Coaster Crisis in Košice

Yep.  They're really getting the maximum usage out of the beer mats at Corvus in Košice.
I scouted the other tables but all seemed to be in a similar condition.  Maybe there's a beer mat shortage.

Košice, in the east of the country, is Slovakia's second largest city.
Although the suburbs stretch out, everything the average tourist needs is in a compact old town with St Elisabeth's cathedral, gardens and fountains and the theatre at it's centre.

We climbed the narrow spiral staircase of the cathedral tower, explored, had some lunch and relaxed in the park before deciding it was an acceptable hour to seek out a bar... 

Luxor Brewhouse (Biela 3, Košice)

Centrally located, down a side-street, this isn't somewhere that would jump out at you if you weren't looking for it.  And it seemed no-one was looking for it on this Saturday afternoon as we had the place to ourselves on arrival.
Despite it being Luxur Brewhouse beers are brewed by Pivovar Šemrák, squeezing 'Lux' into the names.  Hence I tried a very nice and refreshing 'WiezenLux' and the mandatory IPA, the 5% ABV 'Ipalux '.

Luxor Brewhouse

Pivovar Corvus

A walk up the main central street, Hlvaná, then straight on as this turns into Komenského brought us to the orange frontage of Corvus.

Pivovar Corvus (Komenského1095/17, Košice - web)
It looked distinctly closed as we arrived, front door firmly bolted and shutters covering the windows. But an archway to the side led to the back-yard and beer garden, not exactly in "full swing", but with a few folk relaxing on a hot, sunny afternoon.

Looks like the operation moves outside in the warmer months.

The beer list stretched to around 15 ales, 5 brewed by Corvus with several other interesting Slovakian breweries besides.  In the hot weather I settled for a hoppy, light, 'Jantar IPA 13°'.

Beer garden life at Pivovar Corvus

Pivovar Hostinec (Hlavná 65, Košice - web)

Pivovar Hostinec

This brew pub has a prime location, just to the side of the theatre on the main street.  Through the doorway there is a cavernous corridor leading to the main bar, brewing kit and several other rooms beyond.  It's a big place, combining old and new styles in its design.
According to the info in their menu, the oldest brewery in Košice was located in this same building, which inspired this modern venture.  They brew in 5hl batches, with 12 tanks in the medieval cellar for fermentation and maturation.
The 'Hostinská 12°' is served straight from the tank and is a tasty, easy-to-drink golden ale.

We grabbed some food here, going for our second plate on this trip of fried cheese, alongside cheesy mashed potato and grilled veg.
Accompanying this, I ordered a second beer, with a great name -  'Slnko Seno Melony', a 7% NE IPA.

I'm a sucker for a bit of brew kit.

Trouble with the fried cheese is that it's very filling.
In a tragic set of circumstances I declared myself too full for another beer.

Popping to the Pub in Poprad

In which we discover Beer Baths, Brewpubs, AC/DC tribute bands and some great scenery.

Just over 300km east of Bratislava, a 4½ hour train ride, is the city of Poprad which we were making our base for the next four nights.
First impressions of the centre didn't blow me away.  

But Poprad had several things in it's favour...
1. It's the 'Gateway to the High Tatra's'
2. They have two brewpubs along the main drag.
3. They had an AC/DC tribute band playing on the stage in the middle of town on the day we arrived...

The Slovakian AC/DC entertain Poprad

Our first stop (of course) was one of the two brew pubs.

Minipivovar Tatras (Námestie svätého Egídia 60, Poprad - web)

But instead of grabbing a table outside and ordering the beer, we had something a little different planned here.  We'd booked for a beer bath in the small private spa above the pub.
Bathing in beer seems to be a popular pass-time in Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
Why do it?
Well apparently, "The Beer bath clears skin, improves health of hair, relaxes muscles and supports immune system".
Bugger me if I didn't come down with a stinking cold a couple of days after, so I'll dispute the last benefit on the list.

You have the luxury of being able to pour your own unfiltered pale lager from a tap over the bathtub.
Later we grabbed a seat in the bar to sample a couple of their different brews.

