Two pubs in Brno

It is evening, and it is time to take a walk through the city centre of Brno checking out some of the pubs there. Brno has loads of pubs, so it is difficult to choose where to go. Czech lagers are among the better ones in the world, and it is tempting to sit down where they sell Pilsner Urquell or Budweiser Budvar. But no. I want to have something else.

In the Beethovenova street I see a sign promoting the club and restaurant Freeland. It says that Freeland sells beer from the Dalešice brewery. I tried a kvasnicove from Dalešice two years ago and liked it a lot, so I decide to stop there.

Freeland is supposed to be a trendy place, and inside there is a group of teenagers dancing and having fun. I trek towards the bar to see which beers are available.

There are four taps at Freeland. In addition to a Dalešice pale lager, you can buy draught beers from the Starobrno and Svijany breweries. There is also draugted Kofola, a Czech cola. I choose the Dalešice beer.

Dalešice's 11° pale lager is served with a large head and hardly any carbonation. There are nearly no aromas from the beer, but in the mouth I feel strawberries and some malt. The beer feels a little bit watery as well. I like the beer, but the Dalešice kvasnicove was a better beer.

From Freeland I once again enter the streets of Brno. In Vachova street I find another interesting place. Strakonický Dudák offers beers from the Strakonice brewery. That is interesting, so I walk inside.

At the bar there are several taps, and in addition to the Strakonice beers Strakonický Dudák also sells beers from Chotěboř and Měšťanský pivovar v Poličce. I choose the Polička beer and enjoy the 12° pale lager Záviš. I have tried it from bottle earlier, and it is an enjoyable beer.

After my half litre of Záviš I leave Strakonický Dudák thinking that it is a great place. There are better pubs in Brno, but a visitor could do worse than visiting Strakonický Dudák.

Pivovarský Klub once again

Pivovarský Klub was visited on my recent visit to Prague. A beautiful April day I once again took the metro to Florenc before walking the last metres to Pivovarský klub in Křižíkova street. The mission was to check out some of the beers on tap and especially to see if the house beer Štěpán still was not in its best shape.

Pivovarský Klub is a special place for beer lovers. With loads of bottled beers for sale and six draught beers there is always something to choose from. I went for a small glass of Štěpán first. Once again it was a disappointment. The interesting and good tasting beer from last Spring was still as boring as it was on my visit in December. There were nearly no taste nor aromas from it.

On the five other taps I could choose between Herold Weizen, Telčský Zachariáš 14° pale lager, Opat's olive beer, Strakonický Dudák dark lager and another house beer: Jarni Special 14° Märzen.

I chose the dark lager. Strakonický Dudák was nearly black with a nose of coffee. In the mouth it was sweet, and it nearly felt like a malzbier with some coffee in the finish. I liked it, but I feel there are many better dark lagers in the Czech Republic than this. After half a glass I was bored of the beer.

Perhaps I chose the wrong beers from the Pivovarský Klub this time? I felt a little bit disappointed from the visit. Perhaps I should rather have gone to Zlý Časy, U Prince Miroslava or Prague Beer Museum? These pubs have a better selection in draught beers at the moment and could be more interesting for a beer visitor to Prague. But I know will be back to Pivovarský Klub. The excellent service makes up for the beers this time around.