Kozel Beer tour

On Thursday we did more swimming, of course, and then we were headed to a local beer factory.  We were lucky because they said if there were ten people then they would do an English tour and we had exactly ten!!!  We headed for Velke Popovice Brewery.

Their mascot is a goat.  I couldn't help but take a picture of this one!

We decided to show up a little early and have lunch at their local cafe.  The boys were all smiles!!!

Mom and David with their Czech food and it was really, really, really good food!!!

Heading into the brewery part!

I love that the goat is holding beer in every picture.  This brewery was family owned for many generations, it wasn't until just in the past two decades that it was bought out by a corporation.  It started in 1871 and the first beer that was sold was in 1874.  

This was the first desk to be used and the tools that were used back then.  The found was Frantisek Ringhoffer.  He was a well loved man.  He constructed gas and water distribution plants, financed the foundation of a children's home and significantly contributed to the construction of the Jewish synagogue.  He built 13 wells and 10 are still used today about 100 m deep.

This was one of the older fermenting barrels that is not in use anymore.

Heading down to see more of the history of the factory.

This is what they used to transport the beer in.  Each rail car was painted a different color depending on what it carried, beer was this color of blue.  You also had to have the name of the brewery on the outside of the rail car.

David and I behind one of their first bars.

This sign was cool because it showed that 1/2 liter of beer was equal to those amount of calories.

This is the new fermentation area for the beer.  They can make 11 batches per 24 hour period.  They work in three person shifts of 12 hours so it is going around the clock.  They can produce 1 million bottles a day.

These are the different types of malt they put in the beer.  Back in the olden days in the pubs they actually have these on the tables for bar snacks.  I tried the caramel one - it didn't taste that great.

These are pictures of all the mascots that have passed away.  They always have a live goat as a mascot since the brewery opened.

The group listening to more history about the beer and the process.

This was cool!  It was how they bottled beer when it first was opened.  It was all done by hand.  The bottle goes on the left and the hoses provide the pressure to get the beer out of the keg.  If you look on the left you also see a pedal and that is how they controlled the flow.  That would take a long time to bottle beer.

This wooden goat traveled all over Europe.  They had a big celebration and it went to many cities and parades.  It just made it back here about a month ago.  This HUGE wine barrel is used some places as a hotel room, they can put up to four beds in one.

I thought these were neat - they are all personalized coasters.

Mom and David enjoying a fresh, unpasteurized beer straight from the tap.  They said it tasted really good and was really cold!   She told us if you drink unpasteurized beer it keeps the mosquitoes away.  Though it doesn't keep as long, only about 5-7 days.

Mom and the goat having a great conversation!!!

The bar - that is actually a tube that comes directly from the brewery as it heads to being bottled and pasteurized.

Back in the old days they used to ferment the beer in open containers.  It takes longer to do it this way.

They now use these for the process because they are easier to maintain.  They only switched in 2004.  Though they still use the open containers for their specialty beer.

This is the floor where they wash and fill the kegs and bottles.  This is where the kegs are getting filled.

Here is where they are getting washed.  It takes about 35 minutes to complete the whole wash cycle.  You can see the keg in the middle being turned upside down.

You can see all the bottles coming down the line.

Here they are taking the full bottles and putting them into the crates.  They can fill six cases at one time.

They have the same machine to take out the empties from the cases so they can be washed, labels taken off and ready to be filled again.

Here they are heading in to be washed and getting the labels removed.

AJ meeting the latest mascot!

Michael meeting him as well.  They say he has a wife and is sought after to impregnate other goats, he has a few girlfriends as well they said.

Goat crossing sign drinking beer!

Our kids were really good throughout the tour, so they headed outside to play a little in the sun while we looked in the gift shop.

The main entry way into the brewery.

After that we dropped the kids and Sandra's mom at the hotel and were supposed to go to another brewery tour.  It ended up that it was two hours away instead of 1 km so we weren't able to do that.  So we found a local one that was started only about 5 years ago, but it had good beer as well so everybody told me (If you don't remember, I don't like beer).  We had a good time and they had a few beers and then we headed back to the hotel for dinner and, you guessed it, more swimming!!  I don't think my boys could ever have enough time in the water.  They would live in the water!!  It was another great day!!!