from summers past

Last summer I was in the right place to tour the Staropramen brewery.  It's...OK.  Now it's self-guided, recently changed from having a person actually take you around and tell you things.  I don't doubt that it's cheaper and easier to do things that way, especially with a number of languages involved for different groups of visitors, but self-guided tours tend to get a little cheesy.  Still, it's a fine product and I felt a bit of nostalgia seeing it on the shelf.

Say it with feeling - Staropramen!!

 There's a strong pilsner smell as soon as the cap is removed, tangy, sour, promising.  The color is right, although the head is a little fizzy rather than fluffy.  It's also very bubbly.  Other pilsners made in Spain have not been especially pleasing to me, but Staropramen is imported from the Czech Republic, so it should be authentic - and it is.  Refreshing bitter pilsner, none of the weird sourness or other interesting flavors that get put in other beers.  It's clean and classic, a beer for sitting around and people watching in the park, or relaxing at the end of the day with a book or a good movie.

I'm holding it up because there's laundry out the window, OK?