Czech Republic: Plzen

Colourful wares
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Friday 19th May

Pilsen, home to Pilsener Urquell and the popular brewery tour. Before setting off for the the tour we nosed around a local Czech craft market on the main square of the town. We haven't come across too many markets like this yet - others being mainly fruit and veg type markets. This one displayed many different kinds of home made crafts such as jewelery, wooden toys, woollen garments, Bohemian glassware, leather goods and a whole host of sweets, fudges, nuts and local Czech "pavement snacks". Not a big market but the best we've seen so far.

Beer, What Else...

Buying some German wurst
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Then off to the Pilsener Brewery where we learnt about the story of Pilsner Urquell from it's ancient beginnings up to the present day modern brewery. Three years ago this once privately owned brewery, amalgamated with our own SA Breweries. It was a refreshing sight to see some of our own local beers on display, such as Castle, Lion and even Redds cider! The tour is a 70 minute experience and takes you through the entire process from grinding the barley into powder, adding their own specially treated well water, their own specific hops and then the yeast. This yeast is prepared themselves and is apparently what gives Pilsener it's uniqueness. During the tour, you walk through some of the myriad of underground cellars and tunnels where the beer vats are kept and the beer is busy fermenting and maturing. It's a constant 6degrees down there! Halfway through, everyone is given a small glass of unfermented beer to sample. Pretty good and so cold. We are then taken back outside to see the Coopers Workshop to see all the original historical equipment used in the making of their enormous brewing vats. Even if you are not the kind of person to do tours in groups, this one's a must. Very interesting indeed. After the tour there's a short movie and then onto the alehouse, for a glass or two. The alehouse is attached to the Brewery Museum, located in the original medieval brewing house - the oldest of it's kind in the world.