Facts #3 - Czech Beer

Beer was first brewed here in the Czech Republic in 1088(there is evidence that hops were already being cultivated here in 859 and were being exported in 903: With that information,the Czechs MUST have been brewing their own brew before 1088!! Ya think?) Currently there are 88 breweries in the Czech Republic. (Wow)

And the Czech republic holds many of the firsts related to beer:

First in per capita beer consumption - 160 litres/person/year - biggest in the world. NOTE: that is one bottle of beer for every man, woman and child living here per day!!
First Beer Museum in the world - Plzen
First Pilsener - Pilsner Urquell from Plzen
First Budweiser - Budvar from Cesky Budjeovice

Czech beer comes in many degrees from 6-19%; but 10% and 12% are the most common. The percentage of alcohol is about a quarter of the "percent" shown on the bottle, so 12% beer is roughly 3.1% alcohol. Many think that the percent is the amount of alcohol, but it's actually the amount of malt extract used in the brewing process. Of course, malt contains sugar, so to some extent, the higher the % ( malt used), the higher the alcohol... I had to add that.

In order of Czech beer popularity: Plzensky Prazdroj -Pilsner Urquel(above), Gambrinus, Radegast, Velkopopovicky Kozel, Budvar, Staropramen

And The best temperature at which to drink beer is between 7-10 degrees Celsius. Which by the way, is keeping it on the seventh step down to the cellar.

AND Breaking News Last Week: The Czech Beer and Malt Association has said that beer output of its members dropped by 5.9% last year(2009) compared with 2008. Beer exports declined by more than 10%, showing the first year-on-year drop in the history of the Czech Republic.