This post is kinda about a city, but it's mostly about beer.

The Czech Republic isn't famous for many things. If you ask your average American about the country, you'd be lucky if they could find it on a map. But one major product of this country that has been acknowledged throughout the world is pivo. Beer. Now I wasn't much of a beer drinker before I came to Prague, so I may not have a truly educated opinion on the matter, but what I can say is this: Czech beer is good. And cheap. Half a liter will set you back maybe two dollars at the pricier bars and clubs in Old Town.

So for any fan of Czech beer, there is a compulsory pilgrimage. A trip to to Pilzen, the epicenter of yeasty beverages. This Mecca of Malt can be found about two hours Southwest of Prague by train. There you will find a small but pretty historic town center, and of course the Pilsner Urquell Brewery. We arrived there just in time to go on the last English tour of the day. Unfortunately the bottling factory was on its weekly cleaning cycle so we didn't see the belts in motion filling bottles, but we did go underground to explore the historic cellars, a vast tunnel system that used to hold thousands of large wooden barrels of beer. Now the tunnels are supposedly empty, but it is my suspicion that a race of sub-humans live in the dark labyrinth, nourished by forgotten beer flows.

Today all the beer is stored in stainless steel vats, but a few barrels are still filled with an unfiltered, unpasteurized master brew, that serves two purpose. The first is for the brewers, so they can constantly compare the current batch with the traditional recipe to make sure it retains the original flavor. The second is for the tour-goers, to sample. That was some good, cold, delicious beer.

Let me quickly summarize what they told us on the tour: We're an old company that is now owned by a South African conglomerate that owns most of the Czech beers (Pilsner, Gambrinus, Kozel, and Radegast) and also Miller. We have a water tower (pictured above). Czech beer has only four ingredients, water, yeast, malt, and hops. Urquell is German for "original source." The brewery pays good money to own and operate a bus that takes tour groups 500 meters. The tour guides would rather you not ask questions as they really have better things to be doing than showing you around this place. Malt tastes good. Hops taste bitter. You're not crazy the theatre really is rotating slowly. This whole room is in fact the elevator. You've already arrived at the second floor. Don't wander off in the tunnels, there are over seven kilometers of them down here and nobody's gonna try and find you if you get lost.

Also, there's a store in Pilzen called "Snowbitch". Hilarity ensued.