068 VIRGIN AUSTRALIA DECEMBER 2017
MEET
YOUR
GUIDEOlga Romanova
was born in 1984
in Kurgan, Russia
and moved to
Prague in 2008.
After years of home
brewing, she and
husband Ruslan
Shishmintsev
opened BeerGeek
Bottle Shop in April
2013 and then the
BeerGeek Bar in
2014 with friend
Roman Anokhov.
In 2016, the team
started their own
gypsy brewing
project, Sibeeria,
and they are now
building their own
brewery in a former
tram factory.RUN A BAR called BeerGeek in Prague, but
wasn’t always into beer. My husband, Ruslan
Shishmintsev, and I come from Russia, and
when we lived there it wasn’t a common
drink. However, Ruslan was passionate
about craft beer. Every evening he would
bring home something new for us to try.
One night Ruslan ofered me a beer that,
finally, I really enjoyed. It was from Danish
microbrewery Mikkeller — an India pale
ale made with pine needles. It was early December, and if you
closed your eyes and drank, you could picture a Christmas tree.
Next, he opened a bottle of dark ale from Norway’s Nøgne Ø
that they had brewed with seasonal spices such as cinnamon
and cloves, so it tasted like a Christmas cookie. I remember it
like it was yesterday. Since then I have become a ‘beer geek’.
Our interest in beer is part of what inspired our move to
Prague nine years ago, and we started BeerGeek here in 2013.
We focused on distribution at first, but it was hard to find any
bars interested in our imports. The Czech Republic is famous
for its beer, but the dominance of the major brands means
craft brewing has been slow to take of. When distribution
wasn’t working, we opened a bottle shop, and we spent every
day talking with customers about why they should buy our
craft beer for 90 crowns ($5.30) when they could get a mug
of Staropramen for 25 crowns ($1.50) at the nearest bar. A
lot of these customers became friends, and they encouraged- Spend the aternoon in leafy Vinohrady.
- The Vltava River flows through Prague and
under the famous Charles Bridge. 3. Head east
of the Old Town to find trendy Karlín. 4. Stop
for a drink at BeerGeek Bottle Shop. 5. Ride
a horse and cart through the historic centre. - Eska ofers traditional fare with a modern
twist. 7. For crat beer don’t miss Vinohradský
Pivovar. 8. Sample modern Vietnamese at
Cafefin. 9. Architectural details in Vinohrady. - The contemporary exterior at Eska.
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