The European nation pioneering 'beer diplomacy'

 

(Thanks to Alamy) The Czech Republic has quietly invited brewers to teach the world how to drink for the past six years as the world's top beer tourism destination. At 10:39 a.m., the beer drinking began. Twenty brewers had just walked into a bar – a bar in a brewery in the Czech Republic, one of the world's great beer-making nations.  With Liam Taheny, a South Australian craft brewer, I clinked glasses while holding up my mug of burnt orange-colored pilsner with a layer of foam three fingers wide at the top. He didn't hesitate when I asked him what aspect of Czech beer culture most impressed him. "The knowledge of beer and everything related to beer here is just astounding," he said.

 "You're referring to when you spoke with Czech brewers?" I asked.

 "I am talking about ordinary people," he said.  "They talk about beer the way only, say, a head brewer or a total beer geek might back in Australia."

 Taheny, head brewer at Brightstar Brewing, was one of 20 brewers from Australia, Canada and the United States recently invited by the Czech Ministry of Agriculture to spend five days soaking up Czech beer culture.  But it wasn't just a beer-induced stupor. The itinerary included meeting macro and microbrewers, hops farmers, bartenders and pub owners – all part of the Czech government's experiment in "beer diplomacy".

 David Farley The Czech Republic has been inviting international brewers to the country as part of its "beer diplomacy" efforts (Credit: David Farley)David Farley

 The Czech Republic has been inviting international brewers to the country as part of its "beer diplomacy" efforts (Credit: David Farley)

 Bohemia, the westernmost region of the Czech Republic, has long been known for its pivo (beer). Since at least 993 CE, locals have been making the sudsy stuff here. Czechs consume more beer per capita than any other nation on Earth (and nearly twice as much as the second-most beer-loving nation, Austria); and in many places in the country, beer is cheaper than bottled water.  No wonder the nation touts itself as the world's top beer tourism destination.

 Yet, among true beer aficionados, Czech lager has long been relatively underrated, overshadowed by Belgian ales, Bavarian brews and the global IPA boom.  You could chalk it up to the region's tumultuous past century: 41 years behind the Iron Curtain meant Czech beers were hard to find abroad, and in the decades since communism ended in 1989, Czech breweries had to privatise and modernise, updating their brewing technology.

 But things are changing, and lagers – especially Czech-style lagers – are finally starting to get more recognition.  Since 2019, a network of diplomats and brewers have been quietly working behind the scenes to advance the awareness of Czech beer and inspire foreign brewers to make authentic Czech-style lager: crisp, full-bodied with bitter tones, often with a buttery after taste and poured with large foamy head.

 The Ministry of Agriculture is not keeping statistics, but since the government began welcoming brewers from around the world, Czech-style lagers from craft brewers have been popping up across North America.  (Australian brewers were only recently added to the annual beer summits.)

 Alamy The Czechs have been making beer since at least 993 CE, and they drink more beer per person than anyone else. (Credit: Alamy) Czechs have been brewing beer since at least 993 CE and consume more beer per capita than any other nation (Credit: Alamy)

 This tactic is similar to Thailand's Global Thai Program, an edible form of soft power that was launched in 2002 to promote Thai restaurants and cuisine abroad. That effort helped place Thailand on the culinary map of the world and sparked an explosion of Thai restaurants worldwide. At the programme's start, there were 5,500 Thai restaurants outside Thailand; by October 2023 there were nearly 17,500, according to some estimates.  The Economist quickly coined the term "gastro-diplomacy".  And now the Czech Republic is following in Thailand's footsteps with its six-year-old mission of "beer diplomacy".  After all, the thinking goes, unlike Thai cuisine, Czech food isn't exactly a big hit with foreigners.  But one thing the Czechs do well is make beer.

