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When the famous Czech writer Bohumil Hrabal wrote about the Nymburk brewery in his novel “Cutting It Short”, he probably didn’t expect that one day its beer would make it as far as the Caribbean. Now, beer from Nymburk is also heading for another market. One of its products, which recently received a kosher certificate, will now be sold in Israel.

Ask any Czech to name the country's most famous beverage, there's no doubt the answer, with only the fewest of exceptions, will be "Beer". Not only do Czechs drink more of the stuff per capita than anybody else, Czechs are also very proud of their brewing history, which includes the world's original Pilsner. For four years running the independent CVVM agency has been conducting polls mapping the Czechs' relationship to beer; the latest results were released on Wednesday.

Great Czech inventions include everything from the contact lens to lager beer and now...the beer vending machine. Following a successful six-month trial, the world famous brewer Pilsner Urquell has just announced that it is introducing more of its new pivoautomaty - machines which dispense cans of beer, just like soft drinks machines elsewhere. With the network of machines expanding - potentially even abroad - the 'smart' beer vending machine, which reads customers' ID cards and only sells to the over 18s, could be coming soon to a station or stadium

Domestic beer sales for the first eight months of this year are up by 2.2% on last year's figures, revealed the Czech Beer and Malt Association on Sunday. But a surprise came in the form of beer sales for the months of July and August, which had been unexpectedly low. July and August's beer sales were actually down on last year's - a result which those in the industry are attributing to last year's exceptionally strong sales throughout the summer months. Despite the setback, sales of Czech beer are expected to go up by somewhere in the region of 2 - 3% this year. And beer production is expected to rise above the golden 20 million hectoliter mark for the first time. Last year, the Czech Republic produced some 19.8 million hectoliters of beer.

If a Czech were to create a robot what would it do? Tap beer of course! Visitors to the Olomouc town library can now admire the smallest cookbook ever shown in the Czech Republic. And, showing off your Mini - the owners of British Mini cars hold their tenth annual car jamboree. Find out more in Magazine with Daniela Lazarova.

The Prague district of Smichov is enjoying an eventful month. Friday sees the start of its second festival in just two weeks. Lightheartedly named 'Happy Beer Days', it is to take place under the patronage of two Prague 5 councilors and has as its main sponsor the prestigious beer producer Staropramen, whose brewery is in the area. If the festival is successful, the organizers hope it will become an annual occurrence, attracting more and more visitors. Joshua Singer has the story.

Thousands of people have been attending a festival in Zatec, north Bohemia, which is known for the best hops in the Czech Republic. Among the events taking place during the two-day festival are beer tastings, a rabbit show and the crowning of Miss zlateho moku (Miss Golden Drink), with entrants selected from the staff of Bohemia and Moravia's breweries.

Czech breweries produced a record 9.92 million hectolitres of beer in the first half of 2007 due to heavy demand caused by warm weather and strong exports. The Czech Beer and Malt Association made the announcement on Friday, saying the 3.9 percent rise in production has put producers on course to beat last year's total output, potentially the best performance since the Czech Republic and Slovakia split in 1993. In the first six months of 2007, Czechs drank 8.15 million hectolitres, a 3.8 percent increase in consumption compared to the same period last year, while sales abroad rose 4.2 percent. Domestic production is dominated by three brands: the Inbev-owned Staropramen, the SAB Miller-owned Plzensky Prazdroj, and the state-owned Budejovicky Budvar.

Beer is one of the most enduring symbols of the Czech Republic, with Czechs drinking more per head than any other nation and exports growing all the time. And it seems the country's brewing industry is currently in the middle of a golden era - figures just released show that Czech brewers are producing greater amounts of pivo than at any time in the country's history

In Business News: Heineken - Krusovice merger okayed by the anti-monopoly office; Czech foreign trade heading for a record surplus; an unexpected fall in inflation; a downturn in the consumption of electricity; Czechs busted claiming sick-leave; road tolls might apply to vans; and Czechs' tipping habits explored.