whole style is to be a Belgian-style farmhouse brewery headed up by a man who plans to use 21st century technology to bring us back to these roots, MIT Ph.D. Bryan Greenhagen. We’ll have a full profile on the brewery and an interview with Bryan soon, but he shared with us a beer that I couldn’t wait to tell all you craft beer drinkers about.
At the brewery we noticed a whole mess of barrels that had blow-off tubes coming out of each, all bubbling away...almost as if they were fermenting beer in those barrels, not just aging it. Well it turns out that they were, in fact, fermenting beer in there and the first batch was already bottled and ready to drink! (Editor’s Note: Barrel aged beer is normally fermented in large stainless steel vessels and then, once fermentation is complete, transferred to barrels where it ages to gain some of the barrel flavor. Barrel fermentation is different because, as the beer ferments, it warms up and cools down, causing the barrels to expand and contract which gives the beer a different, fuller barrel flavor.) Bryan had a bottle of their barrel fermented Saison chilled that we popped open and it was incredible! Here’s the story of that brew...
This version of Mystic Brewery’s Saison pours a murky copper color with a constant streaming of champagne-like bubbles from the bottom to the top. With even a gentle pour, you get a huge, pillowy cloud-colored head that settles to a dense, creamy, thick foam.
The first thing you smell when you open this brew is the influence of the sauvignon blanc barrels. As soon as you hear that loud “pop!” of the cork, you get a whiff of winey, sharp fruitiness. The sauvignon blanc barrel characteristics and those of the beer have melded together such that you can’t tell where the wine stops and the aroma of the beer begins. All in all, it smells great and is an awesome example of innovation happening in the craft beer world with barrel aging!
While it smells extremely wine-like, there is no question when you taste this that’s it’s a beer, and a very rustic Belgian-style Saison at that! The yeast characteristics from Mystic’s Saison yeast are front and center and you definitely get the malt that you would never be able to find in a wine (because it isn’t there). That said, the barrel fermentation and influence from the wine serve to smooth out some of the sharper edges that Mystic’s Saison has had in the past couple batches and give the brew an almost creamy mouthfeel. That creaminess would possibly be a little much, but that stream of bubbles I mentioned before serves to make it so effervescent that the creaminess is actually quite nice as it serves to lighten everything up.
I’ve seen quite a few wine barrel aged beers and usually the two flavors are competing...or even clashing. Here, though, the two work together to be more than either are apart. First of all, this is an amazing brew and I’m excited for what else Mystic has coming down the pipeline...Secondly, and more importantly perhaps, this barrel fermentation concept seems to have produced an incredibly complex yet approachable and drinkable beer and I can’t wait to see what else they do with it in the future!
I picked this bottle up at Craft Beer Cellar in Belmont.
What Has Been Your Favorite Seasonal Craft Beer Styles This Autumn? [Poll]
Autumn is a great season for craft beer. You have warm days, cold days and everything in between which means you can grab that imperial stout you've been waiting all summer to drink or you can finish off your stock piles of summer brew. With that said, though, certain styles are much more autumnal than others. Many people wait all year for this season and the flavors that come with it: Pumpkin, fresh hop and the malty goodness of Oktoberfest biers.
So, what we want to know is, what style of Fall-specific beer have you liked this season? You can get an IPA any day...these are the beers your can really only get at this time of the year. Vote below then tell us how you voted and why on Twitter, on Facebook or in the comments below the poll. Cheers!
Ipwsich Ale Brewery Local Harvest 5 Mile Stock Ale [Beer Review]
This past weekend I attended an event to benefit Valley Malt’s Brewer Supported Agriculture (BSA) program (it works similarly to a CSA, except it provides malted grain to brewers) at Meadhall in Cambridge, MA. The event showcased craft beers from seven brewers that participated in this year's BSA program. One of the brews I got to try was Ipswich Ale Brewery’s Local Harvest 5 Mile Stock Ale. This is the first in the series of 5 Mile beers where each will be brewed using an ingredient from within five miles of the brewery. This one uses Cascade dry hops grown in Ipswich’s own hop yard. Also, the beer is brewed using malted barley from Massachusetts farms and malted by Valley Malt, one of the coolest beer related companies we know of! With that said, let’s try the beer!
Five Mile Stock Ale pours with a taupe, puffy, big-bubbled head about three fingers that quick recedes to one and hangs around pretty much throughout the drink. This sits atop a murky brown, orangey body of beer. This looks like something I’d expect to drink in Autumn. Appears to have some body and some weight behind it, but not the impact of an imperial stout or anything
While pouring, I couldn’t help but notice that this thing smells strongly! Even standing back taking pictures you can smell the malt that this brings to the table! Up close, there’s a nice biscuit aroma that sits just under piney, locally grown Cascade hops. Brewed with malt from Massachusetts farms and malted by our own Valley Malt in Hadley, MA, the focus here is on the malt for sure, though...as it should be in a stock ale. Overall impression? I want to drink it because it smells amazing!
And let me tell you, the taste does not disappoint! This is a great fall beer. Not that it’s a pumpkin beer or a fresh hop beer or any special theme like that. It’s just a delicious beer with some solid body that isn’t quite the beast of a brew I look for in winter. You can really taste the Cascade dry hops that Ipswich grew in their hop yard. And the malt! The malt is great! Every brew I’ve had so far using Valley Malt has had a minor similarity that I’m going to chalk up to the local character of the malt. It’s almost a spice to the beer, but not quite. This is a great beer, as I’ve come to expect from Ipswich Brewery. I’d suggest if you find it on tap or draft that you get some immediately as it’s a limited run and, because of the capacity constraints of Valley Malt, not a lot was made. It’s going to sell quick, too, because it’s delicious!
I picked this bottle up at Craft Beer Cellar in Belmont.
