Op https://www.pivovary.info/?p=5350 en https://ceskepivo-ceskezlato.cz/seznam-pivovaru/vsechny/ kom ik overzichten tegen van Tsjechische brouwerijen. Wat me opviel was dat ze hun bieren nummeren
Naast de grote (Budweiser, AB InBev, en Heineken) zijn er ook tal van microbrouwerijen die met 'CRAFT' pronken. Er zijn veel kleinschalige brouwerijen te vinden in nieuwe gebouwen, maar ook in oude gebouwen. De lijst is best groot en er zijn afgelopen 25 jaar veel brouwerijen begonnen. Ze hebben vaak een goede binding met lokale horeca en toerisme. Ook is er een opvallend iets van de bierspa:
Bierspa's zijn wereldwijd geen uitzondering meer, alleen al in ons land zijn er meer dan twintig in bedrijf. In dit artikel stellen we u bierspa's voor die uniek zijn omdat ze direct onderdeel uitmaken van brouwerijen en microbrouwerijen. Kortom, ze brouwen er zo'n fantastisch bier dat u er met plezier in zult baden. (https://ceskepivo-ceskezlato.cz/pivovarnictvi/19/)
Op https://czechbeeralliance.co.uk/bohemian-brewing-history/ is een geschiedenis te vinden van de Boheemse bierbrouwerijen:
Beer brewing began in the very early middle ages in Bohemia and was driven by monks who produced it within their monasteries. However, it was in 1842 when the Pilsen Burgher Brewery produced the first batch of bottom-fermented lager that Czech beer became recognised as one of the best in the world with breweries attempting to imitate its products worldwide. https://czechbeeralliance.co.uk/bohemian-brewing-history/
There is evidence of hop cultivation in Bohemia as early as 859 AD and it was definitely a valued commodity. Indeed, King of Bohemia, Wenceslas imposed the death penalty to everybody attempting to export any hop variety that could be used as new hop seedling. https://czechbeeralliance.co.uk/bohemian-brewing-history/
Homebrewing was common practice in Bohemia but brewing officially started mainly in monasteries. The oldest known brewing monastery is the Brevnov Monastery in Prague with records of brewing as early as in 993AD. The first recorded export of Czech beer took place in the 11ths century from the South Bohemian town of Budweis (Where Budvar is brewed now) to Bavaria. In the 12th century, brewing spread very quickly across the whole kingdom, not being subject to any limitation. In fact, it was equally used as food and drink. https://czechbeeralliance.co.uk/bohemian-brewing-history/
From the 13th Century, royal towns in Bohemia and Moravia were granted the so called “mile right” entitling them to brew within miles of their town. To the oldest recorded burgher breweries belongs the Teplá brewery from 1200, the Hodonín brewery from 1228 and the Olomouc brewery from 1250. The aristocracy soon realized beer is a source of major income for Royal towns and started to build their own breweries and malthouses. Some were within the mile right, fuelling conflicts with royal burgers. The famous Bohemia Regent Brewery, founded by the powerful medieval Rosenberg noble powerhouse was founded in 1379 and has continued to operate uninterrupted up until now, thus making it one of Europe´s oldest breweries with continuous production on same premises whatsoever! The Albrecht brewery was founded by the “Ronov” noble family in 1381 and brewing initially took place right in their castle. https://czechbeeralliance.co.uk/bohemian-brewing-history/
King Wenceslas the second (1278 – 1305) laid down only burghers in the royal town within the walls hold the right to brew. This right to brew ways directly assigned to a concrete house a not to its owner. As an example, The Dobruška Brewery, brewing its fantastic “Rampušák” Real Bohemian lager up until now was granted Right to Brew in 1320. The famous Czech king and roman Germanic Emperor Charles the fourth (1346 – 1378) reaffirmed the right to brew in 1350. These very lucrative rights were however contemplated with much envy by the nobility that finally started building their own vassal towns. The nobility and royal towns eventually were dragged into intense fight from 1484 up to 1517 and royal town lost their exclusivity on beer brewing as a result. The right to brew was now available to royal burghers, nobility and the Church. Brewing was a major source of income for most of these – as an example, the Olomouc bishop has seen 28% of its episcopate income come from brewing. Even better on average, brewing accounted for 40,8% of all nobility incomes! In late middle ages, in the 14th and 15th centuries, burghers were thriving and joined forces and started establishing burgher breweries. A typical example would be the Kutna Hora brewery, established in a very rich silver mining town not too far from Prague. https://czechbeeralliance.co.uk/bohemian-brewing-history/
Malting gilds had key influence on brewing in Bohemia. The first one was founded in Brno in 1353. https://czechbeeralliance.co.uk/bohemian-brewing-history/
In the 16th century, beer brewed in Bohemia were either wheat beers (called white beer) or Barley beers (called red beers) and all were top fermented beers. In the 17th century, Bohemian and Moravia recorded 3000 breweries but the 30 years war (1618 – 1648) devastated the local brewing. https://czechbeeralliance.co.uk/bohemian-brewing-history/
However, it is worth mentioning the Czech Masterbrewer Ondřej Poupě (1753 – 1805) who published the revolutionary book „Die Kunst des Bierbrauens” (the art to brew). He designed a number of new malting and brewing equipment and was the first person who used a thermometer when brewing. He was advocating barley malts and bottom fermentation. He used to put “Rye for bread, wheat for cakes and barley for beer”. His final legacy was the foundation of the very first modern brewing school in Europe frequented by Czech and European brewers. https://czechbeeralliance.co.uk/bohemian-brewing-history/
In 1788, the mile right ways finally abolished and in 1869 the same happened with the beer brewing exclusivity for royal Burghers, church and nobility, opening the way to capitalism. This led to the golden age of Czech brewing, fuelled by new technology (industrial propulsion, steam, bottling lines, industrial cooling and yeast cultivation). Indeed, Bohemia was one of the very first countries in mainland Europe to enter the industrial revolution. Technology, brewing education and expertize in hops sand barley cultivation catapulted Bohemia and Moravia to the top brewing league in the world. https://czechbeeralliance.co.uk/bohemian-brewing-history/
Bohemia put its decisive mark in the history of brewing again in 1842 when the Pilsen Burgher Brewery produced the first batch of the bottom-fermented lager of unprecedented taste. The lager soon became a model and prototype of its kind imitated all over the world. The new revolutionary product was a masterpiece of Josef Groll (1813 – 1887), a Bavarian Masterbrewer, hired by the Pilsen brewery. It is reported Josef deliberately diverged from the traditional process without knowing what the final product is going to be. His beer has not enjoyed a complete fermentation and ingredients differed as well: Saaz hops, soft water from Pilsen and a much paler malt, malted according to British technology. The new beer was an instant success and all other breweries in Bohemian and Moravia very quickly followed suit. The last brewery in Bohemian to brew top fermented beer, the Krupka brewery, closed down in 1884. https://czechbeeralliance.co.uk/bohemian-brewing-history/
En na de communistische tijd, met name na 2000, is er een opleving van microbrouwerijen. Het bierland is het ontdekken waard!
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