Staropramen Brewery

Staropramen Brewery (Pivovary Staropramen a.s.) is the second largest brewery in the Czech Republic, situated in the Smíchov district of Prague. It was founded in 1869 and the brand name Staropramen, literally meaning “old spring,” was registered in 1911. It is owned by Inbev and its products are exported to 37 countries across the globe, mostly in Europe and North America.

History

Staropramen Brewery's history begins in 1869 when shares for a "Joint Stock Brewery in Smíchov" were offered for sale. The brewery building was completed and beer first brewed in 1871. The Ostravar Brewery opened in 1898 followed a year later by the Braník brewery; [cite web
url=http://www.pivovary-staropramen.cz/web/en/o_nas/historie/prvni_varky
title=Pivovary Staropramen: First batches and rapid growth
publisher=www.pivovary-staropramen.cz
accessdate=2008-05-14
last=
first=] these two breweries would later merge with Staropramen.

Due to competition from other Prague breweries, the brand name Staropramen, which translates as “old spring,” was registered in 1911. After the First World War all three breweries saw a period of sustained growth, and by the 1930s Staropramen was the largest brewery in Czechoslovakia. [cite web
url=http://www.pivovary-staropramen.cz/web/en/znacky/staropramen
title=Pivovary Staropramen: Staropramen
publisher=www.pivovary-staropramen.cz
accessdate=2008-05-14
last=
first=] With Soviet rule after the Second World War, all Czechoslovakian breweries were nationalised, including Staropramen. After Soviet rule ended in 1989, the brewery, along with the Braník and Měšťan breweries, became in 1992 part of the Prague Breweries group (Pražské Pivovary), which by 1996 came under control of the Bass company. [cite web
url=http://www.xs4all.nl/~patto1ro/czecintr.htm
title=Breweries of the Czech Republic: beer styles and their history
publisher=www.xs4all.nl
accessdate=2008-05-14
last=
first=] Bass brought Ostravar into the group in 1997, then in 2000 sold its brewing operations to Interbrew, which merged with AmBev in 2004 to form Inbev. Staropramen has seen steady growth and is currently the Czech Republic's second largest beer producer with a 15.3 % share of the domestic market. [cite web
url=http://www.pivovary-staropramen.cz/web/en/o_nas/historie/soucasnost
title=Pivovary Staropramen: The present
publisher=www.pivovary-staropramen.cz
accessdate=2008-05-14
last=
first=]

Products

The brewery's flagship product is Staropramen, a "ležák" or premium lager of 12 degrees Plato or 5% abv. Černý ("Dark") is a 4.4% dark lager. Granát ("Garnet") is a 4.8% red lager. The company also produces beers under the Braník and Ostravar brands.

References

Notes

External links

* [http://www.staropramen.cz Czech site]
* [http://www.staropramen.com International site]