I genuinely believe Urquell is the most balanced beer I've ever tasted. Malts and hops in complete equal measure.

For me Pilsner Urquell is by far the best of the three. It's incredible how much flavor it has at just 4.4% abv. The Czech consume the most beer per capita in the world which I think is why it has a lower abv. It's a beer you drink for lunch, with an afternoon snack etc without getting plastered.

Pilsner Urquell would be my desert island beer. I don't think I could ever get tired of it. It's in a league of its own.

Star is brewed in Burton , It should say brewed in the UK under licence on the label if you got it from a supermarket. The feedback on various forums is that it does not compare well to the Czech brewed stuff.

I drank Staropramen in Prague, Urquell in Plzen (in the brewery) and Budvar in Budweis on a cycle tour a few years back (builds up a thirst!) All great, but Urquell takes it for me, has a certain tanginess that lasts. I'll be cycling in Bavaria in September...

Been drinking Budvar and Urquell for decades . First tasted Staropramen while staying in Prague , in the old Staropramen brewery , which is now a hotel .

The Staropramen we now buy in the UK is brewed in the UK. A shame because the Czech brewed original is a really good beer.

I've been loving Pilsner Urquell recently. It's cheap and hard to fault if you get it nice and cold. I've been of the opinion that UK-brewed continental beers aren't as good and I recently had some pretty grim Staropramen from bottle. I'll have to give Budvar another chance if they're always imported!

I have had all of these so many times in Ireland in bottle, and on draft/bottle in Czech Republic. I think that Pilsner Urquell is on another level to the other 2. Simon mentions a syrupy taste from pilsner urquell and I presume this is the distinctive caramel flavour from the traditional decoction mash. I would have rated PU definitely a few points above the others

For me, Urquell is characterised by that caramel malt. It's due to the decoction mash where a portion of the mash is boiled and returned to the main mash, increasing the temperature in steps. It causes a maillard reaction that gives that caramel flavour. Very moreish.

Pilsner is unbelievable on tap - completely different. Just got back from Plzen. Had an unpasteurised Pilsner - wow. Would have loved to have tried one before they changed the brewing process at Plzen. Think it used to have a higher ABV percent too.

I remember being served Pilsner Urquell for breakfast in Prague nearly 20 years ago - I thought that I'd found Beer Heaven!

I’ve lived in Czech for 10 years, Pilsner Urquell is the best beer by some distance, and as it’s the most popular, the Czech beer drinking public would probably agree!

The Staropramen that is brewed in the U.K is horrible. Pilsner and budvar are light years ahead of it for me.

Just a thought but the bar code on the label may give a clue to country of origin. All UK codes start 50

Czechia has amazing beers (as does England). Their brewers have the utmost respect for England's beer culture. The difference between Czechia and England is that Czechs will not drink trash. There is no market there for Carling, Sol, Corona, Fosters and Bud( if you tried to get that you'd definitely be persona non grata). My favourite of these beers is definitely Budweiser. The Pilsner Urquell was stronger 30 years ago at 5% and tasted better too. Budweiser has retained its taste and strength more. Of course they're all great beers. Also Budweiser do a dark lager.

I remember I first had the Budvar when I was on the LNER train from London King's Cross to Aberdeen last year and I have to say the Budvar was absolutely incredible even if it was in a can, I find it incredible that even in this day and age you can get the Budvar for a decent price aka £1.49 at Home & Bargain for a 500ml bottle, for a Czech style beer and this is just personal preference however I much prefer it to Staro. As Simon mentioned it's very floral, it's pleasant, for me it's just a perfect all round Lager.

Both Sainsbury's and Tesco's websites state that Staropramen is brewed in the UK now. I used to buy it from Majestic Wine when it was still an import. I don't bother with it now but I expect it is the best lager on tap in many pubs now. I love both Urquell and Budvar. Many Czech beers have a lower ABV. If you go to a specialist Czech shop you will find Czech brewed Staropramen at 4%. Also Kozel and Radegast are 4% beers. Most Czech brewers have a standard strength lager and a stronger version except Urquell which is only ever 4.4%. Also there is no standard strength Budvar only the 5% version. I also like the Slovakian lager Zlaty Bazant (Gold Pheasant) which has a range of strengths. I love Pilsner Urquell in winter as its as robust as any British pale ale!

I used to love Staropramen until, once again, it was ruined by being brewed in the UK. Why oh why do we put up with this crap?!

This was a nice comparison of some of the great beers from Czech. Reminded me of good times. Thank you for this review!

Great video Simon. I also did this battle last week for my curiosity. Budvar was my winner and is my favourite supermarket lager. Also available in my nearby Lidl which is a bonus 👍🏻

These battle videos are amazing Simon. Keep them coming. Could you also please do a U.K. brewed v foreign brewed v Lidl/Aldi copy blindfolded? Maybe for Moretti or something like that!

