We’re constantly complaining — well, 10-12 hours a day — that we can’t get Zywiec Porter in the UK. Given that Zywiec has somehow or other become a “tip of the tongue” brand when you talk about beer with people who aren’t that into it, the porter could be a reasonable seller alongside things like Guinness Foreign Extra.

Thanks for reminding me, it’s a great city and it’s not bad for beer.

Also glad to see you found Carnegie Stark Porter. I didn’t notice the 3.5% at the Systembolaget alcohol monopoly last month (though of course it wouldn’t have to be there). But the 3.5% was recently rated at Ratebeer, so it looks like it’s still around:

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/carnegie-porter-35/14982/

I brought home a couple of bottles of Carnegie Stark Porter from Stockholm; they didn’t last very long. The one remaining bottle from that trip is Slottskällans Imperial Stout — very good stuff.

Now where’s my bottle opener?

It certainly had a promising start, but just seemed to lack the finish. Might have been because it seemed to have been exported to the UK via the US…

http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/search/label/Sweden

It’s an interesting example of how a beer has to adapt to survive restrictive legislation. It’s just 5.6% ABV for a reason – for decades that was the maximum strength for beer in Sweden. In the 19th century Swedish Porter was much stronger – I’ve a set of analyses where the average OG is 1074 and the strongest 1096.

Despite having to be brewed much weaker than is usual for the style, Carnegie still retains many of the characteristics. It’s really quite a triumph. Though it would be nice if they brewed a stronger version now it’s allowed.

I don’t know if they still make the 3.5% ABV version of Carnegie Porter. That was weak enough to be sold in ordinary shops. Much better than you would expect.

Eric – I’m afraid I’m a bit rubbish when it comes to Prague, last time we were there (around three and a half years ago) we struggled to find good beer in places that weren’t tourist traps, but that was before beer-blogging!

Now I’m sure that if you checked out Evan Rail or Pivni Filosof you’d get lots of great tips, and links to more… Have a great trip, I’m very envious!

That heads-up about the Pardubicky Porter might come in handy for me in about a week, as I’ll be in Prague for a few days. And if you have any, I’d love some suggestions for other Czech beers (and bars) to check out!