Prague The oldest mini-brewery in the Czech Republic is solving the crisis with a drop in sales in an effort to attract domestic clients. The history of a single and unique dark lager ends. From today, it also offers a light thirteen.
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177 years ago, one of the milestones in Czech beer history began to be written in the U Fleků brewery in Prague. The brewery began brewing dark beer, which is the only beer on offer to this day. It is today that this tradition ends.
The Dark Thirteen by Flek is a term that has worked as a best advertisement at home and abroad in recent decades. Also thanks to the fact that it was an exclusive brand for the brewery. Today, for the first time, a dark 13-degree lager, which was gathered by tourists from all over the world, will be complemented by the light, 13-degree version requested by the Czech Republic. The so-called St. Wenceslas lager.
“We are targeting the Czech clientele. Breweries in our country are increasingly presenting themselves with a varied and varied offer, and I have had the idea in my head to expand the offer for some time. We will try to revive the offer at a time when the whole of Prague is suffering from the decline of tourists, especially foreign ones, “explains the reasons for the” beer revolution “of the brewer at Fleky Michael Adamík. He is the great-grandson of brewer Václav Brtník, who bought the brewery a hundred years ago and whose family still owns it to this day.
There are no guests, no sales
Prague hotels and restaurants were hit by the dramatic drop in visitors from abroad, most of all Czech destinations. In this way, Covid liquidates dozens of Prague companies. Due to the focus on foreign guests, Flek also suffers. Compared to last year, the brewery accounts for 15 percent of production. And sales fell proportionally.
“The offer of light lager, which, unlike dark lager, is drunk by most Czechs, can help. But probably only partially, “says Tomáš Maier, who lectures on the economics of brewing at the University of Agriculture in Prague.
On the one hand, according to him, one big taboo falls, which was valid for 177 years, but on the other hand, something extra arises. Light beer from Flek will simply be unique.
However, Maier believes that he will not remain on the menu permanently and the brewery will be able to return to its uniqueness in the form of a dark thirteen. Whether dark or dark beer makes up only units of percent in Czech consumption.
“I don’t even want to comment”
However, some brewers refer to the change as a desperate consequence of the coronary crisis. “Some holt traditions are falling, but it’s a shame. And this tradition was broken by the covid. If people went to pubs, they would not have to change anything about the uniqueness of the dark thirteen, “says Jan Šuráň, president of the Czech-Moravian Association of Mini-Breweries. According to him, companies in Prague are one big despair today, pub revenues are falling to last year’s numbers,
And not only in Prague. The second wave of covid, or rather the fears of people from the disease, is expelling many people from restaurants from those who have already enjoyed pubs in abundance in the summer. Most of the pubs survived the first wave of covid, but no one managed to make up for the losses – and the second wave now defeats other businesses.
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Newly, for example, the second largest restaurant in Pilsen and the Beer Factory mini-brewery. This week, the owner Josef Krýsl will close it and release the staff. “It’s sad, but sales won’t feed us, they’ve fallen on a fraction of how much we need to survive. The restaurant will end, we will continue to brew beer, “said Krýsl.
The traditional Czech Beer Days have been held throughout the Czech Republic since Wednesday. Many breweries have brewed special batches, but sell them in smaller quantities than ever before. Mass events and celebrations were mostly canceled. “It’s not just about breweries this time. Come help your pub. Be careful, but don’t be afraid to come to pubs, “calls Martina Ferencová, head of the Czech Association of Breweries and Malthouses.
Of course, the call also applies to the U Fleků brewery and restaurant. The history of the company dates back to 1499. Ivan Chramosil, a renowned brewer at home and abroad, has a significant share in the modern fame of dark lager. He cooked Flek’s dark thirteen for 44 years until 2015, when he handed the scepter to young Adamík.
And what does Chramosil say at the end of the exclusivity of dark beer at Fleky? “Rather nothing. I don’t want to comment on that at all. ”
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