Velkopopovický Kozel

Velkopopovický Kozel is the Czech lager with the goat on the label — "kozel" means billy goat — brewed in the village of Velké Popovice, about 25 kilometres southeast of Prague. The brand spans a pale lager and a widely loved dark lager, and the brewery keeps a live goat mascot on site, traditionally named Olda. It is one of the most recognizable Czech beers abroad.

The industrialist František Ringhoffer II founded the brewery in 1874, and its first brew — a dark beer — was made that December. The goat emblem has an odd, charming origin: a travelling French painter, given food and shelter at the brewery after the First World War, painted a billy goat as a thank-you, and the image was registered as the brewery's trademark in 1922.

Kozel has been owned by Plzeňský Prazdroj since 1999, which means it passed to Japan's Asahi Group in 2017 along with Pilsner Urquell. The village brewery has been repeatedly expanded to keep up with demand, but it still runs tours, and the walk from the train through the Posázaví countryside remains a favorite easy beer trip from Prague.

The dark lager is the signature: caramel and toffee sweetness with a whisper of coffee roast, low bitterness, and a light body that keeps it very drinkable. The pale version is a soft, gently hopped everyday Czech lager.