When my wife and I were preparing our research trips for Good Beer Guide Prague and the Czech Republic, we first had to make a map. We came up with a list of breweries based on information in the Pivovarský kalendář, a publication of the Czech Research Institute of Malting and Brewing, and cross-referenced it with the breweries’ own web sites. Once we had all the addresses, we bought a regular map of the Czech Republic and marked the breweries on it with little red dots. That homemade Czech beer map became an invaluable research tool, helping us to visit every brewpub in the Czech Republic at the time and most of the country’s industrial brewers.
Now a local publisher has put out a professional map of all the breweries in the Czech Republic.
Called “Pivovary České republiky,” or “Breweries of the Czech Republic,” the new map covers the entire country on one side, with detail maps of Prague, Pilsen and smaller regions on the reverse.
It is accompanied by a small booklet listing the various breweries, with a few words on their histories in Czech, English and German. Unfortunately, it doesn’t include much on the types of beers they make, or how to get there. And it won’t tell you how the beers taste.
Regardless, it’s a great addition to the Czech beer canon. Printed by Kartografie Praha in 2009, the new map includes 126 breweries, including new producers in Chotěboř, Varnsdorf, Pilsen and Moravskoslezský kraj. Both breweries and maltings are depicted, as well as brewing museums and the country’s three principal hop regions of Žatec, Ústěk and Tršice. It is currently available at most Czech bookstores for 149 Kč, or about €5.50.
Just as we did when we researched the original guidebook, we’re about to take off for some more research trips this summer. This time will be a bit different: we’ll be accompanied by our junior beer writer, for one thing, and we’re now stocked with a GPS navigation unit and constant access to Google Maps, as well as a bigger car and a better idea of how to do beer tourism in the Czech Republic. In the place of our old, homemade chart, we’ll probably plan our routes using this new map from Kartografie Praha.
And yet there’s still something charming about a homemade map. When I visited Beer Planet in Brussels for a story last summer, the guys there showed me the map they used to pick up beers from breweries around Belgium. I was instantly reminded of our old beer map of the Czech Republic. And I was suddenly very thirsty indeed.
David
How complete is it? I mean have you found any breweries that are simply not listed on the map that you know of. By the sounds of it there are also no details on whether the brewery has visitor facilities.
Very good idea though (I think complaining about it taking so long to appear is non-constructive).
pivnizub
Quite a good idea, to print this map and the booklet; but in my opinion the emphasis is a bit too much on historical facts and on political correctness. In the german text, e.g., every village and hamlet is described with its german name, that can be funny, when they call Kolin “Köln”…… For beer-hunters the map is not extremely helpful, because neither the opening times of the brewpubs nor the exact number of brews are listed.
Evan Rail
It appears to be very complete, David. It includes not-open-to-the-public hobby breweries, including one that asked not to be listed in GBG Prague & CR.
Dr. Beer Tooth is correct — the booklet does not contain a whole lot about the types of beers, and there’s almost no travel information. It’s still very much worth getting, I think.
Pivní Filosof
I’ve seen the map and was pleasantly surprised by the amount of info it’s got.
Anyway, I am expecting some tasting notes and reports from the junior beer writer.
Honza svetpiva.cz
the map is worth byuing. Include all breweries up to date of 1st of April. yes, some is missing, but still very good, indeed…
Michal Pober
Good to hear Evan – and that you are finding time yourself to get out and about to check out new data. Hard work that research, I know!
Will this lead to an update to the “Good Beer Guide”?
We never leave home without it!
smetanophile
I found the map in the first bookshop that I tried and enjoyed reading through the guide part especialy the recent start-ups. I think it’s a step in the right direction to promote what CZ is really good at (in some places “what CZ used to be good at” but that can change) and ensure that the beer tradition in CZ continues.
On this subject, I don’t think that I’ve seen any reference (but I may have missed it) to Oldřich Vlasák’s EuroMP candidature campaign to protect Czech beer. First time I’ve seen a beer bottle as an election campaign medium and I’m hanging on to my remaining few bottles of his Nachod brewed campaign beer just as a reminder.
Marcus Rees
Hi Evan
Do you know where I can buy online? A search on google proved fruitless. Love your GBG to Czech, by the way – my favourite book ever!