Beerpedia

If Paris is The City of Light, Mumbai The City of Dreams and Bordeaux The City of Wine, then Prague is definitely The City of Beer.

It might seem inadequate to give such a nickname to a city so rich in history, architecture and art in general, but to be completely honest, Prague’s lavish beer culture is probably its most famous and memorable distinction. The strong bond between Prague and liquid bread – as beer enthusiasts around the world fondly call their favourite drink – is rooted in distant history (“The Art of Brewing Beer”) and has only grown stronger as time went by.

Today, many travellers and beer lovers refer to Prague as the beer capital of the world, and this is hardly an exaggeration – Czechs actually drink more beer per capita than any other nation in the world and it’s pretty obvious they don’t only drink it at home. And this is good news for any traveller with an appetite for top-notch beer. There are several different kinds of places that offer different varieties of domestic beer. Depending on your taste and preferences, you can enjoy pivo in bars, breweries, microbreweries, alehouses and tank pubs (where you can drink unpasteurised beer), and chances are you’ll find something new, original and different in each one. Probably the most legendary among Prague’s microbreweries is U Fleků, so if you’re up for a traditional experience, make sure you don’t miss its fabulous offer combining great beer with equally superb food. If your tastes are more contemporary, be sure to visit Potrefená Husa chain of restaurants where the whole range of Staropramen beer is available on tap.

So, yes, the abundance of beer is definitely something that sets Prague apart from all other beer-loving places in the world, but it is not all about what you drink; it’s about how you drink it, too. Prague is big on tradition in all aspects of life, and drinking beer is no exception. Once you set foot inside a typical Prague beer house, you’ll immediately be drawn in by the specific life-celebratory atmosphere. It has much to do with something locals call pohoda (“The True Essence of Prague’s Soul”), but also with a centuries-old tradition of serving beer in mugs and raising them to a toast while looking your fellow drinker(s) in the eye and saying Na zdraví!

At this point it should be noted again that Prague has much more to offer than beer and that you probably shouldn’t ignore sightseeing and the city’s blooming art scene. But it would be a shame to miss out on the pleasures provided by its real national treasure. After all, when one is faced with such a heavy dilemma – beer or art – one simply has to refer to the master of the written word himself, who posed the ultimate existential question: “To beer or not to beer?”