One of the only two venues in Liverpool to Haus Pilsner Urquell Tankovna. 

Pilsner Urquell is a child of both Bohemia and Bohemianism.

The beer was born in the town of Plzeň (or Pilsen) in Bohemia, a land rich in both human and natural resources, which lies at the heart of what is today the Czech Republic.

Local citizens (289 people) of Plzeň put money towards building Pilsner’s first brewery. Josef Groll known as ‘the father of the pils’ was a Bavarian brewer, best known for his invention of the Pilsner beer. The first world’s golden larger.

‘The Father of the Pils.’

We sent some of the team over to Prague this week to learn all things Pilsner and their modern innovations ready for our launch.

Here’s what they got up to!

Day One

The team took a tour of the Pilsner Urquell brewery, from which we will drive our fresh unpasteurised tank bier every week to our new Haus on Hanover Street.

First stop after a walk around the visitors centre was the Pilsner Urquell bottling plant.

The team were taken up to the upper level viewing area where they had a good view of the plant. The wundebar thing is that this entire building is run by just a handful of people who keep an eye on all of the automated machines that do all the work, washing, filling, labeling, and packaging the beer before it’s sent off to thirsty Bier drinkers in over 50 countries.

The bottling line can produce up to 120,000 bottles per hour when it’s at maximum capacity.

They then explored the brew house which is at the heart of the brewery. The procedure for brewing Pilsner Urquell is unique worldwide. Here’s what they learnt..

THE BREWING PROCESS

The 4 main ingredients to make this wunderbar bier are Czech barley, one type of Czech hop, Plzeň local soft water and their classic ‘H’ yeast strain. It’s the combination of these, plus the special processes they use in the brew house, which creates the taste of Pilsner Urquell.

TRIPLE DECOCTION

The ‘mash’ of the malt grain & water goes through the heating process (decoction) three times while other brewers do it once, or twice at most.  This method is complex, slow & costly and they insist on retaining this process which Josef Groll introduced in 1842 which is crucial to maintaining the unique taste of Pilsner Urquell. They also use only direct flame or fire brewing during decoction.

PARALLEL BREWING PROCESS

This process ensures that they stay true to the original recipe & maintain the original unique taste.

The original is then compared to the beer brewed using modern equipment to ensure they match perfectly. No other brewer in the world does this. In Plzeň they continuously brew a sample batch of beer in the traditional way, using the original equipment and process.

Underneath the brewery are 9 kilometers of tunnels carved into sandstone. Creating a permanent natural fridge. It’s the perfect Pilsner store house created by three generations of beer masters.

The team were then lucky enough to taste some bier straight from the source.

JA JA JA!

DAY TWO

The next morning they took a historical tour around the city of Prague, with an opportunity to take in the stunning Czech architecture and the famous majestic land marks.

But we all know what they really had in mind, and it wasn’t long until it was back to business. The team visited their Lokal and practised pouring the perfect pint of Pilsner, with a ninety-degree pour and a sizeable amount of foam.

The team sampled their creations and took to the night to explore everything Plzeň had to offer. They had the chance to indulge in some of Prague’s finest delicacies such as; Roast pork with dumplings and cabbage, Schnitzels and Goulash to name a few.

With a few sore heads from the night before and fresh ideas from their trip, the next morning the team ascended to the airport to fly back to Liverpool ready to implement what they had discovered into our new Bier Halle & Cook Haus.

Na Zdraví!