Billy beer

My brother in law came up to visit DH and I a couple of weekends ago.  I really like that guy.  He's such a solid man.  Hard working, loyal, funny, resistant to change.  Everything my potential sister-in-law will love if he ever gets around to finding her.

M. and I had wasted a good hour of our lives one day watching VH1's "Best of I love the 70's".  It was our first introduction to Jimmy Carter's brother Billy and thus to "Billy Beer".  The slogan was (I may be wrong here), "I think it's the best I've ever tasted.  And I've tasted a lot."

The three of us were on our way to a micro brew party later that day and started talking about favorite beers we've had.  I'm not really a beer fan since I think most of it tastes like water that didn't make it through a properly functioning Brita system, but in Czech M. and I discovered something in common.  We loved Velkopopovický Kozel Cerny.  (It helped immensely that it was half the price of properly filtered water.)  DH prefers lighter beers and thus does not share our infatuation with this heavenly creation. (DH just informed me that he does NOT prefer light beers.  He prefers lagers.  I don't drink enough beer to know why this distinction is important, but the record has been set straight.) 

Talk naturally turned to our trip to Czech and the absurd amounts of alcohol that the locals consumed.

Which brings us back to M. who proclaimed, "People in America think they can drink.  They are wrong. Even if you took Billy Carter over to Prague - he'd never be able to hang.  And that guy looked like he was a serious alcoholic."

Unknown future sister-in-law, I'm glad you appreciate this guy as much as we do.


*Kozel picture is the property of Kozel's brewing company.  I did not take that picture.  I do love that beer though.  Sadly, it is unavailable in the U.S. as far as I know. 

The taste of Czech

Saturday we woke up early and left the sketchy hotel. Our destination that morning was the town where DH's and M.’s great-great grandfather was born. It was a tiny little town at a crossroad with a population of about ten. We talked to three of them. I use the term talk loosely. My Czech is definitely functional, not conversational, and it’s not all that good. The whole experience was very surreal. Think about a kid packing up and leaving his country, going across the ocean to a land where he wouldn’t know the language or the people, knowing he probably would never see his family again. It takes guts. I have a new respect for my ancestors.

We toured the Pilsner Urquell brewery that afternoon. Learned a lot of technical mumbo-jumbo about beer, sampled beer straight from the barrel. Mostly though, we watched this guy who we later found out was a brewmaster from Seattle. There was a section of the tour where they show you the barley, water, and hops that they use to make the beer. There is a bucket of barley out so visitors can touch it and smell it. They have about ten tours a day, probably of about ten to twenty people each, all touching the barley.

The guy ate the barley.

I shudder to think about it even now. He probably has the plague.

We assumed our car roles, and we headed back to Prague. It was a true test of my navigating capabilities and M.’s Czech driving. The drivers were crazy, the map was terrible, and the three of us were exhausted. We were doing okay until Prague decided to put a parking ramp in the middle of the road and have all the lanes exit into the parking garage. Luckily for us, they gave five hours of free parking on the weekends.

Beer is cheaper than water

Most of you know that I do not like beer. I have never cared for the taste or smell of it. Czech beer has changed my mind. There are multiple reasons for this. First, I am cheap. Beer is cheaper than water, Coke, juice, milk, and every other drink on the menu, so I drink beer.

There are several pubs where beer is all you can order to drink – sometimes only one kind of beer. The culture around beer drinking here is fascinating too. A specific toast ‘na zdravi’ is said, everyone clinks the mugs together, taps them on the table, and then drinks. It never fails.

My favorite beer here, Kozel, doesn’t taste at all like beer. It’s sweet, not bitter, not overly carbonated, dark, and delicious. It tastes more like bubbly water with chocolate and coffee flavors. I have no idea why they do not export this beer to the U.S., but James assures me it would be not nearly as good if they did. Thus, I have amended my dislike of beer to a dislike of American beer.

It is still crap.