untapped prague: rockin’ the Richter brewery

So last Friday night, I decided to finally make the big schlep out to the Richter brewery, which turns out not to be so bad, schlepwise, and totally worthwhile otherwise.

It’s official name is Pivovar U Bulovky (Brewery at Bulovka St.) and you can find more info (in Czech) here.

I had seen it written up in Evan Rail’s beer guidebook and thought it looked interesting, but never motivated to make the  trip, as it is quite a ways from the center, way out in Prague 8. However, it turns out the Bulovka #10 tram stop is only 20  minutes from the stop near my office — so when I found myself with no other plans on Friday, I decided to go for it.

It is actually very easy to find once you get off the tram — just a 2 minute walk down the only street that intersects the main one where the tram lets you off leads to this surprisingly (given the neighborhood) well-appointed, family-run pub.

Anyway, the point of all this is to say that this was easily the coolest microbrewery/pub experience I’ve had in Prague so far. The beer itself is very good — and  the overall vibe is much closer to what I experienced in the smaller brewpubs I visited in Bohemia this spring — which is to say, super chill, friendly, comfortable, and laid back, with surprisingly good food.

It appears that Mr. Richter spent some time brewing beer in Germany, so his beer menu includes a few Bavarian style ales (e.g., Alt, Helles, and Weisse beer) as well as standard Czech lagers. I tried the standard lager, the alt, the wheat, and the half-dark lager — all were quite tasty and definitely worth trying, and both lagers were really quite good indeed.

I was also very impressed with the gulas, which was easily the best I’ve had in Czech, and the pickled hermelin was solid, classic, and very garlicky. Grilled klosbase was also a winner here — and it comes together with 3 potato pancakes for only 95 czk (not something you see often). We also had the spatzle with bacon & cabbage, which was also unusual and most delicious.

So — overall, a very worthwhile experience for anyone seeking a ‘real deal’ beer experience and willing to make the trip out to this excellent microbrewery.

Sadly, no photos this time, but I will head back again & take some snaps…