Small Brewery Adorns Old Town (Portal of Prague)

Small Brewery Adorns Old Town

The brewery in the building U Tří stříbrných růží (Three Silver Roses), the opening of which was attended by President Václav Klaus, has the ambition of becoming one of the best small breweries in the city.

Oskar Exner
9. May 2012

“I hope that the beer brewed here will be good Czech beer, free from the obscure standards of the European Union,” said Klaus. His wish met with the enthusiastic agreement of lovers of good beer.

Monastery special on the way

The brewery was blessed by Fr. Antonín Krasucký OP, who is Prior of the nearby monastery. Thanks to the Dominican Order the brewery will also have a St. Jiljí (Giles) monastery special, continuing the tradition of monastery beers in Prague. As many of you will remember, the most famous of these was Svatotomášské beer (St. Thomas’), which is nowadays produced elsewhere, but can still be bought in the Augustinian Monastery in Malá Strana.

Old Town Tradition

“The House of the Three Silver Roses retains a vestige of the Romanesque look of the courtyard from the time before Old Town was fortified,” said historian Zdeněk Dragoun, who specialises in the ancient history of Prague. “When the town was fortified the courtyard was divided up. The earliest written record dates from 1406 when the building was owned by a brewer named Beneš. During the 15th century another two brewers are known to have worked here, so it’s safe to say that beer was brewed here on a commercial scale, and not simply for domestic consumption, as was often the case in Prague.”

What else but a brewery?

“When I first visited Prague seven years ago I was delighted not only by excellent beer, but also by the atmosphere in Czech pubs. This led me to the idea of establishing a mini-brewery. And what better way of using a building with such a tradition?” said brewery owner Grigorij Polikarpov. “We’re continuing a tradition that’s at least 600 years old.”

A two year study of beer

Before establishing the mini-brewery U Tří růží (Three Roses), Grigorj Polikarpov studied Czech beer thoroughly before deciding what his brewery would produce. “We went around 50 Czech mini-breweries and finally came up with the best range of beers. We were also influenced by the results of various competitions, so we brew exclusively lagers and special beers.

9. May 2012
9. May 2012

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Three Roses Old Town Brewery

Husova 10, Prague 1

Beers: light lager, semi-dark lager, Vienna red, dark lager and sv. Jiljí (St.Giles).

Beer price: large (0.5 ltr) 46 CZK, small (0.3 ltr) 28 CZK.

Foor: Czech pub cuisine according to trends. The chef is Martin Procházka who was in the team at Alcron restaurant, which was awarded a Michelin star.

History of the building where the brewery is located

On the original site of the present building at No. 232 Staré Město, Prague, at the corner of Husova and Jalovcová streets, stood two smaller Gothic single-storey town-houses. These were made into one building in the early 15th century, and remain partly preserved in the main walls of the present building. This underwent alteration in the Renaissance period and further structural alterations were carried out in the early 19th century.

The building is on a national list of cultural monuments. It was formerly owned by Václav Matěj Kramerius, who first worked as librarian to Sir Jan František of Neuberk. In 1786 he joined the newspaper editorial staff at Schönfeldské c. k. pražské noviny and later went on to publish Pražské poštovské noviny on 1st July 1789. Two years late this newspaper was renamed as Krameriusovy c. k. vlastenecké noviny. In March 1790, in house No. 435 Michalská street, Václav Matěj Kramerius established the now legendary company “Česká expedice” for the publication and sale of exclusively Czech books from the widest variety of literary styles. The atmosphere in Česká expedice is accurately portrayed by Alois Jirásek in his book F. L. Věk. Česká expedice occupied the building, with some interruptions, until 1824. On the ground floor, in the location occupied by Česká expedice, a café was established under the name Šmilerova kavárna. Here Czech Nationalists organised the first Czech Ball, which took place on 5th February 1840 in Konvikt. Gradually the café became known according to its owner or tenant, hence Raindlova and Melzerova kavárna.