Comments on Pivní Filosof - Beer Philosopher: A false start

The food was a total rip-off, in my opinion. 80 Kr...

2009-05-30T21:09:36.716+02:00

The food was a total rip-off, in my opinion.
80 Kr for a small bowl of thin soup and a stale roll. You wouldn't get charged that in tourist areas of Prague!
By the end of the week, some tents were offering a free pint if you bought a meal. Looks like the caterers were left with a lot of meals to shift. And at 40 Kr a go, the beer wasn't cheap either.
On the positive side, the number of available beers was very impressive. And although the venue was too far out of town and lacked atmosphere, there was plenty of seating and I had no trouble getting served.
Mike

Need to get beack to PRague soon! Btw, love the Zl...

2009-05-27T13:20:00.629+02:00

Need to get beack to PRague soon! Btw, love the Zlý Časy glass!

I went along on Saturday with 8 people, arriving j...

2009-05-26T22:48:10.315+02:00

I went along on Saturday with 8 people, arriving just after 6pm.
Even at the busiest part of the evening the tents had lots of free seats, but the waiting staff were running around slightly struggling to cope.
I think they are trying to put on a huge festival but they haven't got enough people who want to go.
I would have checked out Zly Casy if I'd known about it.

Honza, I agree with you 100%. I am really happy ...

2009-05-26T18:20:09.012+02:00

Honza,

I agree with you 100%. I am really happy that this year's festival includes beers from micros, I am also happy that more breweries are present this year than last year. I do really hope they do as well as the all did in 2008. I only wish the venue had a bit more atmosphere....

Anyway, it is great that we have two festivals in Prague at the same time, one for the general public, the other one for geeks like us (and for what I've heard, the geek's one is doing pretty well)

Well, this the "problem" with all the beer geeks, ...

2009-05-26T10:35:45.648+02:00

Well, this the "problem" with all the beer geeks, including me. I'd prefer to go to Zly casy too, but for promotion for microbreweries, event at Letnany is a better option. There new to many regular drinkers.

I was there only on Sunday evening, it was not so crowded, so everyhting was easy.

I dont like the surroundings. But as there were supposed to be two lines of tents, but they had to pull down the right one due the problems with near by airport, it might have looked different.

Honza svet piva

I was at Letnany on Saturday and thought it was fa...

2009-05-25T20:06:47.971+02:00

I was at Letnany on Saturday and thought it was fantastic. I had some excellent pints of Kout and Purkmistr, and enjoyed the music and food as well. I will definitely be going again.

It sounds like your experience was similar to mine at the Christmas Beer Market. I attended the first session at which there was only one tap working and a half hour line for a beer, which left a bad taste in my mouth.

gnoff, I've heard about what you and your mates di...

2009-05-25T19:28:09.474+02:00

gnoff,
I've heard about what you and your mates did at Zlý Časy on Saturday.

BTW. I stopped by there today. Lovely beer list. Those who didn't go missed the amazing Kopřivnice 14° tm. It tasted almost like a Belgian Abbey beer. Simply lovely.

I agree with both Velký Al and Blabous. I remember...

2009-05-25T19:25:34.922+02:00

I agree with both Velký Al and Blabous. I remember last year outside each tent there was a banner of each of the breweries tapped there. This time it was all about walking in and checking what was on the menu.

Another thing. After the first day last year I was looking forward to going there again. This time, I don't know, I don't think I will be missing much if I don't go. I'd much rather go to the festival at Zlý Časy.

There seem to be mixed reviews about the food, though. I've read and heard good comments on it (paní Velkalová among them), but I wasn't expecting anything memorable.

The small beer issue. That is the lack of flexibility that the tolar gives you. I do like the tolar system, makes service a lot faster than it would otherwise be, but it's got its disadvantages. For smaller beers, you have Zlý Časy's festival.

I was there yesterday. The beer was good, especial...

2009-05-25T14:01:06.738+02:00

I was there yesterday.
The beer was good, especially EPA.
But...
1. There was no information outside the tents what was on tap inside.
2. The food was disappointing - utopenec in hot sauce in Nachod tent had a lot of ketchup in it (wtf?) and Big american burger in the Micro tent was of Mc Donald's size :-(
3. I would greatly appreciate small beers to taste more of them.
4. It would be great if one could buy less than 5tl. After some beers I would go for more, but not for 5 more, shame.
Bottomline: I expected more.

P.S.: The waitresses were nice but their dresses were pitiful.

I think there are more systemic problems with the ...

2009-05-25T12:59:07.164+02:00

I think there are more systemic problems with the Czech Beer Festival, which I will address more fully on Fuggled tomorrow. Basically I was seriously under-impressed.

Went to the Czech beer festival the first day when...

2009-05-25T12:39:11.247+02:00

Went to the Czech beer festival the first day when we met you, then to the Zly Casy one on saturday. They were rotating the kegs fairly often at Zly Casy, ended up drinking there for 8 hours straight :)