The Tipsy Terrace Tasting

One of the most pressing things to get done this week before moving on was polishing off the varied beers still sitting around Mrs Velkyal and I's flat. My problem though was how to do it? I had basically three options:

1. sell them
2. give them away
3. drink them

Admittedly I did give a few bottles away. However, I decided that the most prudent way of dealing with the situation was to drink them, but better to gather a few friends keen to try different beers from around Europe and introduce them to some of these delights. Thus it was that last night I went round to my good friend Mark's place to sit on his expansive balcony with another couple of guys and attempt to get through 25 beers from the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, Scotland, England and Denmark.

Unfortunately we only managed to get through 14 of the beers, some pictures of which grace this post.

There was however one other beer on the list which I wanted the guys to try, the uninfected, though wildly over-carbonated, version of my Skippy Porter. I had previously only tried this beer with Evan Rail, who was very complimentary about it even though it erupted all over his kitchen floor. This time I was prepared, and opened the bottle in a flower pot, without flowers of course. Once again Skippy was a hit, with the guys saying it was one their favourite beers of the night, the smooth chocolate flavours I was aiming for were right up there, and the Fuggles bitterness was just right to add some bite. I initially thought that I wouldn't be brewing this beer very often, but given the reaction it gets I think I will have to simply refine the recipe and start making it in preparation for winter. I am finding now that I get more pleasure from my friends enjoying my beer than hoarding it all to myself in some attempt to save money on beer.

Thankfully I know that Mark and his family will be in the States for a few months at the end of the year, so our beer tasting will no doubt be repeated, hopefully with the added bonus of a couple of bottles of Strahov's Autumn Dark Special! On the menu already for when we sit on the patio in our new place will be my planned American style IPA loaded with Amarillo hops, also some more Skippy Porter as well as my first Irish Red Ale, tentatively called Mrs Velkyal's Red Hat.

Every prospect pleases!

Slowing Down

I like to try and post most days, it keeps me from being overwhelmed with the unemployment boredom blues - although July is more of a holiday preparing for the new life in Charlottesville.

I think though in the coming weeks posts will become scarcer, particularly next week as we get over the jet lag and sort out the various bits and pieces of life in America.

I still hope to post at least thrice weekly, I just ain't promising!

8 Beers, 24 Phrases, Pivovarský dům

• Pale Lager - golden, crisp, hoppy

• Dark Lager - dark ruby, aniseed, bitter chocolate

• Sour Cherry - copper, cherries, jammy

• Coffee - dark ruby, roasted coffee, stout lite

• Banana - cloudy golden, bananas on the turn, creamy

• Nettle - green (no really?), grass, washing liquid

• Chilli - pale red, floral, spicy afterglow

• Wheat - pale yellow, light bananas, extracty

Lamentations for the Dearly Departed

I have spent quite a bit of my time lately wandering around the centre of Prague, pretty much to keep myself vaguely busy and in an attempt to stave off unemployment lethargy. Whilst wandering about this morning, I was reminded of some of the pubs I used to frequent back in 1999 - 2001 which are no longer in existence. Two in particular came to mind, the Marquis de Sade and a place called Radegast, both of which were once on Jakubska in the heart of the centre.

I have mentioned the Marquis de Sade before, but still it grieves me to think of this place being the trendy wine bar it is today. The Marquis was one of those great pubs where it didn't matter the time of day you went in, the atmosphere was always very relaxed. In some ways it reminded me of the Harry Lauder, the north London pub in Nick Hornby's High Fidelty - including the fug of cigarette (and various other substances) smoke a couple of feet above people's heads. You could always rely on the Marquis to have a crowd of American exchange students looking lost and bewildered, and of course simply in need of meeting the certain people masquarading as a member of the British nobility, complete with retinue.

This is what the place looked like, sadly passed into the mists of Prague expat folklore:

Marquis De Sade in Prague

The old Radegast beer hall was simply that - a proper old time central European beer hall, which sold at the time Radegast beer back in its pre-SABMiller incarnation. The pub though was great, always lively and loud, but not with annoying music but rather the sound of chatter and the world being put to rights - a proper pub. Sadly I couldn't find any pictures of this wonderful drinking hole, but I figure most of you guys can figure out what a Czech beer hall would look like.

True enough the beer was never all that great in either place, but one think that has come to mind time and again lately is that great beer is not a necessity for a great pub. Prague is a poorer place for these once fabulous boozers now being wine bars.

What Would You Do?

My good friend, and superb photographer, Mark recently asked me what styles of beer I would introduce if I were in charge of Primátor? What a challenging idea, and I am not sure how I responded at the time apart from saying I would introduce an imperial stout as their Christmas special rather than simply re-labelling their Premium lager. Having taken some time to reflect further on this question, here are some suggestions.

