České pivo

Appearance & taste

In České pivo, malt and hops dominate; off-flavours from pasteurisation, yeast or esters must be faint, and foreign smells and tastes are not allowed. The beer is moderately to very drinkable, releases its carbon dioxide slowly and, thanks to unfermented residual extract, is moderately to very full-bodied. An important feature is the medium to fairly strong bitterness, which fades slowly and stays in the mouth for a long time. According to the specification, compared with other beers it has a more intense colour and a higher polyphenol content and pH value.

Pale beer has a faint to medium aroma of pale malt and hops, a medium to intense golden colour, is brilliantly clear and forms a firm white head. Dark beer has a pronounced aroma of dark malt and is very full-bodied; caramel and malt notes are permitted. Protected are pale lager (3.8–6.0 % vol.), dark lager (3.6–5.7 % vol.), pale draught beer (2.8–5.0 % vol.), dark draught beer (2.6–4.8 % vol.) and light beer (2.6–3.6 % vol.).

Production

Pale “Pilsner malt” from two-row spring barley of approved varieties is used; at least 80 % of the grist comes from these varieties. The hops come mainly from the growing areas of Žatecko, Úštěcko and Tršicko. According to the specification, they differ from hops grown elsewhere in the ratio of alpha to beta bitter acids and in a beta-farnesene share of 14 to 20 % of the essential oils. The water from local sources is soft to medium-hard, the yeast bottom-fermenting.

Mashing is done by the decoction method with one to three mashes, never by the infusion method. After lautering, the wort is boiled with hops for 60 to 120 minutes, with at least 6 % evaporating. Czech hops or products made from them account for at least 30 % of the hops added for pale lager and at least 15 % for the other types. The wort is cooled to 6 to 10 °C; the main fermentation runs at no more than 14 °C, and separately from it the secondary fermentation just above 0 °C. The beer is then filtered or left unfiltered and filled into kegs, bottles, cans or tanks.

Origin & history

The area covers almost the whole of today’s Czech Republic, from the Cheb Basin and the Bohemian Forest to the White Carpathians and the Beskids. According to the specification, for centuries mostly bottom-fermented, matured beer has been brewed here by the same method. The largest hop-growing area lies in Žatecko on Permian red soils.

According to the specification, Benedictine monks at Břevnov Monastery were already brewing beer in 993. The founding charter of the Vyšehrad chapter issued by King Vratislav II in 1088 mentions the hop tithe. In the 14th century the guilds of maltsters and brewers emerged, and later industrial brewing; in 1842 the municipal brewery was founded in Pilsen. The name “České pivo” was already listed in a treaty concluded in 1985 between Portugal and Czechoslovakia on the protection of indications of origin.