The inaugural pilgrimage to the Pilsner Urquell brewery in 1987 was an epochal day even though we were denied entry. I’ve tasted thousands of beers since, and always return to this one. This account is best accompanied by Antonín Dvořák’s Slavonic dances, which in my mind always will be synonymous with passages through the Czech countryside.
Previously:40 Years in Beer, Part Thirteen: In 1987, it was almost “impossible to find bad beer” in Czechoslovakia.
For as long as Barrie and I had been talking about visiting Czechoslovakia, we had considered only two firm itinerary prerequisites. The glorious city of Prague obviously landed at the top of the chart. Perhaps less easy to fathom at first glance was our interest in the city of Plzeň (or Pilsen in German), 65 miles southwest of Prague, with a present day population of 175,000.
As a recorded settlement, Plzeň’s history goes all the way back to the year 976. The city remained Catholic during the Hussite wars and became an increasingly important trading center on the route to Germany. In 1869, the founding of the Škoda Works kicked off an era of rapid industrialization, which made Plzeň...Read more