Pilsner Urquell a step up from the other two imo . Could get 6 330ml cans for £5 in sainsburys but it’s disappeared off the shelves recently. Pity as pound for pound one of the best deals in the supermarkets. Budvar also good Why anyone would choose the carlings, Heineken etc over these beers astounding as they aren’t anymore expensive

It's beer o'clock also in Russia, St. Petersburg....hmmm...as you say a matter of personal preferences! Personally I like the Urquell more coz of some bitterness and another type of hop, obviously. Thanks so much for all of your outstanding presentations! Greets, Paul

In my experience the staropramen is so much better on draft than shop bought. Like a different drink. But all 3 are better than the usual supermarket pish lagers in the UK.

As Czech republic is a neighbor country i tasted all 3 beers, as Czech are known to drink most beer rivaled only by Germany. Slovakia is known to consume most hard alcohol in EU. So starting from the last place is Budvar, strong bitterness and full flavor, downside you cant drink more then 2-3 until you are full and your head hurt next day a bit. Second is Pilsner rich but refreshing taste, cause the price not many bars have it and have bit metallic watery notes that someone like but i dont. It have sophisticated round taste but the watery notes ae down side forme and have the lightest pleasant taste of the 3. Lastly Staropramen is closer to Budvar and less complicated the Pilsner. My personal favorite as best casual beer as other 2 are more celebrational. Its strong bitterns is not for everybody and dont have any watery metallic notes. Its easy drinking but as he stated it will hit you as a truck. As a 6,6 guy 4-6 bottles is when i begin to feel slightly drunk.

Budvar and Pilsner Urquell both imported here how it should be. Staropramen bought here is much like any other macro beer brewed under licence here and simply not comparable to the other two. Budvar way better in cans due to the bottle colour.

If the bar code starts with 5 it’s probably brewed in the U.K. Best to avoid…..Staropramen is brewed in ……guess where?…….Burton on Bloody Trent.

Great review of really solid Pilsners, thanks. One of my very favourite pils/lagers was Kozel bought in the bottle at Wetherspoons which to my sadness they stopped stocking.

Urquell for me, evert day of the week. For an ale drinker, this is my go-to pilsner. Love the flavour, batting above its league for a 4.4% and its totally sessionable

Good video👍 My go to lager is Budvar coming in just above Warsteiner and Super Bock as my personal favourites. Having never tried Urquell I will have to get hold of some for a comparison.

Fun fact - Pilsner Urquell in Czech is called Plzensky Prazdroj where 'prazdroj' means an ancient source (same as 'urquell'), and Staropramen means an old source :D

Staropramen in Prague brew a beer specifically for the Irish Market called "Pratzky". It is currently priced at 6 cans for €9 or 4 can for €6 of a Czech brewed pilsner. It's an excellent budget brand. Some people find it a little too bitter and earthy for their liking, and others see it as a teenager binge beer because before minimum alcohol pricing, it used to be x4 500ml cans for €5. If you ever get the chance to review it, I'd like to see your take on it. I personally don't mind it, especially in these costly times.

Think I'm gonna have to hunt down some budvar cans, my local supply of 5.2 Stella's has run dry...

Great video....after your recent video I went straight to one of those European supermarkets and got 4 bottles of Zubr. I won't lie it was like a pint poured from the pub brilliant

Home bargains do 4 x 500ml cans of Budvar fior £5.49. They also do the dark larger and and the Zero Alochol Budvar too. I LOVE BUDVAR...Its my go to loveliness.

I've yet to try Pilsner Urquell but when I go shopping I'm keeping an eye out for it. Really want to try it.

I bought a few bottles of Staropramen a few days ago, thinking it was Czech, but it was brewed in the UK when I checked the bottle.

I live in France, Budvar is my favourite beer! I also buy Urquell which was recommended by the nice people at V&B.

Urquell is essentially a single malt, single hop beer (Saaz). The caramel flavor is from the decoction mash. Budvar also does decoction, and not sure about Staro but I'm assuming they do as well. It would just depend on my mood on which one I prefer at the moment, as they're all totally great and would stock my fridge with any of them.

you got a frosted glass of Staropramen on a hot summer's day in the beer garden and it's just lovely :)

My only problem with Budvar, which is a big problem for me, is that it has very poor head retention, as the head completely dissipates before you even start to drink it. Note, I'm even generous when I'm saying "poor head retention", as in reality it doesn't have any head retention at all. This video even confirms my assertion.

We drove to Plzeň from Hull last May and had Urquell in a beer garden - heaven!

Pilsner Urquell is great...but the bitterness kind of accumulates pretty quickly so if you want to drink more than two or three you have to alternate it with something else...to clean the palate.

