Czech Beer Hunting

England U21 1 v Italy U21 3

Wednesday 24 June 2015

UEFA U21 Championship

Andrův Stadion, Olomouc

Twitter @ball_sup

Ah well. Mad dash back to the hotel to find a flight home. Losing their men in the box & letting the midfield run at them, at pace, has cost England. That's only added to the ticket debacle. As I am now on my way back to Doncaster Airport (circuitously) with 2 tickets for each Semi Final & The Final in my bag.

I'm guessing a fair few English were put off by the apparent unavailability of tickets on the website within hours of them going on sale. They did keep popping up on there from time to time. No such thing as sold out, just Not Currently Available.

There were queues at the ticket windows on match days. And I spoke to some English fellas who had bought off touts. The cheapness of the tickets & the lack of a Follow Your Team ticket option, means people double & treble up. That equation means empty seats.

The Beer

It's been mainly Brewpubs on this little leg. I'm not really a fan. I prefer separation & specialisation. Concentrate on running a great pub or brewing great beer. I found some (indeed most) of the beers safe & samey.

For the record;

Svatováclavský Pivovar
1. Vašeķ 10°
2. Svatováclavská 12°
3. Hefe-Weizen 13°

That's a nice enough place in an identikit way. Got a rustic, medieval thing going on. Bang in the city centre. Some brewing kit :"for show".

Hostinský Pivovar Moritz
4. Moritz 11°
5. Maisel 11°
6. Kazbek 12°

Identikit, except not quite bang in the centre.

Then a train out to Prostějov. To do;

Koliba U Tří králů.
7. Dvanáctka 12°
8. Tmavé 13°

and, U Krále Ječmínka,
9. Ječmenný Ležák 12°

Both had brewing openly on display. So fair play that. Great brewing smell in U Krále Ječmínka.

I'm giving Stand Our Beer of that leg to the Moritz 11°. I'm also giving that Stand Out Beer of the trip. It was Czech (not Slovakian), lager, Plzen, svetle style. And it was lovely.

I finished on 22 Czech Beer Ticks. And not an industrial amongst 'em.

Olomouc Tourism

The place has grown on me. After a good initial first impression anyway. The two squares. The Town Hall. Fortress walls. City parks. Rural riverside. All good.

Got a very nice peaceful feel to it.

155/337