The Epic Špindlerův Mlýn Brew Pub Hike

On Boxing Day we travelled away from Prague by bus to Krkonoše National Park and the resort town of Špindlerův Mlýn.
I accepted the fact that the impressive craft beer movement in the capital hadn't reached here. 
What I mostly drank was Pilsner Urquell...

Good Head.

The holidaymakers here didn't seem to be on the hunt for Matuska DIPA's, quite happy with their Kozel, Budweiser Budvar and Staropramen.
Or perhaps they'd all shunned beer to quaff cannabis energy drinks instead...

I'd purposely not held my hopes out for snow in the mountains, so as not to be disappointed.  But we'd arrived in Špindlerův with the white stuff falling and the main lifts and slopes open. We hired equipment, brought a 2-day lift pass and enjoyed some time on snowboards on the tree-lined runs.

Slopes.

On the bus journey from Prague, I'd spied a brew pub from the window, just outside the town centre of Vrchlabí.  And I couldn't let it go.

"You got fed up of brew pubs in Prague", Mrs PropUptheBar accurately pointed out.
"But that was four days ago - I'm definitely ready to do more brew pubs now".
Mrs PropUpthe Bar consulted Google maps - "It's not exactly close, it's 13km away".
"Okay, too far.  Doesn't really matter, I'm happy with my Pilsner Urquell."

But setting off in walking boots and woolly hat on a Sunday morning, we came across a trail map and realised that it was quite feasible to follow a route down the valley and come out quite close the the brew pub.  So off we went.

Early stages of our walk.

I wasn't wholly convinced we'd be able to find the right paths and make it all the way to our destination.  And we may just possibly have walked through a bit of the national park that wasn't technically open.  But 5km in, we reached the well walked and skied blue trail which we could follow the rest of the way.

The trail stayed high up on the hillside above the valley road, opening up from the trees to provide some grand views...

Walking in a winter wonderland.

Hitting a bit more civlisation in the form of small mountain villages the final stretch took us quickly downhill to the main road and - five minutes further along the road - there it is ....

Pivovarska Bašta  (Horská 198, Vrchlabi, 543 02 - fb)
Yep, I reckon a 13km walk to the pub showed dogged determination to reach this brewpub.
I wanted a friendly staff member to cheerily welcome me and ask me if I'd come far, but I don't think Czech brewpubs do friendly staff or cheery welcomes.

Turned out not to be an accurate depiction of brewpub clientele.

Beers brewed at Hotel Pivovarska Bašta are badged as Krkonošský Medvĕd.
There were five on the menu, of which we tried three (yes, I know, lame - all this way and we didn't even try all the beers, but we had to drink up to catch a bus back).
All were priced at between 42 and 48czk - £1.45 to £1.55 for a half litre.
'Hopbit 13', a 5.5% ABV India Pale Lager was easily drinkable and tasty, whilst the 'BrutWit IPA' was the most interesting style on this visit.

I'm a sucker for some shiny coppers.

I was feeling pretty proud of myself for getting to this pub.

BUT... snowboarding, mulled wine and Pilsner Urquell send me to sleep straight after dinner each day and I hadn't spent my time doing adequate research.
Later that evening, I found out that we'd been just a short walk away from two more micro-breweries on this trail.  Bah. 

Find a designated driver.

The choice of bars in Špindlerův Mlýn was limited, with the ubiquitous lively igloo bars at the bottom of the slopes, then a lot of places that doubled up as pizzeria's or restaurants rather than drinking spots.

Česká Hospoda - from whence came the Pilsner Urqual picture at the top of the post.

My favourite of the lot was Spindlerovska Hospoda (web), where there were four high tables with stools at them to one side of the room - you could almost pretend you were in Wetherspoons, except you don't generally get the ski-jumping on TV in Wetherspoons.
Here they served up the fine, lesser-seen Budweiser Budvar 'Dunkel' and a reasonable winter lager from Krakonoš - 'Vánočni Speciál 14°'.

Špindlerův Mlýn had been a great base for a few days and leaves me with fond winter memories.

🍻 Na zdraví!