August 24, 2009 - Primator Brewery

This afternoon we spent touring and tasting at the Primator Pivorar in Nachod, a middle-sized brewery in a medium sized town near here.

Primator Pivorar

This is one of the excursions where it is expected that the students will return intoxicated - a different way of viewing education than in the U.S. The tour was very interesting, as we got to visit the various stages of the brewing process, including giant open vats where the fermentation process was underway.

A large vat of young beer

Apparently the yeast cells get to enjoy the brewing process and wait expectantly for the new batch to arrive in their vat. After the third batch they are no longer good for anything and must be replaced. The tour ended with the opportunity to taste the 12 varieties of beer they produce. Their beer in kegs is totally natural and keeps for only 3 months. The beer they bottle for export is pasturized and lasts longer, but with some loss of flavor. Their beer is one of many Czech beers that are simply not available in the U.S.

Because of the tour, I got to understand what the percent listings mean that are usually used in identifying the various varieties of a certain brand of Czech beer - it refers not to the percent of alcohol, but the percent of sugar used in brewing. Generally the alcohol percent is more or less half the percent listed - 24% is 11% alcohol, 16% is about 9%, etc. So these are significantly stronger that typical beer in the U.S.

Fortunately some other people were willing to share with me and I did not have to have a whole glass of each beer I wanted to try! I had a chance to taste their Exlusiv 16%, Double 24%, Premium Dark, English Pale Ale and Stout. The first 4 were bottled and the Stout was tappped. The Double 24% was the most interesting and unusual, so it is the one I purchased to try to bring back in my luggage.

More on Nachod - Primator Brewery Tour