In pastel coloured Prague beer is served in plain glasses by jowl cheeked men with mullets, while through once grey streets gorgeous facades coat elaborate interiors. Such is definitely the case with one of the world’s most imitated originals, Pilsner Urquell. HISTORY The epitome of Czech brewing expertise, Pilsner Urquell was crafted by visionaries back in 1842 as the antithesis of the dark, cloudy beers that had previously enjoyed a monopoly born of benign ignorance. The new golden beer, originally called Plzensky Pivo (Pilsner Beer) after the town in which it was brewed, spawned countless originals, eventually requiring a change of name to ...  Read the complete review

For this review I thought I would leave my computer and go "on location" - when writing a review about the Czech Republic's most famous beer, it's really handy to be living down the road from one of best Pilsner pubs in the country! "Hostinec U Blahovky" on Gorkeho, Brno is a small, old fashioned pub which seats perhaps twenty, and it's especially good during the summer, when there are some benches outside to stand at and enjoy the brew. The pub has won awards from the Pilsner brewery in the past for the quality of it's beer, and is certainly one of the most cherished places in Brno to go and sup a few crisp cold ones. It's ...  Read the complete review

Urquell means 'original source' and PILSNER URQUELL is indeed the original pilsner beer. Of course it has been much copied - usually by lesser, blander beers - throughout the world. In 1838, the burghers of Plzen (Pilsen in German), in the Czech Republic, decided to brew the new bottom fermented beer. Joseph Grolle, a young Bavarian brewmaster was hired for the purpose and, in 1842, the first pilsen lager was produced. Bavarian lagers tended to be dark or amber, but the Pilsen version was deep golden and crystal clear - due to the extremely pale Bohemian malt used in the process and the limestone content of the local water - thus was born the ...  Read the complete review

I went to the Czech Republic last year and this was the main beer in the pubs. I had not even heard of it before but i thought i would give it a go. So i went to the bar and in my broken Czech ordered a Pilsner. It came in a 1 litre glass with a MASSIVE head. It was very strong out of the pumps there as well (12%, whereas Carling is just 4.1%) however you could not tell by the taste that it was so strong. It has a much crisper, fresher taste than the lagers widely available in English pubs. The only problem with this beer is i have not seen it once since i came back from Prague which is a ...  Read the complete review