My wife and I have just arrived in Prague. Most of the day was spent visiting tourist attractions like the Charles Bridge. However, we find that the best way to truly get to know a city and its people is through beer. If you can find the right spots, you’ll meet locals and have fascinating conversations. And since the Czech Republic consumes more beer per capita than any other nation in the world, this approach is especially apropos. So we also spent part of the day prowling Prague for beer.

U Fleku

Dating from 1499, U Fleku is probably the world’s oldest brewpub still in operation. This brewery/restaurant is packed with charm, character and history.

The restaurant has both indoor and outdoor seating. When the weather is nice, all the action and fun is in their outdoor, walled beer garden.

U Fleku is well known among informed beer enthusiasts so there are some tourist visitors. However, you will meet lots of interesting people. For example, we met three gents from Stockholm that were fun and engaging. One played in a heavy metal band, wore a studded denim vest and sported various piercings and tattoos. Another was a home brewer. We were thrilled to make friends with them.

U Fleku makes only one beer – a dark lager with robust spicy and coffee notes. At 4.6% ABV, it is a perfect beer for lunch.

U Fleku should be the first beer stop in Prague for any beer traveler. You may be tempted to make it your last Prague beer stop also.

Zly Casy

Outside of the tourist realm is a restaurant and bar that provides true insight into the emerging modern craft beer movement in the Czech Republic. Zly Casy is filled with Prague locals and lots of excellent beer.

This multi-level bar and restaurant is full of delightful surprises. The top-level bar serves 12 different beers on tap. During our visit, 10 of the 12 beers on draft were from Czech breweries.

There is only one beer menu for the bar, so it gets passed around a lot. Each beer has it’s own page describing the beer (in Czech only). White pages indicate Czech beers, while pink/red pages indicate beers from other countries.

The bars on each level offer a different selection of beers. We only visited the top-level bar.

While there, I tried two different beers. The first was Bad Flash Black List – an India Black Ale with dark coffee and chocolate notes. The second was Pivovar Matuska Tropical Rocket – an American-style IPA bursting with citrus flavor.

The walls of the top bar are lined with craft beer bottles from all over the world.

Where we sat, three different beer bottles from California-based Port Brewing Company overlooked our stay.

If you truly wish to meet locals and gain insight into the emerging Czech craft beer scene then Zly Casy is a great starting point. However, if you go be certain to take cash because this is a cash-only establishment.

We’ll be visiting Prague for a few more days so stay tuned for updates. A big thanks to my wonderful wife, Pinup Pat, for the outstanding photographs.