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!!!

Dinosaur Park and water fun!!

On Wednesday we split up with our friends.  They headed into Prague and we decided to check out a dinosaur park on top of a shopping mall.  I heard it is supposed to be cool, so we thought we would check it out.  It was a little bit of a drive, but it was nice to see a different part of the city.

Outside the park were these awesome instruments!!  AJ is playing the first one here with a small mallet.

I think this one was my favorite, the harp!!  There were no strings, but when you made the motion with your hands it made music.  It was so cool!!!!

Michael tried this one along to start with and it didn't make any noise, we weren't sure why at that point.

AJ found the drum section - look out!!

Mom got in on the action with the xylophone!!!  She made beautiful music!!!

David decided he needed to try the drums as well!!!

Grandma and AJ found that if you pump it up and down it will make a noise like a horn.

David and AJ were able to really get it going!!!  They were a lot of fun!!!

The four of us in front of the Dinosaur park!

Grandma and AJ checking out the triceratops.  It was cool because they moved and they made it look like they were breathing!

This dinosaurs had the longest claws of all the dinosaurs.  I believe they were up to 3 meters long.

Who doesn't like a bouncy bridge?!?

The boys were looking at the dinosaurs shadows and figure out which one they were.  They didn't really well!!!

The boys weren't so sure about this one.

They had a room with some real fossils from all over the world, including the USA.  It had some interesting facts, unfortunately most of it was in Czech.

Here was were you could uncover you own fossil.  It was all uncovered, so the boys decided they wanted to cover it back up for the next people.

Mom with the skull of a triceratops!

Mom and I in the dinosaur egg - man they were big eggs!!

The boys had all of us help cover up the fossil - a family affair!

The boys taking a ride on the dinosaurs.  :-)

The boys turn in the dinosaur egg.

We all thought this was T-Rex on top, but it wasn't.  It was a Creatosaurus.

Michael with one of the largest lizards, Iguanodon!

The Velociraptor is eating Michael's hand!!!  Oh no!!!!

Dad to the rescue, he will take on that dinosaur!!!!

AJ did science buddies with the high school and learned a lot about dinosaurs.  He is tell Grandma all about the skull on this one.

Daddy sizing up this dinosaur - I wonder who would win?!?

Look at my little dinosaurs!!!

Mom and David telling those T-Rex what is what!!!

My boys - they are all so precious to me!!!!

After that there was a park on the roof outside the Dinosaur park, so of course we decided to stop and play!!!

Michael my monkey - always climbing!!!

AJ spinning around and around and around.  I am surprised he could walk afterwards!!

The boys asked if I could come out and spin them, of course!!!

Then it was Daddy's turn to play with them - all three of my monkeys out and about!!

They played a rousing game of tag, with David being it.

After that we had lunch and then walked around the mall.  This store had a secret entrance for the kids that they could climb and then slide down.  Guess what kind of store it was - yep a toy store!!!

When we arrived back at the hotel - it was wrestle time!!!  I am not sure who was winning!!!

Then it was water time again!!  Mom and David heading to check out the outdoor pool!!

David throwing Michael out of the water!  The boys really LOVED playing with their dad in the pool!!!  He is much stronger than me and can throw them farther!

David throwing AJ out of the water - he is getting really big good thing David is so strong!!!

Mom and I swimming!!!!

Michael and Daddy doing some handstand push ups!!!

AJ decided to get in on the action as well!!!!

The boys chilling in the hot tub!!!

David with all the kids in the lazy river.

David and I taking a little breather before heading back in with the kids!

Michael on his favorite slide!!!

AJ heading down the lifesaver slide as we called it!!  It was a neat one, pitch black except for a few lights here and there and the last part they make it look like stars at night.  We stayed for the laser show again because it was a different one and another neat one!!  Unfortunately my underwater camera decided to stop working at this point and I am not sure why.  But it was another fun filled day and we were all ready for bed that night!!!