It’s easy for New World brewers to lump Czech beer into the “historical” category, but—while many prominent brewers there focus intently on the lagers we all love—a growing contingent are also tackling evolving styles such as hazy IPA, fruited sour, pastry stout, and more—and they’re often doing it in their own ways.

In Louny, a historic town about 40 miles northwest of Prague, Pivovar Zichovec is just such a brewery. Lager is their biggest category, but they’re not locked solely into traditional styles, and they’ve been exploring just how far they can go in making trendier styles such as hazy IPA, but using Czech ingredients and processes.

In this episode, Zichovec’s Martin Urban, Adam Huml, and Honzik Petru discuss:

brewing with experimental Czech hops
evaluating the impact of decoctions through triangle testing
adding barley flakes to mitigate higher modification in lager grain bills
favorite newer Saaz varieties for lager
brewing fresh-hopped Czech pale lager
why direct-fired kettles matter for decoction
hazy IPA with modern Czech varieties such as Ceres and Saturn
using enzymes to unlock thiols
brewing with help

And more, including this take from Huml: “When you’re doing a triple decoction and you don’t have [a direct-fired kettle], you’re just burning gas.”

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