As an almost veteran in tasting Czech beer, I think it is my duty to create a beer trail in Brno. Brno is not the beautiful capital of Prague, but it is still the second biggest town of Czech Republic and a tiny Silicon Valley of Europe. It became a really important concentration of many international companies and it has a huge expat community. It is a great place to start your career and a great place to have cheap fun in. So in this post I will talk about the fun part, where to drink the best beer, in the most local or most foreigner friendly pubs, what snack are the specialty in each pub and what type of beer is my favorite in each. Plus some interesting quirks at the end of this post!
I will put as hyperlink in the title of the paragraphs the website of the places and the address in the first word of the paragraph. So lets dig in the best beer pubs in Brno!
1. Pegas
Pivnice Pegas hotel has a great pub at the ground level which is one of the most common location for tourists visiting Brno, definitely counted among the best beer pubs in Brno. You can still get the local feel of the town, since there are always big Czech groups and on the plus side the waiters will know some English. The place is a bit pricey and not too strong in the beer snacks. But any big meal you will take will be delicious.
They brew the beer right there and it is a really good quality one. They have an upstairs cozy terrace too and the place in general is very spacious, labyrinthine and Czech looking.
Their beer selections is pale, dark, filtered and wheat beer: https://brnorestauracepivnice.hotelpegas.com/en/our-beers/
Their must try beer
The filtered beer, called Pegas Gold is the best beer this pub has. It comes in an opaque beer glass, it has an amber color, strong taste and high amount of alcohol (6%), but it is really good.
Their must try snack
As I said, they do not excel in great beer snacks, but have great meals otherwise. Their Pegas Gulas is really good, but will knock you out for the night… which might even be the purpose.
The Utopenec is an ok snack to have with the beer in this pub. What is Utopenec? The weirdest beer snack in Czech Republic – pickled sausage filled with pickled cabbage, onion, cucumber and pepper. It sounds weird and it is an acquired taste. You should give it a try, you love it or hate it. I am among the ones that love it and will be found in all best beer pubs in Brno.
2. Lokál U Caipla
Lokal is a very… oh well, local place (:D)! This is the type of place where you can automatically get a beer if you finished yours already, they just quickly scratch it on a paper with beer symbols on it. The place has a very inventive decoration style, poked holes in the walls with lights behind, representing symbols, jokes and legends of Brno.
Theirs must try beer
The best beer they have there is the most interesting one you can ever get in Czech Republic: řezané.
This is a very difficult beer to pour, basically contains dark and blond beer in the same glass, with different densities, which allows them to create two very distinct layers. Make no mistake, this is not a type of beer to ask in a random pub. But here you can trust they will have it right.
The other advantage is that you can try both beers: their awesome dark unfiltered Kozel beer and the blond, fresh and sharp Pilsner Urquell.
If you want to learn how to pronounce it, good luck! The first letter “ ř” (basically “r” and “j” in one smooth (??) sound) is the most devious sound in the world and it will break your tongue into pieces, but there you go, give it a try: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%98
Their must try snack
Lokal is changing their menu very often and they cook really well. However, I never really tried their Czech food, since they had this awesome green salad with grilled chicken. The only thing I tried is the “Škvarková pomazánka” – basically pork fat spread. Sounds scary, again, but it is very nice next to beer, especially if you get some raw onion with it.
3. Zastavka pub
Zastavka is a very hidden and very local pub and on the second place in my list of best beer pubs in Brno. They have a very simple interior design spiced with one room in which you can sit in train wagon. In fact, “zastavka” means “station”, hence the train wagon theme.
Their food is very simple and fast to prepare and their beer selection is changing all the time. They take their supplies from small breweries around the town and it was always great and super fresh.
English is not really spoken or heard in this pub, so it doesn’t get more local than this.
In the summer they have a tiny terrace in front, it gets full very fast and people always smoke there, but it is nice to have the outside option.