'Tmavák 13°' won 'Best Slovakian dark beer 2018', a deep malty lager with a hint of coffee.  Following which I tried the strong, hoppy 6.5% ABV 'Pana Beká' IPA.

On to the second brewpub in town...
Minipivovar Egidius (Námestie svätého Egídia 102/10, Poprad - fb)
At the quieter end of the main street, Egidius has plenty of outdoor seating on the pavement and three rooms within.  There's no brew kit visible, but several signs promote the '100% home made beer'.  I tried their staple 'Svetlá 11', then the two specials they had on offer - a tasty American IPA and a slightly less successful Irish dry stout.

Minipivovar Egidius, Poprad

We also visited a random local pub down a side alley, the Hokej Pub.
I asked the waitress about the choice of beers and a friendly regular stepped in to help translate.  He told us the many virtues of Staropramen, one of which was "you can drink a lot of it". 
I really can't.
The beer choice turned out to be 'big one' or 'small one'.
But after a long day, it was refreshing and a budget-friendly €1 for 500ml.

Taking empties back to the bar - good on you, sir!

Ratebeer showed two more brewpubs in the close vicinity, but attempts to visit these brought disappointment. 

We made for Salus in the mountain village Tatranská Lomnika. At the end of a days hiking we were tired and thirsty - only to find this brewpub was in the process of moving to a new location down the road and wasn't ready yet.
Next day I made a diversion to the next town of Svit where there was once a brewpub called Buntavar.  But alas, no longer.  The pub has closed and the site, adjoining the swimming pool, is now the God Times brewery, only open for pre-arranged tours.
Oh well, here's what it looks like:

Exciting, huh?

Not worth a 90-minute round trip to take this picture.
Although watching Forest over the years I'm quite used to completely wasting 90-minutes of my life and that cost a lot more than the €1.50 bus fare to Svit and back.

Turns out you can grab the God Times beers in the centre of Poprad at Dobry Časy.

Dobry Časy (Levočská 211/2, 058 01 Poprad)

Ah-ha - so we'd finally found the craft beer hub of the town.  Inside there's exposed brickwork, some cool street-art style murals and a few quirky decorations, whilst there is also a good garden with it's own bar to the side.
Sixteen tap lines serve up a range of beers, the majority seeming to be from Czech micro's, alongside two, on this visit, from the aforementioned God Times.  Over a couple of visits we sampled a fair few tasty ales from the list, plus they do a pretty superb 'shroom burger.

Just to finish then, a couple of pictures of some of the scenery that made our time in Poprad great - a day's gorge walking in the nearby Slovensky Raj...

 

...and some great scenery, following the hiking trails in the High Tatras...

Next stop - Košice.

Beat On The Brat

Brief Bratislava Brew Pub Explorations

Brief explorations as we'd only allowed ourselves one full day and evening in Slovakia's capital city.

Plus, the thermometer peaked at 37°C in the afternoon - not the most conducive weather for traipsing around bars.

After a trip to Devlin Castle and a wander around the Old Town, we made our way for a late lunch in the first brew pub on our list...

Bratislavský Meštiansky Pivovar Dunajská (Dunajska Ulicá 21, Bratislava - web)

A single-storey beer hall, this was a sizeable place; bar at the front, with lots of tables and booths and the brewing kit at the back.
Set in their own grounds behind railings, they also have a leafy, pleasant beer garden to the side.

Traditionally, beers on menu's in Slovakia don't show an % ABV, but instead the OG (original gravity) with many pilsners having a light 10° and a darker, stronger 12° version.  I asked for the 'Special IPA' which was advertised on our table, this turning out to be a red IPA weighing in at 15° - or 5.8% ABV.  Nice, but not a very appropriate selection in the hot weather.

I also had my first encounter with Vyprážaný syr - fried cheese - a vegetarian staple on most menus in these parts.  Filling.  And chewy. 

