Drinking beer in Prague

Maybe Prague doesn’t offer good food, but it more than makes it up in beer!

Czech republic drinks the most beer per capita in the world, and they reach an amazing 150 l per year per capita, almost 50% more then the second best (Austria). This means that everyone at average, including children and old people, drinks 0,5 l per day. With this kind of consumption, of course they create one of the best beers in the world!

Another thing about beer in Prague, they don’t try to make fancy flavored beer, instead they drink mostly pale Lager beers, and they make them to perfection. As they have a long tradition of drinking beer, it’s very hard to say which Czech beer is better as they are all great.

When you come into an average Czech pub, they will not ask you which brand of beer you would like, but they will ask you do you want a “desitka” (a ten percent) or “dvnajstka” (a twelve percent), referring to the percentage of the extract from the total weight of the beer (so the weight of everything except water). The 10⁰ (a ten degree) beer has about 4% alcohol (meaning that is lighter and you can drink more of it :)) and the 12⁰ (a twelve degree) beer has about 5% alcohol (a bit stronger taste). If you just order a beer, you will most likely get the 10⁰ one.

Here are some of the most popular brands:

• Pilsner Urquell
• Staropramen
• Gambrinus
• Krušovice (I really enjoy the dark one)
• Budwieser
• Kozel
• The pub “U fleku” in the city center offers their homemade dark lager beer which I strongly suggest you go and have a taste, as this is the only place you can try it (also their roasted duck is the best I had in Prague). Another fun thing in this pub is that you don’t order beer, you have to refuse it, as a waiter is going around the pub with a tray full of beer and if it sees that your glass is empty, it replaces it without asking – you almost have to apologize for not drinking more beer – what a great place! 😀

If you want to learn more about beer in Prague, we suggest you visit one of our Beer and brewery tours in Prague and learn more about the brewing process, the history of beer, and of course, have a taste:D

What is your favorite Czech beer? Any pub you would like to recommend? Let us know in the comments 🙂