Their must try beer
My favorite beer there was “syrovar”. “Syr” means “cheese” in Czech and the beer does have indeed a slight cheese taste. Might sound appalling, but it is very fresh and tasty. The rest of the beers are written on a blackboard and they can run out very fast – the girls there will simply wipe the blackboard and write the new beer with the degrees next to it (it is the alcohol proof, not the alcohol strength by volume – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_proof). Which is good because you can get beer from a freshly opened barrel.
Their must try snack
My favorite snack on Zastavka is clearly “nivove koule” – Niva balls (in the above picture, in the upper left corner). Niva is the Czech version of Roquefort, a blue cheese but less refined and stronger. The cheese is rolled in sweet paprika and served on a piece of rohlik (the common Czech bread), spread with butter, a pickle and a piece of fresh onion. Simple, but really good and perfect saltiness next to the beer.
Their tvarůžková pomazánka is also very good. Tvarůžkovy is an incredibly smelly cheese from Olomouc, as smelly as it is, as delicious it can get. But it IS an acquired taste. You can see it in the above picture with two pices of bread, it is the left one.
4. Lucky Bastard Beerhouse
Lucky Bastard is number 1 in my list of best beer pubs in Brno. Far from the city center, awesome hidden and quiet terrace for the summer, great interior design with uncovered brick in a basement, great beer selection and always English speaking waiters. A small business, but with a great model. They mostly sell IPAs and APAs, a horrible combination for your liver, but high quality, flavorful beers. They are sometimes selling beer from outside Czech Republic, but also from small breweries in the country, especially from their own.
Another great thing about this bar is that their small and big beer is sold at the same price, they simply half the price of a big beer and like this you can get fresh beer all the time or avoid getting very drunk too fast from their strong beers. 😀
Their must try beer
Mmmm, my favorite beer in my favorite Czech pub is a Belgian one. I came to terms with it and love that beer: Kasteel rouge. They have it fresh when they sell it, sold in the proper glasses and all the waitresses are fighting for it and want to work on that shift.
Their must try snack
French fries! Again, not very Czech, but they make them very delicious!
5. Garden Restaurant MJ Holiday
Holiday is very far from the city center, but close to the Zoo at least. This place is meant for summer and it is renowned for their great pork ribs. Served on huge wooden boards, you get 1 kg of ribs, one fresh garlic bread and all sorts of pickles and mustard and horseradish sauces.
I always went biking there, because after 1 kg of ribs, you need to forcefully move in order to survive. But the place is a huge garden, next to the river, quite a relaxed and awesome place to be.
Their must try beer
In summer, due to the demand, they have the freshest wheat beer in town, Krušovice Pšeničné. So yes, it is a beer place after all, like any other restaurant in Czech Republic.
Their must try “snack”
Ribs. And don’t dare to order anything else, you will miss on the best Czech food ever!
And since we are at the beer chapter, would like to mention two fascinating types of Czech beer:
Weirdest beer in Czech republic – green beer
It is served during the Holy Thursday, don’t know the reason, don’t know the method, just expect to get green beer. It taste mediocre but it is a must if you are in Czechia around Easter, quite fun to drink green beer.
Best beer in Czech Republic – non-filtered, non-pasteurised Pilsner Urquell beer
This is the most unique Czech experience that even only few Czech people are going through. A place that you can rent directly in the heart of the Pilner Urquell brewery in the town of Pilsen: Šalanda – https://www.prazdrojvisit.cz/en/spaces-for-rent/salandas/. You have to pass through a huge labyrinth of beer barrels, get to your hidden cellar and be served with as much beer as you want in this great old-school copper jugs, tapped directly from the barrels by the cellar master. The beer is fermented in open oak vats and matures in oak lager barrels, very yeasty, but fresh and unique.
So these are pretty much the best beer pubs in Brno in my opinion. And opinions will be divided. People might be upset I did not mention Zelena Kocka (a very traditional chain of 3 restaurants with fresh beer and very Czech meals), or Stopkova (might have the best Pilsner beer in town), or U Blahovky (best pork knee and freshest Pilsner), or Na Stoyaka (the most hipsterish place in Brno where, as the name says, you have to stand on the street to drink your beer). All these places are charming for different reasons, but their beer simply never charmed a tiny girl like me…