#TheFNBTribe: Meet Robert Lobovsky
Pilsner Urquell Beer Master, Beer Community Builder & Proud Czech
“For me, Pilsner Urquell is more than just a beer — it’s my birthplace.”
He consumes more water than beer — because ‘1 pint of Pilsner Urquell is made up of 92% water’.
Very funny, Mr Lobovsky.
So, the beer in question is the Czech Republic’s solution to the ultimate social lubricant.
For the Czechs, Pilsner Urquell is about lots of foam, conversations and national pride. The world’s first golden lager has a rich history, just like Robert, whose personal story has forged an almost inevitable bond with the most-loved Czech beer of all time.
What does a Beer Master do?
“My role is to spread the story, the legacy, all the things that are so deep rooted in passion to my people of the town of Pilsen [or Plzeň in Czech].
I work with the Brew Master, who makes sure the beer quality is consistent, and my job is then to spread the word about Pilsner Urquell around the world.”
Growing up as a Czech migrant in Australia
“I was born in Communist Czechoslovakia. When I was 7, my parents emigrated to Australia. There were 3 of us [Robert and his siblings] and we followed 3 years later, with the help of the Red Cross.
I spent my youth from the age of 10 to 25 in Melbourne. There I grew up, learnt English, went to High School, University, then I got to the stage where it was like, what do I do now?
As soon as I hit my legal drinking age in Australia, as a Czech migrant, the soul searching was there on a regular basis.
One of those things was finding a 6-pack of Pilsner Urquell and falling in love with the beer. It became my ritual.
It was also helping to build up national pride. So back then, I could really understand the power of Pilsner, because I see it from a cultural perspective in Czech, and I see it from a cultural perspective internationally.”
“I did a double degree in Physics and Computing in Australia, so I was more mathematically and science oriented. I really enjoyed it, but I had a vision at one stage — do I really want to spend 40 years looking into a computer?
So I ended up going through hospitality as well, and it was at that stage of life where I started thinking: should I go back?
Could I live in a country I remembered from the Communist times, which went through the Iron Curtain and got its own independence?
Has it changed enough?
Having spent 15 years in Australia, you get used to a lifestyle like this. So for a couple of years, when I could get time off from work, I would go back [to the Czech Republic], staying for shorter, longer times.
In the year 2000, I decided to move back.”
A Czech Homecoming
“When I did return to the Czech Republic, the natural thing was: how do I get a job in the most desired brewery in town?
The jobs were not vacant, so I knocked on doors every Friday for 3 months, until eventually they did offer me a job.
Since then, in the last 15 years, I’ve changed many positions within the brewery, but one thing has been always very universal — any job I did was always about spreading the good word of Pilsner. So this is my dream job!”
Pilsner Urquell unites Czech communities, no matter where they are.
“Consumers like different beers, but if there’s one beer in the Czech Republic that would unite, and that would not offend, it’s a Pilsner.
The same thing actually happens worldwide. If you go to America, Australia, Asia, and meet the Czech ambassadors or Czech community there, with proudness, they’ll put on their flags and go drink a Pilsner.
For them, it’s an association of being at home.
That is exactly what it meant to me. For me, Pilsner Urquell is more than just a beer — it’s my birthplace.”
In the old days…
“It is absolutely normal for the Czechs to desire draft beer. For us, draft beer is a big thing.
Under the communist regime in Czechoslovakia, it was absolutely normal for parents to send their kids with a 3 to 5 litre jug to local pubs for beer, bring that back and have a draft beer experience at home.
It was absolutely natural that ⅓ of the total volume was foam, so kids would start from sipping the foam, which was the most appealing thing to them…
Obviously, today it is absolutely incorrect if you’re underaged or not over 18!”
This is Czech beer culture:
1. Not just about getting drunk
“So why was Pilsen created? For 2 reasons — to make beer, and to consume the beer as well!
So the lifestyle of Pilsen and the Czech Republic over the last 700–800 years has been about having beers in your day-to-day lifestyle.
But that doesn’t mean we’re all alcoholics!
It does mean we drink the most beer per capita in the world, which is about 142 litres per year. That has to do with how ‘sessionable’ the beer is, how easy to drink.
A good sessionable beer is a beer which leaves you refreshed, gives you a good flavour sensation, and must not give you any offensive experience.”
2. ‘Na zdraví!’
“When you get a glass of beer, the first thing that you do is to welcome the other person by saying ‘na zdraví’, which means good health.
Because it means good health, it’s absolutely natural that you need to look into the eyes of the other person!”
3. They only count their first & last beers
“In Czech, when you go home in the evening and you’re asked how many beers you had, you say, ‘Only 2.’ The first and the last!
We don’t count what’s in between. You can sit down and lose count of the beers you’ve had over the last 4–5 hours, but you won’t be drunk. You just won’t know how many beers you’ve had.”
4. Czech cuisine is formed around their beer culture
“In the Czech Republic, the first thing you get when you sit down is a beer! So you’re always gonna be ordering food which goes well with beer.
For that reason, Czech cuisine is very solid, very heavy — based on pork and beef, sauces and dumplings. It’s designed to help you consume your beer.
Consumption for us is not about drinking the beer.
For us in the Czech Republic, beer is all about socialising, having fun, being natural. It’s about getting together, having a liquid which allows us to find a common language. Break any shy barriers.
That’s what beer is about. For us, it’s life.”
Fun fact for Beer Geeks — ‘Pilsner Urquell’ means ‘Pilsner from the original source’.
There are 3 ways of tapping the beer. To avoid wasting good beer, you’re advised to get a professional Tapster to do it for you. It’s practically an art form.
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