Prague’s Pilsner Experience: Ale fellow well met

There’s more to the Czechs than beer and castles. But that said, beer is pretty important. And to celebrate the country’s most globally-appreciated cultural contribution, there are few better ways than to do the Pilsner Experience in Prague.

Lager – proper lager, not your terrible North American imitation – may have been perfected in Plzeň. Pilsner do excellent tours there, of course: I’ve blogged about that. But if you’re in Prague, this is a zippier and even livelier alternative.

As you’d expect from the Czechs, the audiovisuals are just superb. You wander through the first exhibition at your own pace with headphones, and the commentary tracks you. (I say your own pace, but a gong chivvies you along if you dawdle. Fair enough: there’s some sampling to be done, and we don’t mean music.)

The historical stuff (Egyptians! Zulus! Vikings! They all brewed very enthusiastically!) is all done with great humour and verve. The tale of how Plzen came to devise what we now call lager wastes no time in getting us to the serious business of tasting.

A few more brief exhibits, and we’re into the fun zone of table football and, being Czechia, table hockey.

And so to the bar! You get a couple of tokens, each worth a drink: a crisp Pils, dark beer, or soft drink if you have to be responsible. Luckily I didn’t have to be.

I did, however, continue my diligent research in the Tapster Course. In this hour-long fun session you learn how to pour the three classic beer styles: hladinka (conventional head) šnyt (much bigger head), and mlíko (all head).

It’s a lot trickier than it looks. They say you learn by making mistakes. In which case I learnt a lot. There was quite a bit of spillage.

The tapster overseeing us all, Toby, was just great – funny, wise, engaging, and a good tutor. As a single visitor I was tacked on to a party of Hungarian guys here for a stag party. They were grand company, welcoming and jokey. It was all most enjoyable.

I got the certificate, although how competent I’d actually be in a bustling Czech pub I doubt. Nevertheless, an evening of fun and games, and a bit of skills learning, to remember fondly. The Pilsner Experience is a touristy thing, yes, but it’s all done so professionally and with such boundless good spirits, I found it irresistible.

Na zdraví!