Shortly before five, a text message told me Max had arrived at my hotel. I handed over the beers from the Norwegian micros, and we set off for Zlý Časy. Half an hour and two tram rides later, we arrived.
The first time I visited, last year, this pub has some sort of festival going on, meaning that they had an outstanding range of beers from micros on tap. Well, they have moved beyond that.
There are16 beers on tap in this fairly small bar right now, a new Prague record. Two Germans, an Oktoberfest and the Sclenkerla Märtzen, the rest quality Czech brews. A few Weissen, a Scottish ale and a long list of lagers, some of them yeast beers, some of them just lovely pilseners.
Max has described our beers of the evening very well, while omitting a nice meal of smoked pork, horseradish and mustard, just as beery food should be. I will not point out any of these beers as outshining the others, though the unfiltered yeast beers are always a special treat…
Fast and friendly service, and they seemed to treat all customers well. But it is very nice to be with one of the regulars – who also knows the language -in a place like this.
I hope this concept will work, though having such a broad range of beers in such a small pub sounds risky, especially with a number of beers that have to be sold in a day or two after opening the keg. But this is not the place for tickers sipping from small glasses, you need to ask for the half liter and let the golden liquid flow freely down your throat!
A pleasant time spent in pleasant company. Max and I have only met twice, but we get along very well, with no uncomfortable gaps in the conversation.
Sure, there are lots of beer bars in Prague I haven’t visited. But I’ll make sure I’ll hit Zlý Časy the first evening the next time I’m in town as well. And even if they have Nøgne ø beers on their list then, I’ll always go for the local brews.
They have reorganized their web site over the last week, making it easier to see the ever changing beer list. Today they have Chimay Tripel on tap if you want a small break in your lager consumption.
Instead of pump clips
Knut Albert's beer blog 
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