Why did the Czechs start to brew beer?
The starting point was that the agriculture was ideal for growing the necessary ingredients. Growing hops for beer is like growing grapes for wine. The Zatec area offered the red, clay soil that holds the ideal moisture levels and hills that protect the hop vines from heavy rain and wind. Brewing started in homes shortly after 859 AD and was limited to only people from the Czech lands and brewed only for their own consumption. Before the end of the 1st centaury small cooperative breweries had started up, allowing a group to take beer extract home with them from their brewery and finish off the product. Early exports of beer to Bavaria and beyond from a town called Ceske Budejovice in South Bohemia dated around the 1100s. These exports slowly increased as did the domestic markets. Later Landowners discovered that encouraging their labourers to drink the manor beer lined their own pockets. However, in the 16th century as the 30 year devastated much of northern Europe the Czech brewing in
