Czech

From Mova Brewing in Dnipro, Ukraine, here’s a recipe for the Czech-style pilsner that won gold at the 2025 European Beer Star, beating out some of the best lager breweries from Czechia, Germany, the United States, and around the world.

In Dnipro, Ukraine, not far from the front lines of war with Russia, Mova Brewing sticks to a Czech script when brewing its Mova Pilsner, which won gold at the 2025 European Beer Star.

From our Love Handles files on the world’s top beer bars: In central Prague, this pub is dedicated to perfect pours while offering a discriminating selection of Czech lagers and more.

Saaz, Kazbek, and ... Juno? Whether punching up lagers or adding interest to IPAs, newer Czech hop varieties—little known outside their country—are an overlooked source of distinctive flavors.

From Philadelphia’s lager-centric Human Robot, here’s a recipe for a Czech-style amber lager that came to life almost by accident—and one that uses a method they call “enhanced decoction.”

It’s Czech, it’s amber, and it’s a lager—but where did it come from? Nobody seems to know the origin story of polotmavý, or even whether it has one. Yet it’s here today, and the traditional Czech brewing process defines it every bit as much as that rich garnet color.

Courtney Servaes, founder and brewer at Servaes Brewing in Shawnee, Kansas, shares this recipe for a Czech-inspired pilsner base that gets a whole bag of tortilla chips in the secondary.

While the recipe is big for a Czech pale lager—it’s really 14°P rather than the typical 12°—it drinks well below its strength and makes a bright showcase for that floor malt and ample Saaz hops.

From Three Taverns in Decatur, Georgia, we share a recipe for a hop-forward, triple-decocted, Czech-American lager that celebrates a notable piece of history.

From Good Word Brewing & Public House in Duluth, Georgia, owner and brewer Todd DiMatteo shares the recipe for their subtly roasty, highly drinkable dark lager that can be served from cask or stichfass (or keg, can, bucket, whatever you have handy).

From its outpost an hour outside of downtown Chicago, Art History has quietly built momentum by focusing on a range of Czech- and German-inspired lagers as well as bitters, milds, and other English styles. In this episode, head brewer Greg Browne and cofounder Tom Rau share their approach to making traditional beers cool again.

Whether you want to brew a more convincing Czech-style lager, or you simply want to borrow a few tricks to shape the kind of beer that seems impossible to stop drinking, here are some elements to consider.

This reverently Czech-style lager is triple-decocted and brewed with imported Moravian malt and whole-leaf Bohemian Saaz. Green Bench cofounder and head brewer Khris Johnson says the beer “was inspired by a life-changing week spent in the Czech Republic with an incredible group of people.”

First brewed for Notch’s 10th anniversary in 2020, this is a 10°P pale lager in the Czech tradition—low in strength yet full of flavor. The beer is triple-decocted, open-fermented, naturally carbonated, and “lagered forever.”

From the famously soft water to whole-cone hops and extraordinarily long maturation, the brewmaster at Budvar delights in all the details that shape one of Czechia’s most popular beers.

One of the world’s most cherished hop-growing regions had a rough growing season last year—but there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic, and there is more to Czech hops than Saaz.

In Pilsner Urquell’s experimental brewery, Lenka Straková is coloring outside the lines of modern craft styles and traditional Czech brewing.

In the first of several episodes recorded in Czechia, retired Pilsner Urquell brewmaster Václav Berka relates the history of the brewery—and therefore of pilsner itself—and shares his love of all the details that go into producing a highly drinkable beer.

With thanks to Greg Browne, head brewer at Art History in suburban Chicago, here is a recipe for their Czech-style dark lager, inspired by the beer at the famous U Fleků brewpub in Prague.

Two pros share insights into their gold medal–winning beers: an international-style pilsner brewed on a single-infusion, two-vessel system, and a cold IPA with a “cool pool,” dry-hopped during active fermentation.