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Showing posts from November, 2014

Just a quick question

Let's see if any brewers out can give me an answer to this. At equal capacity in hl, will the geometry of the brewing equipment affect the water and energy efficiency of the brew in any significant way? This just popped into my mind for no particular reason. I'd say it will, but I'd like to be sure. Thanks in advance. Na Zdraví!

Here you have a bit of Sunday bollocks from Spain

A specialised store form Catalonia has been kind enough to explain to us the reason why craft beer isn't so cheap (in Spanish) with four, very simple arguments that will surely end the heated debate about prices. The following is the first of them (translation mine): Limited production. This kind of beer can't be bought in another city or region, unless it is an on-line store, specialised in craft beer like Beer Delux. The range of craft microbreweries is no more than 100 km. It is a quality product that could be altered if exposed to inadequate temperatures. The production is limited and sells-out more easily. It is an exclusive product (emphasis in the original) and clients are aware that if they don't buy it at that moment, they might not be able to buy it until a year later. Bugger me! And all this time I thought it was because of the economies of scale, the margins set by distributors, retailers, restaurants and bars, and the acceptance of a certain part of the

I'll be fair with B:CRYO

The comment I posted this morning on my FB page about B:CRYO , the new product of Budějovický Budvar came out a bit negative, and perhaps not very fair. B:CRYO is, basically, an Eisbock. According to the video you can see in the above linked website, it was created by an accident (where have I heard that one before?) that resulted in one of Budvar's regular beers being cryoconcentrated (I like that much better than “cold-distilled”, it's a lot more accurate) to 21% ABV (which makes it hard alcohol, legally speaking) The product, which took two years to develop, will be of very limited availability—only at a few selected pubs—and is served in a rather strange fashion (you have to look at the video to understand it, and yes, that bottle is plastic). As a consumer, this is not the kind of thing I can find interesting. Firstly because of the price— Pivní.info mentions 300-400CZK for 0.3l, which is a lot more than I'm willing to pay for, basically, a glass of booze at

It's just good business

In the years since Evan Rail's The Good Beer Guide—Prague & The Czech Republic was published, the number of microbreweries in this country has grown almost fivefold (Prague alone has 23 right now, from 6 in 2007, and there is at least one more planned). Regardless of what some people believe, or expect us to believe, this has nothing to do with a revolution, let alone a movement, but with money. I said the other day We have a microbrewing boom in the Czech Republic not because in the last few years almost 200 romantic, beer enthusiasts decided to realise their life-long dreams, but mostly because business people see microbreweries as a sensible investment—provided you have the space, having your own brewery up and running it's not too expensive... And I have the figures to prove it. I've spoken to some people who know that part of the industry really well, and what they told me it's quite interesting. Not counting any construction works that you may have t