 I got the chance to see the programme in action when I was invited to join the brewers for a few nights.  One evening, we crammed into a small craft brewery and taproom called Pioneer Beer in the northern Bohemian town of Žatec, home to the highly sought-after Saaz hops that have been essential ingredients in Czech-style lagers since Pilsner Urquell created the world's first golden lager in 1842.  The brewers began asking Michal Havrda, the head brewer, a lot of questions and using terms like "decoction" and "flocculation." A few days later, they had spirited conversations with Vaclav Berka, Pilsner Urquell's now-retired beer master in the town of Plzeň, as well Adam Brož, the current head brewer at Budvar in České Buděvice, two of the biggest breweries in the country.

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 They also spent some time at Lukr, a cutting-edge beer tap manufacturer in Plze. Lukr makes side-pull taps that make it easier to control the flow of beer and give the finished pour that classic, thick, creamy head of foam that is so distinctive of Czech beer. Ondej Rozsypal, Lukr tap master and 2022 Master Bartender of the Year, stated, "If you pour it right with a proper head, the foam is going to add a sweetness and creaminess to your drink that will remain on your palate all the way to the bottom of your glass." David Farley Side-pull taps better regulate the flow of traditional Czech beer (Credit: David Farley)David Farley

 Side-pull taps better regulate the flow of traditional Czech beer (Credit: David Farley)

 Twelve North American customers purchased Lukr's specialty Czech lager taps when they began selling them in 2015. Now they sell up to 2,000 a year to bars and tap rooms across the US and Canada – and the beer diplomacy efforts are one reason for the increase in popularity.

 Where to drink Czech beer abroad

 In the United States, try Sacred Profane in Biddeford, Maine; Moonlight Brewing in Santa Rosa, California; Golden Age Brewing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Good Word Brewing in Duluth, Georgia; and Cohesion Brewing in Denver, Colorado for authentic Czech-style lager. In Canada, try Tooth and Nail Brewing in Ottawa; Dageraad Brewing in Burnaby, British Columbia; Main Street Brewing in Vancouver; and Godspeed Brewing in Toronto.

 We first met Lucie Janeková, a manager at the Institut Pivo, a popular Prague gastropub, a few days earlier. There, she teaches courses on proper beer pouring techniques and leads beer-focused Prague tours. "It makes me really sad to see a bartender destroying beer with a bad pour," she said.  "Czech beer culture is all about respecting the process of serving the beer and we're trying to teach that to foreign beermakers and tapsters because we've been doing this pretty much longer than anyone else in the world."

 As the demonstration at Lukr showed, Czechs revere the beermaking process – and this new initiative is the latest example of how this beer-loving nation is teaching the world how to drink properly.

 "You have to be really good at brewing to make a very good Czech-style beer.  And that's exactly what they do here," said Meghan Michels, a brewer at Holy Mountain Brewing Company in Seattle, Washington.  "They've been doing it for centuries.  To truly appreciate the flavor of Czech lager, you must visit this location and sample it." David Farley The Czech Republic's "beer diplomacy" efforts are the latest example of how the nation has long taught the world how to drink properly (Credit: David Farley)David Farley

 The Czech Republic has long taught the world how to drink responsibly, as evidenced by its "beer diplomacy" efforts (Credit: David Farley). Ryan Moncrieff, owner and head brewer of Rafter R Brewing Company in Maple Creek, Saskatchewan, agreed.  "We have Czech beer in Canada and it just doesn't taste the same.  It's never very fresh," he said.  "From a brewer's perspective, the only way to know the true taste of Czech beer is to go to the source.  That way, if a Czech person comes to my brewery and says, 'this tastes like home', I'm going to know that I nailed it."

 The truth is, that like a lot of consumed products, Czech beer doesn't travel well.  While these brewers can try their best to replicate authentic Czech brew, this hard truth debunks the great gospel of globalisation, that in the developed world we can get whatever we want, when we want.  Yet, to experience Czech beer as it was truly made, you have to head to the Czech Republic.

 But what the Czech government's programme will ultimately do is to inspire a deeper curiosity from beer drinkers about what it's like to taste Czech beer in the Czech Republic.

 As I held a freshly poured lager, I toasted my new friend, Taheny, and he said, "Here's to our eventual return to the Czech Republic!"