[ Beer Culture ]

That’s a shot of the most unusual beer I tried this weekend and any other weekend I can remember: Ventnor Brewery’s oyster stout. Stout has long been thought of as an accompaniment to oysters, but this version is not just meant to accompany bivalves — it’s actually brewed with real oysters in it.

Don’t tell your vegan friends, but living things have a long history of ending up in the brewing kettle: Pete Brown has written about cock ale, made with a whole rooster, and Devon cider has been traditionally made with an adjunct of raw beef. And then there’s the common use of isinglass — collagen from fish bladders — as a finings to clarify beers.

And then there’s oyster stout.

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The tradition of Czech brewing may go back more than a thousand years, but it’s also clearly moving forward. Beer lovers here have been thrilled by recent developments like the appearance of Pivovar Bašta and other new brewpubs, cutting-edge new regional breweries like Pivovar Kocour Varnsdorf, and the reappearance of older styles such as Klostermann amber lager — all of which have arrived since the publication of Good Beer Guide Prague and the Czech Republic last May.

To that end, I’m doing another seminar, this time one titled “New Brews: Recent Developments in the Czech Brewing Scene,” which will take place Thursday, 3 July, 2008, in the wine cellar of Essensia restaurant (inside the Mandarin Oriental hotel). The combined dinner, talk and beer tasting will last about three hours.

In addition to a slew of new lagers and ales, many of which have never been seen in Prague, Essensia will serve its delicious Czech and Asian culinary specialties. Think of it as a luxurious meal in a five-star restaurant — only one which is accompanied by some truly great beers and a spirited discussion on the history, news, background and future of Czech brewing.

And then there is the beer list to consider.

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