My go to is: Pilsner Urquell from the bottle, Budvar from the tap! (especially Budvar 33). Staropramen is good from the tap, but way different from the can or a bottle. Different beer I would say.

Pilsner Urquell cannot be beaten worldwide -the perfect beer. There is an art to it they way they make it.

Just finished a couple of Staropramen's. It's my daily refreshment on these hot summer days. Love all three brands. Personally, I think Kozel should complete that fine company 😊 Cheers 🍻

Simon give Vinohradsky Pivovar a go. Had one of their Pilsner back in December was sublime.

Urquell is my go to lager and you can get 12 330ml cans for £10 in Asda at rhe moment. The 5%ers are a bit too much for me now if I am having a few.

Hi Simon, just wondering how you keep the head so long lasting like on the staroprmane? Mine disappear quite quickly

Staropramen brew Sainsburys own Czech Lager, which is a nice drop and more than holds its own against regular Staro.

Nice review and agree with your choice. I always check the label etc thoroughly to ensure any beer I buy isn’t brewed in the UK and it comes from the country it’s supposed to be from (unless it’s a uk beer) and even have my better half doing the same for me if I’m not in the shop with her🙂

Another great video,3 great beers very difficult to choose the best one it's all down to personal taste. When I was out in Germany everywhere I went they told me the beer brewed in that region was the best in Germany I loved everyone them and believed everyone them.probably the same in the Czech republic. 😊

Love the battles..way to go at mo for your channel 🙏

Just got back from Morrisons where they currently (12 July) have 500 ml bottles of Urquell (£2) and Budovar (£2.25) on a 4 for the price of 3 offer. So that’s 2litres of Urquell for £6 which is a bargain I couldn’t resist. Didn’t see any Staropramen but perhaps they’d sold out as it’s also on the 4 for 3 offer in 660ml bottles (£2.35) but it is the ‘brewed in Burton’ version. Morrisons website reckon these offers expire 1/1/24 but ‘whilst stocks available’.

Just 3 brilliant beers

HUGE fan of all 3 of these beers. Had them all on tap while in Czech.

All great beers. Each are delicious for their own reasons. I give my edge to Pilsner Urquell because I can find it almost everywhere. Na zdraví! 🍻

Great matchup! In the US, Pilsner Urquell was unreliable allegedly due to the bottles at the time. Today we get it canned and in brown bottles and it’s much more reliable. But it was always great out of the tap. Budvar, which is Czechvar here, is one of my favorite non-German Pilsners.

Nazdraví!!! 🍺🍻🍺 I was waiting for specifically this video (just a shame you couldn't get your hands on Bernard or Kozel here in UK).. now my life is complete.. also my personal rating in-between these 3 also varies depending on what type of thirst I'm quenching 😅

Its interesting what you said about not being intersted in the Brains beer in the pub.....I find these days I sometimes prefer premium lager than the ale from large regional brewers....if you get real ale in a country pub where its from a smaller brewer and the pub really cares about the beer ale can still be really nice then

YES, you are absolutely correct about the Czech Republic being the 'spiritual home' of Pilsner ! However, France also do very many and varied Pilsner - Lager - Ales, mostly quite strong. How about doing a comparison Video on some of the most popular ??? That would be most interesting don't you think ?

I remember drinking 'proper' imported Staropramen in the mid nineties. It was really good but stronger and had a really banana-y smell when you got your nose in the glass. Four pints was plenty back then. Used to be available on tap at Bass pubs.

Just had a Staropramen and it does say it's brewed in the UK by Molson Coors. That said, it does state on the label it uses Czech hops and all things considered I was surprised how nice it was.

I noticed that there is no head retention on Budvar compared to the Urquell & Staropramen? Is that because of the glass...

I subscribed to your channel a couple of months ago and I really enjoy the content of your videos. I recently purchased a number of supermarket lagers you recommended and they were spot on. Of the three on test here, I just can't get on with Urqell. It's not a beer for me. If you have not had the chance to try these two, should you do so in the future, I would be interested in your opinion. I love them: Titanic Plum Porter and Jever Maibock. Five bottles of Maibock and you're talking fluent gibberish. I used to drink it when visiting and working with my mates at the Jagdgeschwader Richthofen Luftwaffe base in the 70's and 80's.

Pilsner Prazdroj (Urquell) is one of my favourites. I like drinking in Czech Republic and Slovakia. You can have a 10%/° or 12, usually. Completely different feel to them and depending on my mood I'll have either/or. There's a beer in east Slovakia that I fell in love with. Šariš. You can only get it there. I'm making myself thirsty. Anyway, Asahi (Japanese company) own about 60% of the commercial beers in Czechia/Slovakia.

Staropramen brewed by Molson Coors in Burton-on-Trent. I'm surprised you didn't start talking about farty tasting water lol.