Primátor market themselves at the "Speciality Specialists", which given their excellent Weizen, Stout and English Pale Ale brands certainly marks them out from the rest of the Czech brewing - I should point out of course that there is Kocour and other micros producing great ales, but we are talking about a brewer with a more extensive reach here. With that marketing in mind, I would firstly slim down the range of standard strength lagers to just the Premium, Tmávé and the 13˚ Polotmávé. That would include ditching the new 11˚ lager, even though it is a good beer, after all if you are the speciality specialists, why do what everyone else including Gambrinus, Budvar, Svijany and Kozel are doing? Some will no doubt cry that there is a market, and true enough there is, but what is special about doing that which is becoming run of the mill?

Regarding the range of strong lagers, I would focus on the award winning 16˚ Exklusiv at the expense of the 21˚ Rytířský, and begin introducing it to export markets - particularly the new 33ml bottle version. I am thinking primarily here of the British and Irish markets where strong lagers certainly have their following, perhaps not the elegant eloquent quaffers like us though.

Thankfully the guys at Primátor have already started addressing one cause of confusion with their wonderfully rich 24˚ Double, which is now being sold as a Baltic Porter. Previously the label referred to it as a Special Dark Beer, while Ratebeer and BeerAdvocate list it as a Doppelbock and Euro Dark Lager respectively. With that slight confusion cleared up, this 10.5%ABV heavyweight can take on the likes of Pardubický Porter - and indeed will be doing so in a taste test soon here, alongside the German variant Neuzeller Porter.

Having dealt with the current range, we turn to what new products would I introduce to their slimmed down selection of beers? Firstly, as I said above, I would start producing a special Imperial Stout Christmas Beer to replace the lame re-labelled effort currently used, and no that wouldn't mean re-labelling the Double and packaging it in a smaller bottle. As for other options it would be too easy to let my imagination run riot and suggest things involving rauchmalt, fruit or any number of weird and wonderful ingredients, but I feel that for a company the size of Primátor it is better to make excellent examples of recognised styles for an already conservative market.

As such I would probably look at introducing an IPA to the range, probably an American version with plenty of C-hops and Amarillo for citrusy zing. Given that they already make beer style from England, Germany and Ireland, perhaps looking for inspiration in the other major European brewing countries would also be a possibility - a Belgian Abbey Ale, a 90/- Scottish ale or a French Biere de Garde even?

Who Gose There?

It sometimes seems as though Reinheitsgebot is held up as some paragon of beer virtue, in much the same way as some people think all keg beers are inherently evil, and yet it was the misuse of the Bavarian Beer Purity Law which saw the decimation of the German brewing culture which had more in common with Belgium than Bavaria in the post unification years. The combined forces of Reinhesitsgebot and pilsner style beer wiped out practically everything except a clutch of beers including Altbier and Gose.

Last year when Boak and Bailey came over to Prague as part of their whistle stop central European tour, they generously gave myself and Pivní Filosof a bottle of Goedecke's Döllnitzer Ritterguts Gose each, mine of which sat in my cellar until very recently. Gose has a fascinating history, which you can read a bit about here, and has some distinctly non-Reinheitsgebot ingredients, such as salt and coriander. Thus it was with a great sense of curiosity that I popped open the bottle.

As you can see from the picture, the beer poured a light golden colour with a thin white head, which disappeared rather quickly. The nose was really unusual, spicy like a wheat beer, laced with citrus fruit, in particular oranges and also a distinct smell of sour milk - I have to admit that I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be that way and so I texted Evan to make sure. In terms of taste, again there was a citrusy twang, but like the flavour you get with soluble vitamin tablets, like minerals. The thing I found surprising was just how salty it tasted, almost as though the beer had been made with sea water.

Certainly a very interesting beer, but not one I could imagine drinking regularly. Having said that I will try it again when the opportunity presents itself, because I am aware that tastes change and you never know when it might just all click for me.

Homebrewing Equivalent of Itchy Feet?

Whatever it is, I am suffering from it! I have even provisionally penciled in August 8th as my first day of brewing in the States. I have it in mind to make an Irish Red Ale to lay down a bit for autumn, but as it would be my first brew in the States perhaps an American Pale Ale would be in order, or an American IPA?

One of the things that I am very much looking forward to is having a wider range of ingredients to choose from, in particular on the hop front, and letting my imagination run riot a bit - for example, I am playing with the idea of a Florida Witbier using Key limes rather than the green Persian variety, or even an Earl Grey Wheat beer with bergamot and ginger.

It looks as though these guys here will be our ingredient supplier, and if Mrs Velkyal gets her way, we will soon be building a still to start making our own spirits. Also in mind for the near future is making cider, which I believe would be called "hard" cider in the States, and from that perhaps an apple spirit. So many plans and ideas....