How an expedition of brewers and tappers gave Czech lager a good name in Canada
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In Canada, representatives of the PIVO Institute, Dvou kohoutů, Pult and Lokál CZ spread awareness about Czech lager. They spent a total of six days in Toronto and Hamilton with a fully packed programme. While Lukáš Tomsa, the head brewer of Dva kohouti brewery, was the guarantor of the brewing process and answered all questions about the ingredients and the brewing process, Tomáš Krčmář and Lucka Janečková from the PIVO Institute, together with the general manager of Pult, Tereza Pospíšilová, acted as ambassadors of the carefully treated beer. Colleagues from Lokál and the manager of Dva kohouti, Iva Kubíčková, were a great support to the group and drew inspiration from the lectures.
The pub in Czech hands
On the very first day, the group took the taproom at the Merit Brewery in Hamilton under their wing. This event is called a "pub takeover" and it gave the Ambiente masters the opportunity to show the local brewers, tappers, and anyone else in the area who had a taste for beer, how beer is brewed in the Czech Republic and how we take care of our beer glasses. There was also a hands-on practical, so the guests of the brewery could try tapping in one go with a creamy foam. And you might be surprised to know that Merit Brewery also had a Budvar beer on tap.
Tap School on the go
After moving to Toronto, it was time for a real Tap School, a course invented thirteen years ago by tapmaster Lukáš Svoboda and packed up by Lucka Janečková for the road, held in English to nearly 40 participants. The English version of the Tap School took place at the Godspeed brewery, where they worked with local lager.
"We were pleased that there was a great interest in the course. Some participants travelled up to five hours for it," recalls Lucka Janečková.
A small internal Tap School also took place in the branch of the Asahi brewing company, whose commercial brewers routinely work with draught pilsner on their travels and in sales. They were the ones who could use the knowledge and skills of our tappers. "Their brewers knew how to care for and present the beer, but now they know bulletproof arguments that they can pass on in the trade," says Lucka on the flow of information.
It wouldn't be tappers Tomas Krčmář and Terka Pospíšilová if they weren't also drawn to the Toronto brewery True History, at which they visited and tasted some excellent light and dark lagers on tap. Brewers Lukáš Tomsa fromDva kohouti and Lenka Straková from the brewery Elektrárna talked to the guests about brewing beer and Czech lager.
Ontario Craft Brewers Conference
Lukáš also became a big speaker at the Toronto conference, where he gave a presentation to his international colleagues about the brewing process of beer as we know it in the Czech Republic. Lukáš spoke about raw materials and technologies, while Jan Podsedník from Bohemian Hop discussed Czech hops, and Jan Havránek from LUKR talked about Czech-made taps. Lucie Janečková, head of the PIVO Institute, showed the audience an illustrative example of how clean beer glasses should be and how beer should be tapped, sharing the classic Czech pours of 'hladinka', 'šnyt', and 'mlíko'.
Enthusiasm, surprises and litres of beer
A total of about 500 litres of beer flowed through the hands of the Czech representatives during the beer training. In addition to the classics, the Canadians and other foreign visitors were taught the pouring styles of 'šnyt' and 'mlíko'.
"We brought back a great enthusiasm for doing things correctly and precisely," says Lucka, describing the main motivation of the expedition. And what surprised her and her colleagues the most? That beer with foam isn't so frowned upon abroad as we often think, and that Czech lager is spoken of overseas as the best quality and most drinkable at all.
"I was most excited about the Godspeed brewery, where they brew great Czech beers themselves. The brewer Luc there perfectly represents the Czech way of brewing beer," says Lukáš Tomsa, the head brewer of Dva kohouti.
On the other hand the Czech tappers and brewers were somewhat taken aback by the guests' astonishment at the precise and repeated washing of the glasses. "Some people did not want to believe that beer glass could be washed so carefully, and especially by hand – not only with dozens, but with hundreds of beers in a row," confirms Lucie.
