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The Czech beer industry recorded losses amounting to nearly five billion crowns during the period from March until the end of June as a result of the restrictive measures related to the coronavirus outbreak, Martina Ferencová of the Beer and Malt Association announced on Tuesday, citing a survey conducted by the Centre for Economic and Market Analyses (CETA).

Czech breweries are counting the costs of the coronavirus crisis. During the state of emergency which closed some 50,000 pubs around the country, beer consumption took a dive and although the government-imposed restrictions have now been lifted, the pace of recovery is slow.

Microbreweries are among the businesses hardest hit by the coronavirus lockdown in the Czech Republic. Due to the closure of restaurants, demand for their beer dropped significantly from one day to the next. To save hectolitres of craft beer from destruction, the owner of the Kytín brewery in Central Bohemia launched an initiative called Zachraň pivo or Save the Beer. It was promptly joined by over 300 microbreweries from the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Of the approximately 50,000 pubs in the Czech Republic, nine out of ten have shuttered due to anti-coronavirus measures put in place a month ago. The rest are selling beer out of their windows, trying to stay afloat until social-distancing and other state of emergency measures are lifted. Meanwhile, the newly launched initiative “Save the Pub!” has sold millions of vouchers, enabling customers to support their favourite local haunts until the crisis passes.

Pope Francis could be well enjoying a cool one right now – a golden Czech lager, that is, straight from the source: Plzeň. In March, as has become the tradition, the Vicar General of that Bohemian city blessed ingredients for a special Easter batch of Pilsner Urquell. The pale lager was then dispatched to the Vatican, to be handed over to the Pontiff by the brewmaster himself. One thing’s for certain, many Czechs celebrated Easter holy week in part by drinking … green beer.

The popularity of Czech beer is growing both in traditional export markets such as the US and Canada, and in unlikely destinations such as Antarctica. Not only are exports of the golden brew rising, but breweries abroad are increasingly seeking the services of Czech brew masters.

Ages ago, Czech winemakers embraced St. Martin’s Day as befitting festival to uncork the season’s first wine. The nation’s brewers only recently followed suit, seizing on St. Wenceslas Day to celebrate and showcase their tipples. That red letter day is now the peak of a week-long national celebration – the Days of Czech Beer.

Archaeologists have unveiled a rare Renaissance-Baroque brew house in the depths of Kost Castle, itself an architectural jewel in the “Bohemian Paradise” region. The tiny brewery was founded in 1576 and in use for centuries, but the team of excavators had expected to find little more than rubble.

A ban on beer bikes in the centre of Prague which was so have come into force in August will have to be postponed due to a complaint filed by firm supplying the Beer bike Prague company with beer.

The postponement was confirmed on Friday by Prague Deputy Mayor Adam Scheinherr, who said it would take a matter of weeks to respond to the complaint.

Prague City Hall has been fighting to restrict various commercial activities in the city centre which are kitschy or tarnish the image of Prague.

These include various Disneyland characters on Old Town Square, Segways which were banned at the end of 2016 and most recently beer bikes which city hall has described as “alco-tourism”.

A small brewery in the South Bohemian village of Čížová has produced the Czech Republic’s first beer made from recycled, purified wastewater. The water came from a Prague wastewater treatment plant and was processed by experts from the company Veolia. So far, the brewery has rolled out some 15 hectolitres of ‘sewer beer’ under the brand ERKO.