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Tucked into a corner of the sprawling grounds at Pilsner Urquell in Plze\u0148, Czechia\u2014the birthplace of pilsner\u2014a new chapter in that story is developing. Now in its third year, Pivovar Proud is Pilsner Urquell\u2019s experimental playground\u2014a beautifully equipped 30-hectoliter kit producing a range of both ales and lagers and other creations less easily categorized. Its head brewmaster Lenka Strakov\xe1 has access to Pilsner Urquell\u2019s resources\u2014including malt from its own maltings\u2014but she also has creative license to dabble in New World hops, various yeasts, barrel-aging, and more.

In this episode, Strakov\xe1 tells us more about what she and her team are up to at Proud, including:

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• how Pilsner Urquell\u2019s owner, Asahi, agreed to go along with a substantial experimental brewery focused on craft beer
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• how Proud\u2019s own flagship pale lager, Ventill, is based on Pilsner Urquell and yet markedly its own beer
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• her approach to diacetyl reduction in Czech lager
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• brewing with 34/70 yeast\u2014the same used at Gambrinus\u2014and her trials with various new Czech hop varieties combined with traditional lager-brewing methods
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• brewing ales and craft styles for a Czech audience, with their own spin
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• adjusting Plze\u0148\u2019s famously soft water
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• happy accidents and barrel-aged imperial brut IPAs
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And more.

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