Czech Republic Guide
West Bohemia
Pilsner Urquell brewery
Most people come to Plzeň to sample its famous beer, the original Plzeňský Prazdroj or Pilsner Urquell (its more familiar Germanized export name). Beer has been brewed in the town since its foundation in 1295, but it wasn't until 1842 that the local Bürgerliche Brauhaus produced the first pale gold Pilsner-style beer, after a near-riot by the townsfolk over the declining quality of their beer. The new brew was a bottom-fermented variety, which quickly became popular across central Europe, spawning thousands of paler imitations under the generic name of Pilsner – hence the brewers' addition of the suffix Prazdroj or Urquell (meaning "original"), to show just who thought of it first. The superiority of Plzeň's beer is allegedly due to a combination of the soft local water and world-renowned Žatec hops.
For a guided tour of the brewery (1hr 45min; 150Kč; 
377 062 888, 
www.prazdroj.cz ; available in English), you can either book in advance or simply show up and join one of the scheduled groups (May– Sept 10.30am, 12.30pm, 2pm & 4pm; Oct– April 12.30pm, 2pm & 4pm). Tours include a beer-tasting session and a brief and gloriously tacky video show, as well as a look at the cellars. If the technological details of brewing don't appeal, you could just settle for the real thing at the vast Na spílcepub ( www.naspilce.com ), the Czech Republic's largest (Mon– Thurs & Sat 11am–10pm, Fri 11am–11pm, Sun 11am–9pm), beyond the brewery's triumphal arch. The arch itself, built in 1892 to commemorate the beer's fiftieth birthday, has been depicted on every authentic bottle of Pilsner Urquell ever since. Alternatively, you could try the historical angle at the Pivovarské muzeum (Pivovarské muzeum), or time your visit with Plzeň's annual beer festival, held early in October, as a preamble to the Munich Bierfest.