The Tasting Board has decided: The four new lagers on tap at Pult
Since its opening in 2021, Pult has been offering six perfectly treated and draft lagers on one tap. Two of the taps are permanently occupied by the national brewery Budějovický Budvar and Plzeňský Prazdroj, the father of lagers in the Czech Republic. Four more are selected each year, the main criterion being their drinkability.
The decision on which lagers will be tapped in Pult the following year is made by the so-called "brewmaster" Tasting Board, headed up by the general manager of Pult, Tereza Pospíšilová, who is regularly joined by bartenders, brewers, gastronomic experts and regulars. This year, the total number has grown to sixteen members.
Careful selection and year-round work
As in previous years, the breweries submitted their lagers directly. This year, too, there was a great deal of interest from them, and so the tasting board had to taste twenty samples. But the selection of new lagers is not just a matter of two days during which the board meets.
"It's about a year-round activity. We opened applications just after the New Year, I visited all the breweries during the spring to introduce the Counter in more detail, and now I'm due to visit the four winning breweries again. This time, I'll be taking our tappers with me to get to know the brewery and its beers in detail, which guests will then enjoy on tap with us," says Tereza Pospíšilová, who coordinates the activities of the tasting board and ensures contact with the breweries.
The Tasting Board meets directly at the Pult. Members receive samples drawn from the local tap, at the same temperature and in the same glasses as the beer is served to guests. They receive the beer under the same conditions and in the same condition as during normal business hours.
Unlike the guests, however, they have no idea what lager is in front of them - the tasting is done blind. Each sample is assessed aroma, taste, bitterness, bite and, above all, drinkability, which is the decisive criterion.
Who won?
This year's winners were:
- Antoš lager from the Antoš Brewery,
- Krasohled from the Falkon Brewery,
- Místní ležák (Local lager) from the Karlin brewery Dva kohouti and
- Vycpana vydra (Stuffed Otter) from Černokostelecky Brewery.
With the exception of Local Lager, which is returning to the Pult tap after a year, these are newcomers, which guests will be able to taste for the first time. "This year we have a really strong line-up again and the decision was not easy at all. But I believe that the final four will convince the guests as much as us," adds Tereza Pospíšilová.
Antoš Brewery
Antoš, a small craft brewery from Slaný, was established in 2010, continuing the brewing tradition of the royal town of Slaný, which dates back to the 16th century. A new modern chapter of the brewery began to be written in 2021 with new operators. Antoš in its current form represents a dream come true for two people from a large brewery who wanted to have their own small brewery.
The local brewers love to experiment and thanks to their inventiveness the brewery can boast up to 50 unique beers each year of different beer styles, from lagers to great ales to sour variations, stouts and porters. Antoš's lager is now on tap at Pult - a beer with full flavour and a pleasantly distinctive bitterness.
Černokostelecký brewery
The Černokostelecký brewery continues a tradition dating back to 1489, when the town was granted the right to brew beer. Today's premises were built after a fire in the first half of the 19th century and subsequently underwent major renovations. After nationalisation, however, its importance declined until the last batch was brewed in 1987.
It was bought out by the company Dej Bůh štěstí and in 2007 it was opened as a National Brewing Museum. Beer production resumed two years later and the brewery has been a cultural monument since 2018. Their Stuffed Otter - a full-bodied, hoppy and distinctively malty lager - is headed to Pult.
Dva kohouti
The Dva kohouti brewery and taproom was established in 2018 in Prague's Karlín district as a place where traditional brewing craft meets modern standards. Its founders are brewer Adam Matuška and master tapper Lukáš Svoboda under the auspices of the Ambiente Group. Thanks to them, the space of a former car workshop has been transformed into a business that is one of the few that combines taproom and production.
Under the supervision of head brewer Lukáš Tomsy, the two roosters are not afraid to experiment with techniques, ingredients or styles. The flagship of the brewery and now part of the Pult taproom is their Local lager - a twelve-step Pilsner-style beer with a fresh, balanced flavour and clean bitterness.
Falkon Brewery
Falkon was established in 2012 as a so-called flying brewery, with brewer Jakub Veselý behind it. He started brewing beer at the age of 13 in his hometown of Žatec and later studied beer technology. Although he uses the capacity of his colleagues and friends' microbreweries to brew beer, he quickly became one of the big names on the Czech brewing scene.
Initially, he concentrated mainly on top-fermented ales, nowadays he also focuses on traditional Czech lager. He won the tasting advice of the Pult with his Krasohled - a light Czech lager made from Kounice malt and Žatec hops from organic farming, which today makes up more than half of the Falkon brewery's output.