The bar and beer hall at Meštiansky Pivovar Dunajská

Next task of the afternoon was a trip to the train station to book tickets for the onward journey to Poprad.
Which gave us a chance to check out one of the cities more unusual buildings.

The Radio and Television building in Bratislava

From here a short walk took us to our next brewpub, which had a somewhat unassuming entrance...

 

But once inside this was a fantastic place!
Pivovarský Hostinec Richtár Jakub (Mostkovská 16, 81108 Bratislava - web)

There's no bar counter in the main room, with the taps and shelves of glasses lining one wall. 
The interior looked nice, but the staff ushered us into the back yard, a leafy enclosed garden.  They're busily connecting hosepipes to create sprays of mist to cool drinkers down in these stifling temperatures.
There were 12 beers listed on a blackboard, ranging from €2.10 to €2.50 for 0.4l.  I stuck to  'Jakub', one of their own brews, a pale easy-drinking lager.  Had we been staying in the city longer I'd almost certainly have been keen to settle here for longer and try some of the other interesting beers on offer. 

Tap room at Richtár Jakub

We walked back to Mickiewiczova street then along to the junction where it meets the busy Obchodna steet.

Mestský Pivovar Alžbetka (Mickiewiczova 2242/1, Bratislava - web)

Opened in 2017 this this bar has a smart, modern industrial style in a historic, cream coloured building.  From the outdoor tables (which, without shade we deemed far too hot to sit at today) a wide corridor with tables along it leads back to the main room and brewery.  Most striking is the run of shiny fermenting vessels on show.
This is twinned with Komin brewery in Ružino.  Around half the 10 beers on their menu are brewed here, with my pick being the 5.8% 'Komin IPA', alongside a jug of refreshing cool water with mint.

The fermenting vessels at Mestský Pivovar Alžbetka

Starosloviensky Pivovar (Vysoká 15, Bratislava - web)

In contrast to our previous pub, this was much more of a traditional hostelry, located along a quiet side street less than 5-minutes walk from Alžbetka.  The main room contains the bar and large rustic tables and benches, whilst there's a light, airy side room and pleasant enclosed garden beyond.

As the banner says - Starosloviensky Pivovar - Bratislava

They've been brewing since 2012, although (unless I didn't explore well enough and missed it) the brewing equipment is not visible in the pub. For me, a 'Pressburg 11°' accompanied a cheesy soup served in a bread.

Pivovar Shenk (Namestie SNP484/25, Bratislava - web)

Located in a room on the corner of a market hall, Shenk was a busy hive of activity this evening. It makes a nice change to be able to get served at the bar, which is located in front of four gleaming stainless steel tanks.  Deposits are collected for the plastic beakers you need if you wish to take drinks outside, but we grabbed a super-high table inside which would have benefited from step-ladders to assist you up onto the stools.

I moved away from the pils and IPA's here, picking 'Uršula 13°', a dark lager, possibly not the best pick of the 5 beers, but I don't always get it right.

Tank beers at Shenk.

As the sky darkened at dusk and the wind began to stir the tree branches we made a short walk to the Unothodox beer bar, where we settled inside by the window just before the rain began to fall for a summer thunderstorm.

Be Unorthodox Craft Beer Bar (Panská 245/13, Bratislava)
This is the Tap Room for the cities Unorthodox Brewery, with four of their beers available alongside guests from Mikkeller, Stu Mostow, To Ol and Oud Beersel.
I picked an Unorthodox 'Butcher of Blaviken', an 8% ABV Belgian ale brewed with sour cherries.  An interesting change of style on a day when we'd mostly seen light and dark lagers and IPA's.
Service at the bar again - not with a smile.  
No doubt the guest beers here were all from fine European brewers, but as a visitor I'd prefer to check out Slovakian beers wherever possible, which is why I'd stuck to so many brewpubs today.

I believe there are something like 14 breweries in Bratislava today, plus a ton of highly rated beer cafes.  I knew that we'd miss loads, but I figure we still tried a good variety in the six venues visited.
Next up, Poprad and the High Tatra's...
Na zdravie!