Czech Mates - a new Czech-style lager from Budvar & Thornbridge

On Wednesday we were invited down to The Banker’s Cat for the launch of Czech Mates, a new lager collaboration between Budvar and Thornbridge. The beer is a 4.8% ABV Czech-style lager brewed at Thornbridge using British ingredients, with Budvar’s expertise for the fantastic sort of quality beer you’d expect.

We got to try several pints of Czech Mates, and they just kept on coming. It’s such a crisp and refreshing beer however that we obviously didn’t mind one bit. It actually went down very well! This was followed by a Q&A with Radim Zvánovec, Global Brand Ambassador for Budvar. His passion for beer is infectious, and he was super knowledgeable not only for Czech beer itself, but everything to do with the new lager.

Later on we headed upstairs to see how a perfect Czech beer should be poured correctly. Radim was brilliant showing us how to perfect different Czech-style pours and even treated us to an authentic “Mlíko” pour (yep, us Brits aren’t too familiar with an almost-foam beer…). We also got to attempt (some of us very badly, myself included) other different Czech-style pours ourselves.

Overall we had a fantastic evening and aside from all the drinking it was also very educational. Thanks for the invite and goodybags! We left with three cans to take home (a Czech Mates, Budvar & Jaipur), as well as some other goodies in a snazzy tote bag which encapsulates this newly-arrived lager on the scene: “Mates don’t let mates drink bad lager”, and we would agree entirely.

Keep your eyes peeled for the beer, it’s definitely not one to miss especially if you’re a fan of lager and craft, something that doesn’t always go hand-in-hand very well.

We visited The Banker’s Cat in Leeds for this event on Wednesday 17th May 2023