Pivní Filosof - Beer Philosopher

The Achilles tendon was feeling better and the day was even nicer than the previous Saturday. What better excuse for another beer hike? Shorter this time – 15 km – but with two fairly steep slopes along the way, one down to the river, the other up. I set out from my place at around 12:30 pm, after another hearty but not too heavy lunch, and shortly after an hour, I make a technical stopover in Libčice n. Vltavou , before crossing the river. 9barů is a pub-café hybrid (or hospodokavárna, as the folk at Čep & Pec say), the kind you can find everywhere in Prague. Besides coffee, matcha and good looking pastries and cakes, they have two beers on tap, both from Pivovar Moucha . I get the 11° Světlý Ležák , and it’s really good, refreshingly bitter, and goes down really well while sitting outside, in the shade of a large tree. When Moucha started, their beers were pretty rubbish, but they’ve improved, and today they are solid, though not particularly remarkable, which is more than good...

My left Achilles tendon had been nagging me the last couple of months, preventing me from partaking in what is probably my favourite outdoor activity, beer hikes. They are usually around 20 km long (though the longest was 30) and end with several beers at a brewery or a similar establishment, and often include at least one beery stopover along the way. Things seemed to have improved the last few days (right before my appointment with the doctor, of course), and the weather last Saturday promised to be ideal for such an outing, with temperatures not expected to surpass the 25 °C mark; even the threat of showers wouldn’t discourage me. The destination this time would be Pivovar Kladno Kročehlavy , which, besides being located 21.5 km from my place, operates in facilities that once were a brewery. I have a soft spot for pivovary like Kročehlavy, and sometimes I wonder if this isn’t a phenomenon unique to Czechia (probably not?). During the four decades of their regime, the communists clos...

Well, I’m back where it all begun , I guess. Karlovo náměstí . The 22 to Hostivař is the first tram to arrive—fortunately, I was afraid I’d be the 3 to Levského. The sixth stop is Ruska, and there’s plenty to choose from around here. I pick Lye Beer Café , the closest, and the only spot I’ve never been to. It seems to be empty and, as I approach it, I peek around the corner, to Galerie Piva . People are literally spilling out on the pavement, and that’s enough to change my mind, Galerka it is then. I was here once for a quick pifko on the go, likely on my way somewhere else, years ago, and this is a great excuse to revisit it, now with more time at hand.  Galerka is very much like the nearby Pivní Zastávka , my hospoda número uno, but a bit grungier. They also have five beers on tap, headed by a Světlý Ležák, with the other four being styles of a trendier persuasion, plus a fairly wide range of bottles and cans in the fridges lining a wall.  Somewhat unsurprisingly, I run into...