Been waiting years for you to review these CZ beers. Thanks!!

You’ve got me back drinking good beer again Simon. Thanks to you I’m back on it😉

Thanks to your channel I've been checking the back of beer bottles now to see where they were brewed! Was in Tesco the other day and a 660ml Staropramen was brewed in the UK unfortunately

Have you ever tried beers from the watermill inn and brewery ? If not I highly recommend it’s done in the back of the pub and are delicious

I used to love the P.U. up until about 10 years ago when it seemed to be changed or not as good. I have the Budvar fairly regularly for a go to pilsener.

Curious how long those 3 pints lasted after filming🤔

Top review Simon as always - all those beers are top notch in my view. Would be interested to see what you think of Tsingtao beer - I usually grab a few bottles from Asda or m and s. I managed to get a case of once but have not seen them since.

Until a couple of months ago the way to tell if staropramen was brewed here or in Czechia was the UK ones had a gold label, and the Czech ones had a green label, but since they’ve changed it you basically can’t tell.

I love this style. Absolutley my favourite lager. Pilsner Urquell in bottles in UK has a real diacetyl taste to me and Staropramen is very inconsistent. Czech Budweiser (Budvar) is the stand out of the three for me but you did it a bit dirty with that pour (or the glass?). The head makes such a difference to the taste and texture. Have you tried the syringe trick, Simon?

If you like bitterness in a Pilsener, then König Pilsener is very good. I had it in Potsdam recently, it was delicious.

Very interesting video...I love all the beers which u show on channel....Want to try alll these beers soon☺️😉

Been drinking Pilsner Urquell since I discovered it in a small off-license in Scotland in the 1970s. Nothing comes close imo. Wouldn't touch British brewed lager with a bargepole.

I always have the Budvar first as Urquel is so Malty on the front end and bitter on the back, so pronounced that the more subtle Budvar is lost to me if drunk afterwards, have got a bottle of Staropramen to try tonight, but it will have to be some kind of special to dethrone Urquel for me.

I used to drink a lot of Pilsner Urquell a ways back, a fab lager. Think I will look for the three beers and do the taste test myself.

Partial to Staropramen as we visited Prague last April and we can’t get in Texas. Honestly we drank so many good (local)beers on our trip it’s hard to pick a clear winner. I was also partial to the unfiltered offerings.

Urquell and budvar (along with estrella galicia) are on another level to any other beer available in the UK. The madri and moretti love in baffles me!

off to get some urquell not had that one cheers si

Loving these match up videos, keep up the good work 👍

The Staropramen is UK brewed. It’s probably the best of the UK brewed stuff I’ve come across. But not in the same league as almost anything brewed in Europe. In my opinion. Great review as always!

These are all excellent beers,Staropramen is a longtime fave,but Urquell is truly exceptional.First time I tasted it I was hooked.

How many years have they been produced in green bottles?

Budweiser is excellent, balanced beer. Pilsener Urquell is also fantastic beer with great bitterness, second place for me among them, Staropramen is just good beer.

I did a comparison recently between Staropramen (brewed in UK) and Asahi (brewed in Italy !) for the UK market. Asahi won hands down.

Great review love these beers. Budvar an all time fav classic, pilsner urquell and staropramen great beers too. All tasty well balanced without being too much in any direction. Budvar probably edges it but actually like the slightly lower abv drinkability of urquell. Back in 1999 drank these great beers and others for 26p -£1a pint in Czech 👍

Simon is truly in his pilsner era

Thanks for the Czech reviews man. Next time you stop by hit me up, would love to meet ya. Cheers.

Excellent video, keep up the good work

Had a few Budvars last night, I prefer it to Pilsner Urquell

Like your videos. Have to say it´s not the alcohal % that makes the beer....it´s the taste, and that is personal preferance.

Pilsner Urquell is my go-to. It's just.... nice. Perfect everyday beer. Budvar, not so much. Gotta try the Staropramen.

Great video as usual mate I love starapramer tried 2 get the unfiltered stuff in my local Asda and Tesco thay never had it hopefully thay will habe soon will u review Victoria Malaga please 👍

Sooooo may nice Czech beers - Kozel, Svijany, Rychtar all worth a taste. Plzen (pilsner urquell) is the main beer there (tastes stronger than it's ABV) but out in the sticks where I go to they aren't too keen on that and drink Kozel, may be as it's a lot cheaper perhaps! Beer is listed by 'degrees' there, not ABV and normally a beer of '12 degrees' is seen as the norm. Next time you're over there, get on a random train out of Prague, Kutna Hora has it's own brewery and worth a visit and the more random places you go, the more different beers you find! Plzen for me, then Svijany. Lidl do imported Staropramen rather than the Burton-On-Trent filth...! :D