Zatec

Looking around the old site and the wreckage of years of non-investment under the Communists, it's hard to sympathise with this motto. Shabby buildings, icy water-logged corridors and draughty halls where the wind whistles mercilessly around your ears are not my idea of a good life. On the other hand, at the end of the shift, a few glasses of the beer you've just brewed can lead you some way towards Utopia. And things are definitely getting better here, too.

Like all breweries in the former Czechoslovakia, Zatec was for 40 years owned by the state. Supply was strictly controlled so that beers were only sold in their own locality and therefore each region had its own brewery. The Velvet Revolution of 1989 heralded the arrival of Western influences now so embedded that the magnificent buildings of Prague's old town are today home to the likes of McDonald's, Benetton and KFC. For the brewery sector political change signalled a return to competition and the survival of the fittest. Numerous breweries have since closed; some have become part of multinational groups; others have been privately purchased, and Zatec is one.

The brewery has been in operation for just over 200 years, but brewing here - at the heart of the Czech hop industry, an hour north-west of Prague - dates back nearly a millennium. Occupying a daunting hilltop site, hemmed in by Zatec town's fortified walls, it is no surprise to learn that the brewery was once a castle. Communist under-investment took its toll on the business and, when Zatec was sold into private hands in 1995, it was in a very poor state of repair. The new owner - a local greengrocer - ran the brewery much as before, exhausting what value the premises still held. Just over a year ago, he sold the company to Rolf Munding, a British businessman of Scandinavian descent.

Rolf is one of those larger than life characters, in every sense. A big, burly man, he rowed victoriously for Cambridge in the Boat Race in the 1970s and on leaving university immediately set up his own business designing motorcycles. He has since branched out into restaurants, casual wear, property and even manufacturing music stands. Some of his prosperity has been generated from his involvement in the former Eastern bloc, as a consultant to western businesses looking to invest in an opening-up market. Five years ago, he turned his attention to beer and acquired the distribution rights in the EC for Kozel, a Czech beer that is part of the Pilsner Urquell group. When Urquell was purchased by South African Breweries, Rolf decided it was time to take on his own brewery. He settled on Zatec because, although the brewery itself was in a pitiful state of repair, its castle base and position among the hopgardens offered great marketing identity (Zatec is the local name for Saaz, the classic pilsner hop). Poaching head brewer Tomas Lejsek from Kozel, Rolf began the considerable task of renovating the site. He declines to say how much he has invested so far, but all the evidence suggests it is not small beer.

Two of the four fermenting rooms have been cleaned up, tiled and put back into use. All the pipework has been replaced, a new filtration system has been bought in and a magnificent state-of-the-art bottling hall has been constructed, to handle bottles of all shapes and sizes, for sale anywhere in the world. Most of the site is still not what you might call attractive, but the bits that matter are now all in working order. 'We're spending money where it's needed most - on the beer,' Rolf says. 'When we make a profit, we'll improve the buildings, which are structurally sound if not pretty.' Brewer Tomas has also reformulated and renamed the three brews. Sales have increased locally, employment at the brewery is also on the up and now eyes are turning towards the international market.

In line with Czech tradition, the three beers fall into three categories, called 10 degree, 11 degree and 12 degree. The distinction is one of strength, with 10 falling into 3.9-4.1% ABV, 11 into 4.2-4.6 and 12 into 4.7-5.1. The old copper vessels in the brewhouse remain in fine working order and the beer is brewed in the continental double decoction fashion, where the wort is transferred back and forth between two mash tuns at varying temperatures in order to release as much brewing sugar as possible. Brewed with Czech malt, treated water from the local river, the brewery's own yeast and hops grown only a stone's throw from the brewery yard, Zatec's beers are crisp and clean tasting. The key lies in the lagering. After fermentation in traditional open vessels, each beer is pumped deeper down into the hillside to the rows and rows of conditioning tanks that fill the cavernous, chilly cellars. The 10 degree is matured for 21 days. The 11 has 30 days' lagering and the 12 has 45 days'. The balance - the relationship between malt and hops that makes a beer drinkable - is excellent but the beers do not rage in your face. They have a moreish subtlety that makes them enjoyable in pints rather than wine glasses.

Main entrance

Zatec beer (probably the 11 degree) will soon be available in the UK. It will be pasteurised for longevity but will at least be naturally carbonated. How it fares against established Czech beers will be fascinating. 'Our philosophy is to brew the best Czech beer we can,' Rolf says. 'The multinationals are taking all the passion out of beer but we want to make a hand-crafted beer that people want to drink. We hope there's a market and that people will pay for it - we don't intend to sell it cheap.' This thinking is based on limited, controlled supply. 'We have no intention of expanding outside of the brewery or brewing the beer anywhere else', admits Rolf, who has hired a brand marketing specialist and a top UK salesman to make the breakthrough.

It may be that his timing is just right. Only a decade ago, the man in the street wrongly considered Czech lager to be as attractive as Siberian Chardonnay, a third-rate import that Del Boy might have sold down at Peckham market. But travel, they say, does broaden the mind. Prague is now one of the world's leading tourist cities and visitors have returned merry with tales of cheap, atmospheric pubs and fabulous tasty beer. Add to this the high profile in the UK of quality Czech beers like Urquell and Budvar and the realisation now is that the Czechs have had it right all along: where beer is brewed, there certainly is a good life.

Jeff Evans/OLN/Czech Beers (Zatec). First published in OLN (Off Licence News) in the UK.
Pictures: Marek Kodeda, Czech beer report - www.pivovary.info