VISIT SOUTHERN BOHEMIA VIA THE VIKING PUB AND BAKEHOUSE BY JO MILLER
With over 1000 breweries in the UK today most of us at some point, may get the opportunity to visit one. Unlike Wonka’ s chocolate factory, most breweries will extend a warm welcome, let you visit and take a look around, but even in a job like mine it isn’ t an every day occurrence. Even more rare is being able to drink beer straight from the tank the beer has been brewed in and we all know what happened to Augustus Gloop when he tried to drink chocolate from the river. Tankové Pivo is Bohemia’ s answer to being transported direct to the brewery and do that without fear of being carted off by an Oompa Loompa.
Tankové Pivo, translated, as‘ Tank Beer’ is the golden ticket to drink beer that is fresh, unpasteurised and direct from the cellars of the Budweiser Budvar Brewery in the Czech Republic. Closer to home it is the beer that Simon Rimmer and the team behind the newly opened Viking in West Kirby chose as their flagship beer.
The beer takes a whopping 102 days to brew and as I write this in a September heat of 25 degrees I quickly do the math and make a mental note that the beer brewed today will be ready on Christmas Day. Impressive stuff given that a lot of lagers you see on supermarket shelves take less than a week to brew. Following it’ s epic brewing process, it embarks on its special journey of over 1000 miles through Germany, Holland, Belgium and France to the UK in special air tight, cooled containers and pumped into beautiful horizontal copper tanks that make an arresting sight as you walk into the newly opened Viking in West Kirby.
Back in late May, the Viking team took at trip to Southern Bohemia to visit the brewery before the restaurant opening so that they take the opportunity to make a batch of Budvar with
the brewers themselves. As part of that incredible experience, they got to meet the resident Beer Sommelier at the brewery Aleš Dvořák and the rest of the brewing team … sadly I have to leave all references of Charlie and The Chocolate Factory aside at this point as brewing beer is important business and I’ m not sure they would be happy with me conjuring up images of the brewery full of folk in dungarees busting into song. Although there are some nice chocolate beers out there but that is for another day.
I caught up to Simon to ask him what he thought of his time in Bohemia.“ We went to the brewery in the Czech Republic and got to make our own brew, it was an amazing experience to see how it’ s all made, and to have a hand in making the beer that we will be serving. It comes in fresh, and is piped directly to the pumps, so no air touches it and you get that absolute fresh taste every time” says simon.
Again, doing the math and a first twice in one day for me, I believe at the time this goes to press that if you order a pint of Tankové PIvo, it has a strong chance of being the very one Simon brewed.
With this I’ d recommend matching it with the Budvar beer battered fillet of haddock, hand cut chips, minted mushy peas and tartar sauce. The all-natural gentle carbonation in the beer gives the batter a beautifully delicate finish and once you have lapped up a little of the haddock, take a sip of the Tankové Pivo as this is where the magic really happens … the bubbles in the Budvar cleanse the palate ready for the next mouthful and the bite of the hops contrasts perfectly with the sweet fish.
What is not to like? That’ s right, nothing, so repeat several times until your plate is empty and you ' ve made your way down the enticingly chilled glass.
20 wirrallife. com