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Wine / Spirits Education in Plzen
A western Bohemian city on the Radbuza and Mze rivers, best known as the birthplace of pale lager. Plzen is home to the Pilsner Urquell brewery, a brewery museum and the Pilsen Historical Underground, the industrial heart of Czech beer.
Why here
Plzen is where lager as the world knows it was invented. On 5 October 1842 the burghers' brewery here poured the first batch of Pilsner Urquell, a clear golden beer that a Bavarian brewer, Josef Groll, made by combining local soft water, Saaz hops, pale malt and cold cave lagering. The style spread worldwide, and most pale lagers today are its descendants. A visit to the brewery is beer education at the source: you walk the historic and modern brewhouses, see the bottling line, and descend into the sandstone lager cellars to taste unfiltered, unpasteurised Pilsner Urquell drawn straight from oak barrels, the way it was conditioned before modern tanks. Pair it with the town's Brewery Museum and the Pilsen Historical Underground to understand why this one Bohemian city reshaped what much of the planet drinks.
Best months
The brewery runs guided tours year round in Czech, English and German, so this works in any weather and suits a cold or wet day. The headline tour lasts about 110 minutes and includes the unfiltered tasting in the cellars; book ahead in summer and over holidays. Comfortable shoes help for the cellars, which stay cool whatever the season.
Getting there & around
Plzen is about 90 minutes by direct train or bus west of Prague, and the brewery sits a short walk east of the old town beside the Radbuza. Tours leave from the visitor centre at the main gate, with tickets booked online or on arrival. The town centre, Brewery Museum and Historical Underground are all within walking distance for a full beer-history day.
Skill levels: beginner
Schools & guides (1)
Pilsner Urquell Brewery
OutfitterThe Pilsner Urquell brewery in Plzen has brewed since 5 October 1842, when the Bavarian brewer Josef Groll produced the world's first pale lager and gave the pilsner style its name. Run today by Plzensky Prazdroj, the 110-minute guided tour crosses the historic and modern brewhouses, the bottling hall and the sandstone lager cellars, where visitors taste unfiltered Pilsner Urquell straight from oak lagering barrels. The tour route won a World Travel Awards title in 2024.