Pivní Filosof

A few of you who are reading this must have also read my blog, but I’m sure most don’t have a bloody clue about who I am and what I’m doing here, so I think it’s proper to somehow introduce myself.

To put it succinctly, I’m someone who loves beer, very much. Of course, what I like the most, by far, is to drink it, but not in the “let’s get shitfaced” way (well, not often), I try to pay at least some attention to what I have in my glass because I enjoy how each beer is different from the other, even if they are the same on paper. When I’m not drinking (and sometimes, when I am) I also like reading and talking about beer, its history, technology, marketing, industry, news, etc. both local and foreign. Believe me, it’s a lot of fun. Really.

Anyway, that gives you a good idea of what this blog is going to be about. Beer. And pubs, of course. A pub is the natural environment of most beers, and that rings specially true for Pivo. Mostly, I’ll be talking about Czech beer and the local beer scene, not only because it’s the most immediate to me (and I believe, you as well), but also because some really wonderful things are happening here now. Especially in Prague.

All comments, suggestions and tips are welcome. Even insults are welcome; after a few pints they become a lot of fun to deal with.

And before I sign off, here are some bits of my beer philosophy:

• The only thing that counts is what you have in the glass. Knowing how it got there can be very interesting, though.
• Good beer = a beer you like. However, I believe there are beers that are crap and I will say so here. Don’t take it as an offence to you or your intelligence, we all like something other people can legitimately consider rubbish. Learn to live with it.
• Czech beer isn’t the best beer in the world. There’s no such thing as “The Best Beer in the World.” Well, there is: for me it’s whatever beer I happen to drink first on a given day (but you know what I mean).
• Don’t say “I don’t like beer” if all you’ve ever drunk was what is most commonly available on the market. I’m sure there is at least a beer out there that you will like if you taste it. Beer is the most fascinating, diverse, complex beverage in the world, a triumph of human ingenuity over nature. Wine doesn’t come even close (you are free to disagree with that, but you will be wrong, so don’t bother arguing).

I hope you’ll enjoy it.

Na Zdraví!