Pivní Filosof - Beer Philosopher

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...

It’s quite stuffy when I go back to Lazarská . Fortunately, the first tram to arrive is not the 3, which would have taken me back to the first place I visited, but the 24. I get off at Svatoplukova . I see two pubs from the tram stop, but neither of them look very inviting – I know I’m supposed to be adventurous and discover new places, but I still trust my instincts. Čep & Pec it is then. I know it, I’ve been there twice, but that was literally years ago, and I feel it’s the right place for a muggy day like today. Čep & Pec is a perfect example of the pub-café hybrid (or hospodo-kavárna, as they describe it in their website) that has become so common in Prague and the last decade and something. They are places where you can go with someone who doesn’t drink or doesn’t like typical pubs, without you having to sacrifice good beer, while they can have a solid cuppa. I also like them to go for a pint in the company of a book, as they generally more laid back than a hospoda and at...

It’s a beautiful late April afternoon in Prague and I’m standing at Jiráskovo náměstí, waiting where the gods of MHD will take me today. Frankly, I’m not very excited, if memory serves well, the chances of finding a solid pub in any of the four possible destinations of the first leg are not that great. Here comes the first tram, #5 heading to Vozovna Zižkov. I get on and start counting the stops. Fuck! Hlavní nádraží. All I can remember around there are the two overpriced sports in the station itself, and U Staré Pošty in Opletalova, a hospoda I’ve never liked for some reason. I get off, already resigned to the idea of having a Pilnser Urquell U Staré Pošty , when I tell myself ‘fuck it! I will cheat’, and change direction, towards the the tunnel that now connects the train station with Žižkov and the new building complex that has sprouted there in the last decade or so. Yeah, I’m cheating, in my own challenge, which I play alone – if you disapprove, good luck finding a better beer blo...

Hello! Is there anybody out there? I’ve been itching to resume writing for a while now, and I thought rebooting the Tram Beer Challenge after a ten-year-hiatus would be a good start. For those who don’t remember (or can’t be arsed to follow the link), the rules are simple: take first tram to arrive at a given stop, get off that the sixth stop, go to the nearest or a nearby enough pub, have a pifko or two, go back to the same stop, take the first tram that shows up (this time to the fourth stop to avoid ending up where I began), go to the nearest or a nearby enough pub, have a pifko or two, rinse and repeat. All this without relying on online maps, let alone reviews, and, if there isn’t a direct line of sight between a stop and a pub, I will use my memory, instincts and curiosity. Let’s go then! It’s a nice, early spring day and, like the previous time, I’m starting at Karlovo náměstí. As I’m approaching the junction, trying to decide where I will stand, I see the 3 to sídliště Modřany ...

Remember that trip to Norway I did two years ago , where Sigurd taught us how to brew Norwegian raw ale? Well, that was just the beginning of our cooperation (and friendship) with him. Sigurd came to Czechia two months later to give a talk about kveik at Černokostelecký pivovar and to visit a few pubs in Prague. There were also plans for last year, which had to be cancelled for reasons I’m sure you’re well aware of, and the same fate suffered some of this year’s plans, too; though not all of them, fortunately. Sigurd was back in our neck of the woods recently, and this time we would stay for almost a week. The program prepared for him was quite packed, it started on Monday at U Fleku , where Sigurd was brought straight from the airport. I met at the beer hall of the historical brewery with Tomáš “Vodouch” Vodochovský, one of the owners of Černokostelecký pivovar, and when Sigurd arrived with Pavel (a member of the staff of ČP) we headed towards the brewery itself and its museum, not b...