United Nations of Beer

Radegast beer

by Richard Havlik
(Beer Delegate, Czech Republic)

Radegast beer (4% ABV)
Birell Brewing, Czech Republic

I have about seven pubs to choose from, all relatively close to where I live. Why I go to the farthest one beats me. Could be a number of reasons, but mostly likely the place is just little more open, less smoky and the bar maids just that much sweeter, also it’s right next to the grocery store.

I always enjoy popping in for a beer or two, just before I buy my loaf of rye bread, which is pretty good at that, but that is another story and this one is about beer.

In my new watering hole, located in Zabreh, Ostrava in the Czech Republic, they have two beers here on tap. One is Radegast beer, a light offering coming in at twelve degrees, a little stronger than the ten degrees. And the other is Kozel, a darker beer.

It is always good to know which you want, a desítka (10-degree beer) or a dvanáctka (12-degree beer). It all depends if you are there for a good session of beer tasting. And it is something that many do here, as the Czechs are breaking records in that department.

Are the Czechs proud of this beer consumption? The ones I have met are not really sure what to make of it, but in any regards there is always a toast to it whenever it comes up.

I have to say that I prefer draft beer over the bottled variety, especially if the taps are clean and the beer is fresh. The carbonation is a true delight to behold. I love how it tingles off the tongue and starts to play to the sensation of senses, as I tune into the beer before me and contemplate its deliciousness.

It’s the addiction to carbonation that has a hold of me, but really it is the taste I truly strive for, that marvelous flavour that helps me put one foot in front of the other, wakes me up in the morning and helps me see a brighter future.

What would I do without beer? Living has to be about experiencing all the possibilities of beer. I could go on and on, but this is just a few words about one beer, and a good one off the tap at that...


Ahh... nothing like taking in the beauty of that golden colour and reveling in the moment, as it plays to the strings of the heart. It’s like dancing under the moon on clear night sky, it’s all there, in that moment of joy. It’s an epiphany I have in the perfection of carbonation and taste coming together.

I hover in that moment, in anticipation of that very first sip of the nectar-like beverage, admiring its golden hue and respecting its aura like a I would a Czech beauty walking by, all ending with that a payoff that is well worth the indulgence.

The score card on the right of the beer in the picture is there to keep track of the beer I consume. Every time a Radegast beer is placed, one mark on the slip of paper. Something all beer parlors could adopt. A great bartender never lets you have an empty glass, always putting a full one down before you have a chance to look around and wonder when the next beer will come.

Radegast beer seems to be the big beer here in Northern Moravia and it truly deserves to have a great following. It is nice light beer, with just a slight aftertaste. The kind of beer that you can take a huge swallow and let the sweetness flow down your throat without being troubled with too much aftertaste. It is a sweet beer, with just a hint of bitterness, that's easy to get use to.

Radegast beer is my second choice after Budvar, if they happen to have it on tap. Yet it is hard to be fair, when there is so much good beer here. I have only just started and each day opens a new book and a new bottle.

My newly-discovered mission will take me from countryside to countryside and I will have to be careful in my praise. Since I’m new here in the Czech Republic, the adventure has only started and rumour has it that there could be over three hundred beers to explore.

Someone pinch me quick, and here comes another beer, and you know... I didn’t even ask.