Staropramen, Ostravar and Prazdroj will compete in the hockey championship

Seventeen days before the opening round of the World Hockey Championship, Prague’s O2 arena is bustling with activity. The ice rink is already covered with the first layer of ice, but it is covered and forklifts and sometimes workers on scooters drive over it. Guardrails are being erected around the ice surface and the sound of cordless screwdrivers echoes from the stands as technicians adjust rows of seats.

“We are already finishing, in a few days we will hand over the entire hall to the organizers from the International Ice Hockey Federation,” says Zuzana Krejčíková from the company Bestsport, which operates the arena. The logo of Pivovarů Staropramen shines on the cube above the ice, which has been supplying beer to the hall for twenty years. “Of course that won’t happen here. We will hand over the hall to the IIHF in ‘clean arena’ mode, i.e. without logos and presentations of companies that are not partners of the hockey federation,” explains Krejčíková.

The operation of the multifunctional hall in Vysočany, Prague, started the hockey championship in 2004. At that time, the Czech national team dominated the basic and round of 16 groups, but then lost to the United States in the quarterfinals in front of a sold-out arena. At the next home championship eleven years later, the Czechs lost to Canada in the semifinals and lost to the USA in the bronze medal match.

This year, the championship will begin in Prague on Friday, May 10, with the match between Switzerland and Norway, after which the hockey players of the Czech Republic and Finland will take to the ice. And just like twenty years ago, Staropramen will tap into it. “The unique system of beer distribution around the hall was created in the gallows period of 279 days,” says Jaroslav Balhar from Staropramen Breweries. “It was manufactured by four Czech companies at the time, and no one else in the world has such a system,” he proudly describes.

The uniqueness of the beer farm in the hall lies primarily in the speed with which the drink reaches the visitors. The system is designed to dispense 30,000 pints within 15 minutes, i.e. the duration of a hockey game break. 168 quick taps are used for this, which fill a half-liter cup in exactly 4.38 seconds.

According to Balhar, 60 hectoliters of beer, or 12,000 pints, are consumed during a typical hockey game. At rock concerts it is even more, they average around 85 hectoliters. “We have a record of 90 hectoliters from a Three Sisters concert,” says Balhar.

Ten unpasteurized and unfiltered Staropramen are transported to the hall in tanks, from which they are pumped into four seventy-hectoliter tanks. From them, stainless steel pipes with a total length of 2.7 kilometers are distributed to bars on all floors of the arena. “If the beer runs out, the tank from the brewery is within an hour. In addition, beer can be distributed directly into the system from the cistern. The tubes are refrigerated, so the beer can stay in them for several days. They can hold 22 hectoliters.

The pubs did not close even during the recent dramatic climax of the hockey playoff semi-final series between the home team Sparta and Třinec. The match went to the fourth overtime, the decisive winning goal of the match and the entire series was netted by the Třinec hockey players at a time of 121:46. “We haven’t run out of beer yet,” claims Balhar.

In addition to Staropramen, the spectators of the hockey semi-final in the O2 arena could also taste a competing brand. Ten Radegasts from the Pilsen Prazdroj portfolio were available at four mobile taps. “It was by mutual agreement. Radegast is a partner of the extra league, so we agreed that it will also be on tap in the arena,” says Denisa Mylbachrová, spokeswoman for Pivovarů Staropramen.

Beers from both manufacturers will also be on tap during the hockey world championship. Staropramen will be drunk in the Prague hall and Ostravar from the same producer in the Ostrava hall. Pilsner beer will be on tap in the fan zones that will be created in front of both halls. “Thanks to the partnership with the 2024 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, visitors will be able to enjoy pilsner on draft from the finalists of the Master Bartender competition, try out a draft school, pub quizzes or various hockey activities,” explains Zdeněk Kovář, spokesman for Plzeňské Prazdroje.

According to the organizers, the price that visitors to the hockey championship will pay for a ten from Staropramene or Ostravar and a Pilsner lager has not yet been determined. “We will publish everything next week together with the fanzone program,” says Jan Kuklík, the spokesman for the championship’s organizing committee.

At the last World Championship in Prague and Ostrava in 2015, a record 280,000 liters of beer were consumed. Jaroslav Blahar from Staropramen Breweries believes that this record will fall this year. “I think it certainly is. Attendance at mass events globally has increased by 15 percent, and we have signals from our partners and from ticket sales that more people will come to the hockey championship than last time.”