Books About Beer: Good Beer Guide Prague & The Czech Republic

I’m not sure there are many things that sound less interesting than a blog post about a travel book about beer, but, you know what, fuck it. A friend of mine, who’s been living in the Czech Republic for a few years now, is in town and he let me borrow a beer guide to Czech beers. I’ve not been to the country yet, but I do love me a good book about beer, so I started reading it this morning.

yes, it's a travel book about beer.

Since this book is a travel guide of a place I haven’t been to and don’t really have plans to go to right now (although the book is very persuasive, Brad), I only skimmed through most of the sections detailing the various bars and breweries. Which these sections make up roughly 150 pages of the book’s total 211 pages of content (I did read the other 60 or so). So I realize this is a strange way to review a book. We’ll call it a recommendation rather than a review.

This beer guide, written by Evan Rail (a frequent contributor to the New York Times’ travel section), does a good job of making clear the kinds of beers you’ll find in the Czech Republic and why they are the way they are. Rail shows an understanding of beer that, to me, seems fitting for a guide focused on the subject–it’s very easy to trust his descriptions and assessments because he supports them with as much objectivity as is probably possible when it comes to taste. He also takes care to point out the beers that are ‘unpleasant’ as he frequently characterizes them. So it’s not all beer and roses. Reading over the descriptions made me really want an unpasteurized Pilsner Urquell and all kinds of other lagers I never thought I’d be interested in.

Also, considering the potential aridness and sharp-as-clay style that I’ve found in most travel books, Rail’s guide is one of the more accesible and enjoyably informative travel guides I’ve picked up. If you’re planning to go to the Czech Republic, or are looking for a good reason to plan to go there, I’d definitely pick up this book. And if you really like beer, the Czech Republic might just be ground zero for beer-philia. Apparently each year the country drinks more than 35.2 gallons of beer per citizen–the most beer consumed per capita in the world. So there.

Related Posts:

• Things to Do With Beer: Yard Work and Danger-Genius Ramps
• Drinking It All: #11 Sweetwater IPA
• Here Comes the Beer
• Brewed Slowly: Homebrewing Basics
• On Stouts: Don’t Judge A Beer By Its Color

You Might Also Like:

• Things to Do With Beer: Yard Work and Danger-Genius Ramps
• Drinking It All: #11 Sweetwater IPA
• Here Comes the Beer
• Brewed Slowly: Homebrewing Basics