The Czech Beer Cheese (or Pivní Sýr)

The term ‘Beer Cheese’ is literally translated from the original German word for the Weisslacker cheese, ‘bierkäse’. Weisslacker is a stinky mild cheese which got its name from Germans who would dip a hunk of it into a glass of cold beer.

In Bohemia, Professor Laxa, an eminent cheese expert, first mentions a beer cheese recipe similar to today’s pivní sýr in his 1924 cheese book. 

The Czech equivalent of the Bavarian Weißlacker was the Krkonoše beer cheese, whose production started in 1953 by the famous cheese maker Zdenek Havlicek in Horni Branna, in the north of the Czech Republic

Since then, there have been various beer cheeses produced in the Czech Republic, including Maršovský, Zumbero or Jarošovský. Today, there are a number of beer cheeses produced in the Bohemian region and its surroundings, following on the tradition of these Bavarian and Bohemian cheeses.

Czech beer cheese can be found at most restaurants in Prague and is sort of a mixture of the two mentioned above because you are using the Weisslacker to make a spread.

The beer cheese you get at Czech restaurants is served sliced, sitting on a large plate surrounded with little piles of butter, onions, sardines, mustard, paprika, and black pepper along with a shot of black beer. Before eating, mash them all up with a fork, together with a splash of beer from your glass, and then spread the mixture on rye bread. Fun!

The result is a bubbly, stinky, yet delicious meal!

Author: red