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3 Oct 2010
This morning, we embarked on a short day trip to the nearby city of Pilsen (Plzeň). The city is famous for being the home of the Pilsner, the most prevalent lager style beer in the world today. At the heart of this is the legendary Pilsner Urquell brewery, home of the original pilsner beer since 1839. To get there the four us took the metro from Anděl to Zličín.
Czech coins: The Czech Koruna
Zličín Station. The bus tickets were bought from the Student Agency office here, it was about CZK 95 per person in one direction.
Bus bays at Zličín
Boarding the bus, it takes about slightly over an hour to get there.
The trip from Prague to Pilsen takes us back a third of the journey towards Nuremberg.
Drinks machine in the bus. They serve cappucino, hot chocolate etc. We missed the closer stop to the brewery and had to stop at the main bus terminal in Pilsen. We should have asked for the number of stops at the ticket counter. Unlike in Prague, taking the trams in Pilsen can be a difficult experience if you do not speak Czech.
Finally at the gate of the Pilsner Urquell brewery
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The view of the Pilsner Urquell brewery from the top
The brewery compound
The visitor center where you purchase tickets to visit the brewery. To our horror, there were no public tours in the morning unlike what was stated in their website! With luck we managed to join a private tour group thanks to their accommodating tour guide. The guide tour was in Czech, translated to Mandarin by the tour guide and finally to English between our group of four. The tour cost us CZK 150 per person and an additional CZK 100 per camera in use.
They claim that they could maintain the quality of the beer because they grow their own crops.
Different type of hops that contribute to the bitter taste in beer. Also as a preservative
The unique strain of yeast that they use, a sample of which is stored in a yeast bank in the UK for safe-keeping
Some of the old equipment that they no longer use
Josef Groll (1813-1887), First Chief Brewer, recruited from ... Bavaria!
Down into the tunnels where the beer is brewed and lagered
Entering the cellar which is kept at 8 degree celcius
Lifts used to haul barrels of beer
There are lots of tunnels here (about 9km), I wouldn't want to be lost in the cold!
Large fermentation barrels with beer inside and temperature markings. We were told that the temperature is used to check the extent of the fermentation process
End product barrels
Yummy fresh beer!
He was trying to entertain the crowd, it was nice. The wall is covered with (possibly) white chalk. Next, the tour ended and I grabbed some beers and a Pilsner Urquell mug at the brewery souvenir stall
Back to the city centre, a Czech brand in Czech
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Aerial view of the Pilsen city centre, I was enjoying the Gambrinus beer bought at the souvenir stall earlier
The Gothic St. Bartholomew's Cathedral, founded in the late 13th century, the tower of which (102.26 m / 335 ft) is the highest in the Czech Republic
Renaissance Town Hall
A statue at the square, Pilsen is a much cleaner and neater city than Prague
Tram stop just around the corner
Tram in Pilsen, there are about 2-3 tram lines
Multilayered Russian honey cake. A Russian specialy. Nice! tastes like oat cookies.
Lunch for 2.
After the rush to get to Pilsen and almost missing out on the tour, we were glad we still managed to see the brewery in the morning. By about 2pm we were back in Prague and headed next to the Prague castle, the largest contiguous castle complex in the world.
Check back for the next post soon.
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Check back for the next post soon.
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