Brewdog visit chapter 3 (better late than never)

Day three started with a longish drive up to Varnsdorf to visit the second of our favourite Czech micro-brewers Kocour, we met the owner Josef Šusta who showed Richard around the soon to be completed new Kocour brewery, restaurant and events area whilst sampling a few of their best brews which were well received, we also had a chance to see the recently purchased sleeper wagon that will become a home from home for visitors who want to stay over after a few of the fantastic beers brewed here. Josef then treated us to lunch on the Noprosu restaurant terrace next to the river which was only surpassed by the black lager that accompanied it, in my personal opinion (and Richards too although this is slightly controversial as BrewDog also brew a fine black lager in Zeitgeist) this beer is such a fine example of the style that I don’t think I have ever had better and once again Josef our gracious host refused to let us pay for lunch.

Our last evening on day three started with a short taxi ride to the Prvni Pivni Tramway (first beer tram) which is a great place with three separate areas to suit your every whim, we chose to have our tasting event in the tram which was reserved for us by Jirka Stehlicek the owner (who sadly couldn’t make the event) with a sign on the table stating that the area was reserved for “travellers heading in a different direction” which I thought was very appropriate. The tasting got off to a flying start with everyone diving straight in to a glass of draught Trashy Blonde (once again for the first time in Czech) accompanied as always by the dulcet tones of the BrewDog ambassador Richard McLelland telling everyone all about the beers and the young company he represents ably interpreted by my wife Jana, we moved through 5am Saint, Punk IPA and onto Hardcore IPA which went down a storm as usual. Without a care for his own sobriety or the fact that we still had a second tasting event to go to Richard moved onwards and upwards to Paradox Isle of Arran and brought the house down with Tokyo* which at 18.2%Abv was a fitting end to the tasting and was incredibly popular with all present who were pleasantly surprised at what a great alternative both Paradox and Tokyo* make to the normal shots served in Czech pubs and when shared between a table of friends they also work out better value.

A short tram ride away (and a quick interview en-route for Richard ) was waiting our final tasting event of the day at the famous Zlý Časy (bad times) a cellar bar owned by the larger than life Honza Charvat (Hanz to all who know him and now Hardcore Hanz for reasons that will be apparent to anyone who was in attendance). Both Richard and Jana were in fine form by now due to this being the last event of the trip and also in no small part due to the quantity of Brewdog beer consumed by them both at the first event. They proceeded to take the crowd in attendance through a rock and roll rendition of three draught beers from BrewDog 5am Saint, Punk IPA and Hardcore IPA which again was a first to have three on tap together at the same time, the beers were well received by all who tried them including Adam Matuška who made the effort to come to Prague and support us. A great time was had by all including us we stayed on for a few hours and answered questions about our own business and our plans to include many other craft brewers in our line up as well as the normal questions about BrewDog and their rapidly growing business. A short cab ride and a late visit to KFC saw our three day journey at an end, it was a great pleasure to meet all of you who made the effort to come to one or all of the events and I will keep all of you who are registered with us updated with new products, new brewers coming to our pages and or events being planned.

Cheers – Mike & Jana Cole Odddog.cz