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Beer production in the Czech Republic increased by 3.5 percent in the first quarter of this year, the Czech Brewers Union said on Wednesday. The industry body put the rise down to a relatively warm winter in the Czech Republic, though it said exports were also up.

Last Sunday I had my first beer of the summer. Which isn't bad going for the middle of April. By first beer of the summer I mean my premiere pivo outdoors in one of Prague's great beer gardens, the existence of which is one of the many attractive features of life here.

This week, a Prague microbrewery makes a new beer from an unusual ingredient: potatoes. What's causing a commotion in Czech kitchens, if it isn't washing machines? Prague's woods can't cope with the number of people using them for recreation, while ramblers shouldn't be too surprised if they see hedgehogs with antennas sticking out of their backs. And the innovative 1960s "automatic cinema" is to be revived.

With its long tradition of beer brewing, the Czech Republic has for years been one of the world's major destinations for beer tourism. Beer lovers come from far and wide to sample the country's many famous brews. Now they have one more reason to visit the country. The producer of the world renowned Pilsner Urquell, the Plzensky Prazdroj brewery, has just launched two new beers aimed at pleasing even the most sophisticated palates.

In Business News this week: Czech unemployment rates continue to plummet; the Prague Stock Exchange enjoys record highs; the government approves a euro adoption plan but fails to set a date for the introduction of the currency, and poor barley harvests could mean trouble for Czech brewers.

Czech brewers are considering registering Czech beer as a protected European trademark in order to get around strict EU regulations, Lidove noviny reported. The EU recommends that brewers use energy-saving, environmentally friendly technology, technology that small breweries in the Czech Republic would have trouble affording. If the EU recommendations become legally binding, such breweries would be threatened, Jan Vesely of the Czech Brewers Union told the daily.

The world famous brewer Pilsner Urquell (Plzensky Prazdroj) has launched two new beers aimed at the Czech and international markets. Both will bear the name Master; one will be a semi-dark 13-degree lager, the other a dark 18-degree. The 13-degree version will cost one crown more than the brewery's flagship 12-degree lager.

Czech firefighters win the gold medal at the World Firefighters' Games in Adelaide. Czechs develop a taste for exotic food. And, the Pub of the Year Award goes to....Tramway! Find out more in Magazine with Daniela Lazarova.

In Business News this week: the Czech government is thinking about selling off a substantial part of its stake in energy giant CEZ; Czech imports to Iraq have increased fourfold since 2003; Pilsner Urquell is to begin selling beer in vending machines, and the Finance Ministry wants to raise one of the country's VAT rates.

Enjoying a glass of chilled beer one would hardly think of the complex biochemical process that is beer production. The prime ingredients are malt, hops, water and also yeast which helps turn sugar into alcohol and also influences the flavour of the beer. There are many kinds of brewers' yeasts suitable for different types of fermentation. But few breweries can boast having used the same kind of yeast for over a century.