Industry Alcoholic beverage Production output 9,7 million hl (2013) Owner Asahi Breweries Founded 1842 | Products Beer Revenue CZK 15 billion (2010) Headquarters Pilsen, Czech Republic | |
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Type Corporation
(akciová společnost) Similar Brewery Museum, Great Synagogue, Cathedral of St Bartholomew, Historic Underground of Plzen, DinoPark Plzeň Profiles | ||
Tour of the pilsner urquell brewery prohl dka pivovaru prazdroj
Plzeňský prazdroj a.s. ( [ˈpl̩zɛɲskiː ˈprazdroj a ɛs], German: Pilsner Urquell) is a Czech brewery founded in 1842 and headquartered in Plzeň, Czech Republic. It is the first brewery to produce pilsener blond lager style beer, branded Pilsner Urquell, making it the inspiration for more than two-thirds of the beer produced in the world today, which are named pils, pilsner and pilsener. Both Plzeňský Prazdroj and Pilsner Urquell can be roughly translated into English as "the Fountainhead at Pilsen" or "the original source of Pilsner".
Contents
- Tour of the pilsner urquell brewery prohl dka pivovaru prazdroj
- History
- Timeline
- Museum
- Pilsner Fest
- References
The brewery has been part of the SABMiller group of companies (at the time South African Breweries) since 1999. As part of the agreements made with regulators before Anheuser-Busch InBev was allowed to acquire SABMiller in October 2016, Pilsner Urquell - excluding certain geographical areas - was sold to Asahi Breweries of Japan on December 13, 2016; the deal is expected to close during the first half of 2017.
History
The brewery was founded in 1839 by both local Czech-speaking and German-speaking citizens in Bohemian city of Plzeň as Bürgerbrauerei (citizens' brewery, later translated to Měšťanský pivovar in Czech). The first beer was brewed here in 1842 by Bavarian brewer Josef Groll. In 1859, “Pilsner Bier” was registered as a brand name at the local Chamber of Commerce and Trade. In 1869, a competitor was founded as a joint stock company, later known as Gambrinus. In 1898 the German trademark Urquell and Czech trademark Prazdroj were created, to underline the claim of being the older, original source of Pilsner beer. In 1932 Měšťanský pivovar merged with Plzeňské aciové pivovary. In 1946, the brewery was nationalized under the name Plzeňské pivovary (Pilsen breweries).
After the fall of communism in late 1989, the brewery was turned into a public share company, then renamed in 1994 after the Czech name of their famous beer, Plzeňský Prazdroj. In 1999, they started to merge with Pivovar Radegast a.s. and Pivovar Velké Popovice a. s..
The brewery has been part of the SABMiller group of companies (at the time South African Breweries) since 1999. It has been the largest exporter of beer produced in the Czech Republic since 2000 when production surpassed that of Budějovický Budvar. In 2016, the company was sold to Asahi Group Holdings of Japan.
Timeline
Museum
A brewery museum ("Pivovarské muzeum") has been set up near the brewery in the authentic medieval brewing house with malt house, which has been declared a cultural monument. It includes the late Gothic malt house, kiln, original drying shed and two-level laying-down cellars with ice-cellar, which are hewn from the Pilsen substrata. The exhibition covers Pilsen's most ancient history, the development of crafts, the emergence and growth of the guilds, the beginnings and development of brewing, malting, the craft of cooper, haulage and catering.
The tour includes a replica of a pub from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and a laboratory from the second half of the 19th century. The city walls have been opened with an example of the cultivation of barley and hops.
The museum has become an anchor for the European Route of Industrial Heritage.
Pilsner Fest
Pilsner Fest is a two-day beer festival held each year by the brewery, with music by local bands on four stages in the town.