This summer we had an amazing time in the Czech Republic. We really enjoyed our time in Prague (Praha) and I love seeing the Charles Bridge and the Czechoslovak Hussite Church of Our Lady in Old Town. Sadly we were only there a couple of days and headed south to Germany. However, on our way south we made a detour and visited the city of Pilsner (Pilzen) to tour the Pilsner Urquell Brewery. We have been to quite a few brewery tours, but this one was quite unique.
It is designed to interest and impress both beer fans, as well as history lovers. We knew that it has inspired more than two-thirds of all of the world’s beers, which still today are labelled as “Pils”, “Pilsner” or “Pilsener. However, we also learned that the now famous Pilsner Urquell beer was born 175 years ago, and is still in the same location. I was impressed with the visitor’s center myself. It was really nice.
Eventually we all got on a bus and went to the bottling facility building. The modern facility processes 120,000 bottles and 60,000 aluminum cans per hour. That was also quite impressive 
. They shared with us the ingredients from which Pilsner Urquell beer is brewed.
No brewery tour is complete without a tour of the brew house. Happily PilsnerUrquell did not disappoint. It was interesting to find out that they actually havethree brew houses from different centuries. Their tops are copper and very shiny. It was a warm day, and the brew houses are warm, so we didn’t stay in them very long, lol. What I did think was cool was the we got to see the brewing kettle in which the first batch of Pilsner Urquell lager was brewed on 5 October 1842. It’s crazy, but wonderful that the historic way of brewing Pilsner Urquell beer remains the same today.
We made it to the end of the tour and what everyone was waiting for – FREE BEER, lol. This was the part of the tour that I found the most unique and different than any other tour we had been on before. They took us down into their historic cellars. We got to view the spillage tubs and learned the term “beer blanket”.
Now the fun part, the beer tasting. We got to taste unfiltered and unpasteurised Pilsner Urquell beer tapped directly from an oak lager cask. It was a HUGE cask and fun watching our beers be poured. We were then able to stand around and talk for a few minutes before we headed back up and back to the visitor’s center. I am so glad we made the time to do this side trip. Here is a link to their website with tour information and directions. It is definitely worth visiting if you are in the area or driving through. Kudos to the Pilsner Urquell Brewery for a great tour and a great visit.
I have a warm feeling about Urquell, and not just because it’s good beer.
In May, 1945, my father’s regiment ended up in a small German town, just across the border from Pilsen, which was occupied by the Red Army. At first, it became routine for the GIs to send a truck across the line to pick up a few barrels.
But a few months later, things got frostier, and eventually the Russian company commander began demanding ‘papers’ before allowing the truck across. My father’s regiment commander had his adjutant prepare papers (in English); the Russian sentries demanded ‘Stempel’—an official rubber stamp. He used his Army laundry stamp: First letter of last name, last four of serial number. It worked.
Too well. Soon, nothing could cross the border there without his laundry stamp on the papers. Eventually, a delegation from the Four-Power headquarters in Berlin including Gen. Walter Bedell Smith was turned back until they obtained the laundry stamp, When the colonel was rotated back to the U.S., his orders included a requirement that he leave his laundry stamp behind.
Prosit!
Do I remember that you’re in the Boulder area? Augustinerbräu appears to be available at Hazel’s Beverage World at 1955 28th Street, Boulder.
If not, I’ll put some aside next time you’re in New York!
….ph
I too am a big Pils drinker. My wife and I plus another couple stopped over in Pilzen on our way to Prague from our US Army base in Germany just a few years after the wall came down. Got my first delicious taste of Pilsner Urquell and I still buy it today from our local World Market store. What I remember from that restaurant stop for dinner in Pilzen at that time, our steak dinners with all the fixings cost about $7 each and inside each restroom a woman sold sheets of toilet tissue (none were in the stalls) and she cleaned the previous urinals next to you while you did your business.
Wow, on so many levels, lol. Thanks for sharing the memories. Luckily we have a liquor store near us that carries several types of international beers, including Pilsner Urquell. The one I can’t seem to find here is a German beer called Augustijn. It was good too.
Pheymont, What an interesting bit of history. Thank you for sharing that story.Prosit!