Local microbrewers unite

Local microbreweries are tapping their collective resources with a new association the founders say will look out for the interests of the country's smallest beer producers.

The Czech-Moravian Association of Microbreweries (ČMSM), which elected its first president in mid-April, consists of 32 microbreweries from across the country, or approximately one-third of all those in operation.

ČMSM President Jan Šuráň is also the co-owner of Pivo Praha, a brewing engineering company that designs microbreweries and runs the well-known downtown restaurant and microbrewery Pivovarský dům. He says that although there are already two Czech brewing associations, they are both focused primarily on protecting the interests of industrial breweries.

"Microbreweries themselves usually combine beer production with sales to the end customer in their own restaurant, and therefore legislatively fall into a completely different category," Šuráň said. "[The association] should provide assistance and service in the areas of supplying raw materials, solving technological problems - since most microbreweries don't always have their own laboratories - and with tax issues, relationships with state bodies and the organization of continued education."

Brewers who would like to become a member of the association have to stick to production levels that do not exceed 10,000 hectoliters of beer per year. Most of the members are small family or restaurant pubs.

Association member U Fleků restaurant and brewery in Prague 1 is a malt Mecca serving up just one kind of dark lager that in a country famed for golden pilsners is unique enough to draw in beer enthusiasts from around the world. The brewery dates back to the 15th century and despite its popularity, has stayed small, and today produces just under 2,000 hectoliters per year.

U Fleků master brewer Ivan Chramosil has been brewing for more than 40 years and says it is necessary to combine the advisory and technological development activities of the 100 or so microbreweries in the country.

"Individually, nobody manages anything, but there is strength in numbers," he said. U Fleků is typical for Czech microbreweries in that it deviates from the ubiquitous offer of light lagers in most local pubs, according to Jan Kočka, vice president of ČMSM from the Kocour microbrewery in Varnsdorf, north Bohemia.

"There are 10 to 15 new microbreweries each year, and more and more brewers are brewing top-fermented beers like stouts and pale ales, while almost all other Czech beers are lagers, or bottom-fermented," Kočka said.

Though microbreweries currently only account for 1 percent of Czech beer production, Kočka says the craft is growing in popularity, and he hopes it will be more noticeable soon. To that end, in addition to helping microbreweries with taxes and in dealing with suppliers, ČMSM will also organize training sessions for brewers to learn how to make less common varieties of beer, as well as promote beer tourism, since many microbreweries also include hotel-style accommodation.

For their part, representatives of the larger brewers' associations have said they welcome the move, and Šuráň says ČMSM will likely collaborate with the larger associations on some activities.

Kočka compared the cooperation of Czech microbreweries to the microbrewery movement in the United States 30 years ago. "If we show others it's a good idea to work together, then hopefully the membership will grow."

Emily Thompson can be reached at
ethompson@praguepost.com