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An American writer and journalist specialised in travel and food and drink (in particular beer), Evan Rail has been living in the Czech capital since the year 2000. For the last half decade, he’s called the city’s Petrské náměstí home; in this edition of My Prague, Rail shows me around his neighbourhood, which despite being only five minutes’ walk from Náměstí Republiky is still somewhat off the beaten path.

In this week's Business News: the Czech national debt is down for first time since the 1990s; inflation levels continue a downward trend; the new Prague metro "D" line is approved; unemployment levels are up in September; Budvar declares victory over rival in Italy and former PM Vladimír Špidla says rosy Czech poverty data is misleading.

The wheat beer Primátor Weizenbeer has been named the world’s best beer in an international tasting competition. The Czech brew, produced by the east Bohemian Primátor brewery, became the overall winner of the 2013 World Beer Awards, and was also awarded as the best wheat beer. Praised for its balanced fruity taste, great body and spicy finish, Primátor Weizenbeer has been a pioneer in reviving a particular style of beer that has nearly died out in the Czech Republic. I spoke to exports manager of the Primátor Brewery, Romana Jansová.

Primator has been named the World’s Best Wheat Beer in 2013. The brew won not only in its category but was deemed the best beer among 600 brews tasted by an international jury at this year’s World Beer Awards in London. Josef Hlavatý, the head of the Primator brewery, said he was delighted with the success of the Primator brew, in particular since wheat beer was traditionally the domain of Bavarian breweries.

František Štastka, a Czech bartender from New York, has won the International Best Pilsner Urquell Bartender competition. The competition took place at this year’s Pilsner Fest on October 5, the day on which the first Pilsner batch was brewed in 1842. Tomáš Hrnčíř from the Czech Republic came second and Giacomo Fogli from Italy came third. The twenty best bartenders (18 men and 2 women) qualified for the finals with their exceptional knowledge of Pilsner Urquell lager, its specialised brewing process and history. The contestants also proved their practical skills in proper beer care, proper beer serving, and appropriate presentation of the Pilsen original.

The lagers Starobrno and Litovel Premium won the Lager of the Year category of the 13th annual Czech Beer contest. Starobrno also won the category of the light draft beers, along with Staropramen while Zubr free was chosen as the best non-alcoholic brew. Over 60 brews participated in this year’s beer tasting contest, organized by the Czech Beer and Malt Association.

In Business News this week: miners plan protest against management at OKD; the Czech firearms manufacturer Česká zbrojovka expects increased revenues; the Czech Republic drops seven spots in global competitiveness rankings; South Moravian breweries will be busy in the month of September launching a number of special beers.

A group of students from an Ostrava high school represented the Czech Republic at the Young Enterprise Europe competition in London this week with their BeerBox vending machine. The student company Frex won in the Czech Republic’s nation-wide Junior Achievement - Young Enterprise competition earlier this year with the first automatic machine selling beer on tap. Working with the standard idea of a soft-drinks or instant coffee vending machines, the students worked out the technical parameters and a prototype of a two-meter tall box that fits two 50-liter kegs of beer or a soft drink and technology that can fill a half-liter cup in less than a minute. Although Frex did not win one of the top three prizes at the European competition, the students, who will be entering their last year of high school in September, plan to continue with their venture and offer the BeerBox to musical festivals and other places.

A Czech brewery is taking the country’s leading consumer magazine to court over tests which detected high levels of mould in one of its brews. The Svijany brewery questions the accuracy of the findings, as additional testing did not find increased levels of mycotoxins in its beer. In an email leaked to the press, the brewery’s manager also says that government subsidies for the magazine should be cut.

The sixth annual Czech Beer Festival started on Thursday. The 16-day event, which highlights the best Czech-brewed beers is taking place at the Holešovice Exhibition Grounds in Prague. Entrance is free every weekday before 2 pm. Live concerts will be held in the evenings for the duration of the festival.