Pilsner Urquell

PILSNER URQUELL
Discover the history of the place where the brewer Josef Groll brewed the first batch of bottom-fermented lager Pilsner Urquell 180 years ago. A tour of the Prazdroj Brewery will take you to the modern bottling plant, and the sensory exhibition will show you what ingredients this famous lager is made from. You can view directly into the heart of the brewery, the historical and contemporary brewhouse. At the end, you can enjoy the atmosphere of the brewery’s historical cellars, where you can taste unfiltered and unpasteurized Pilsner Urquell beer from an oak lager barrel. You can then enjoy this unique beer while sitting in the parlor with an accompanying program. Tours take place every day at the times listed on the website prazdrojvisit.cz. If your group has more than 15 people, you can book your own date and time.
Get to know the unique Gambrinus Brewery! You’ll become familiar with the production process and the history of the brewery, but most of all you’ll get to try the school of beer drafting, an important part of beer culture. The tour’s biggest attraction is the rich degustation of various types of Gambrinus beers. What’s more, you’ll get to taste the beer that only our brewers taste – the unmatured beer. Guided tours run from Friday to Sunday at predetermined times. For groups of 15 or more, you can book any date or time. More information: www.prazdrojvisit.cz.
TIP: Hold your own private party right in the heart of the Gambrinus brewery. For reservations call +420 735 189 019 .

Did you know that…?

The history of the legendary lager Pilsner Urquell began in 1842 and since then its reputation has spread throughout the world. Pilsner Urquell has become an inspiration for more than two thirds of all the world's beers, still known as pils, pilsner, pilsener.

THE COOPERS OF PILSEN URQUELL ARE ONE OF THE LAST IN THE WORLD TO CARRY OUT THIS CRAFT

Cooping, or barrel-making, has always been one of the traditional trades of brewing. The brewery coopers took care of the production and maintenance of fermenting vats and lager barrels, as well as the smaller transport kegs. Today, the Plzeňský Prazdroj brewery is one of the last places in Europe where this traditional craft is preserved and continues to develop.
The Prazdroj coopers still make wooden barrels using the original demanding process. This is found in no textbook but is passed on from master to journeyman. They use the highest quality slow-growing oak wood. The wood must be knotless and dried naturally for at least eight years. Brewer’s barrels, unlike wine barrels, must be pitched before each use. The layer that pitch creates at 200° C disinfects the barrel while preventing the beer from contacting the wood. Brewer coopers produce and maintain large lager barrels holding up to 46 hectoliters and weigh up to 700 kilograms, which can be seen as part of a Pilsner Urquell brewery tour. Pilsner Urquell beer matures in these barrels in historic cellars at a temperature of 6 to 7° C. The cellars of the Pilsen brewery are the only place where visitors can taste unfiltered and unpasteurized lager tapped from oak barrels.

Did you know that…?

A group of coopers consists of eight members, all who take care of the oak barrels and vats in the brewery cellars. Thanks to them, a small part of the Pilsner Urquell beer can be produced using traditional methods and compared to the quality of the beer matured in modern cylindrical-conical tanks. In addition to the large barrels, the brewer coopers also take care of the transport kegs, where beer is taken on special occasions and to selected pubs.