Czechs consider themselves beer connoisseurs. Yet few of them would correctly guess the exact length of the beer-making process. Surprisingly, it is not a matter of a few weeks, but roughly nine months. Plzeňský Prazdroj is now presenting the comprehensive process of beer production, from the start of spring work in the barley and hop fields right through to the poured pint. On the website jaksevaripivo.cz, it has launched a live stream that follows the beer’s roughly 280-day journey second by second. This educational project, involving both farmers and brewers, will showcase the farmers’ activities, the individual stages of growth of key crops, and the entire beer-brewing process at the brewery.
“We want to show everything that happens before the moment we enjoy a beer with friends. The production of the Czech national drink is a complex and long-term process. It doesn’t start in the brewery, but much earlier in the barley fields and hop gardens, where the raw materials used to brew the beer are grown. The entire period from sowing the barley seed takes roughly nine months, and nature plays one of the main roles. If you want to achieve the right result, you can’t cut corners or rush anything. That’s why we say you can’t rush beer,” explains Václav Berka, Plzeňský Prazdroj’s emeritus head brewer.
Prazdroj has teamed up with two partners, the JTZE agricultural group and the Loužek Obora farm. It has installed cameras in a barley field near Hradec Králové and in a hop field in the Žatec region, which will continuously monitor not only how the crops grow but also every step leading up to a successful harvest from March to September. The cameras will thus provide a live feed of all key tasks, such as trellising and planting hops, ongoing plant care, and the harvest, which for barley usually takes place in July and for hops from the second half of August through to September.
“The Czech Republic is the third-largest hop producer in the world. In recent years, the area under hops has remained stable; we are still able to supply domestic breweries and export hops abroad. For us, the key factors for successful cultivation are the weather, keeping the hops healthy, and having enough high-quality seasonal workers. Unfortunately, in recent years the weather has brought periods of high temperatures, more storms with the risk of hail, and longer periods of drought, which are not good for hops. This year we have had a lack of moisture in the hop fields since the end of winter, so I hope it will rain more. Viewers will then see for themselves how the hops fare this year,” says Aleš Mašanský from the Loužek Obora farm.
Hops are currently grown in the Czech Republic on an area of just under 5,000 hectares across three main hop-growing regions: Žatec, Úštěk and Tršice. Last year, 6,909 tonnes of hops were harvested from domestic hop fields, which represents a slightly above-average result in a long-term comparison. The main hop variety is Žatecký poloraný červeňák, followed in terms of volume by the Sládek and Premiant varieties.
The live broadcast from the field will also show how the crops are growing and how rainfall, temperature and sunshine affect their condition. Rain also has a significant impact on the sowing period for malting barley, which determines the flavour, body, malty aroma and colour of the beer. “We usually sow barley in March, depending on soil conditions. It is crucial not to ‘over-sow’ the barley, but at the same time not to sow it too late. This year, thanks to the early arrival of good weather, we managed to sow as early as the first half of March,” says Tomáš Sojka, an agronomist at the JTZE agricultural group, adding: “In recent years, we have been collaborating with Prazdroj on the ‘For Barley’ project, which applies the principles of regenerative agriculture to barley cultivation. Among other things, this means that the soil is covered with plant biomass for as long as possible and tillage is minimised. The aim is to ensure a stable environment for soil life, prevent soil erosion and have more soil moisture available during drier periods.”
Malting barley is currently grown on approximately 185,000 hectares in the Czech Republic, representing over 7% of the country’s arable land. The annual harvest amounts to roughly 1 million tonnes. Prazdroj sources barley from 140 farmers in the Czech Republic and purchases around 150,000 tonnes annually. For malting, it most commonly uses the barley varieties Bojos, LG Štamgast, Francin, Laudis 550, Manta and LG Slovan.
In the autumn, the whole story of beer production will move to the Pilsen brewery. Cameras will follow the malt house, where malt is prepared from the grown barley. Prazdroj is one of the few breweries in the Czech Republic to have its own malt houses and is the only one capable of covering its entire beer production with malt. The live broadcast will then continue in the brewhouse, where malt extract is first produced from malt and water, followed by wort after the addition of hops. “We then add yeast, which causes the beer to ferment, and it subsequently matures, or ‘rests’. It ends its journey at the bottling plant, where, after weeks of maturing, it is filled into barrels, tanks, bottles and cans and sets off to reach people in pubs, restaurants and shops. Only then does the 280-day journey to Pilsner lager come to an end,” adds Václav Berka.
The project on the jaksevaripivo.cz website does not focus solely on the live stream, which lasts around nine months, but also offers a wealth of information and insights relating to the cultivation of hops and barley, as well as beer production and the brewing industry. “We’ve created a ‘slow TV’ for brewing – instead of a crackling fire, people can watch, second by second, how barley and hops grow and how beer is brewed in the brewery. They’ll also see interviews with experts or can enter a competition for brewery tours and other prizes. We believe this will showcase the entire industry, which has a centuries-old tradition in the Czech Republic,” adds Zdeněk Kovář, Prazdroj’s spokesperson. Some 65,000 people are employed in brewing and related sectors in the Czech Republic. It is an industry that today extends far beyond the gates of the breweries themselves. Thousands of companies are linked to Czech breweries; the breweries themselves help to develop local pubs and restaurants and drive the entire gastronomy sector forward. They also work closely with hop and barley growers. The brewing industry contributes almost 30 billion crowns in taxes to the state budget every year. What’s more, Czechs truly love ‘their’ beer: over 96% of the beer consumed domestically is Czech, Moravian and Silesian, with only 4% being imported.