Kronenbourg Brewery (french: Brasseries Kronenbourg,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

: ''Kronenbourg Brauerei'', ) is a

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of be ...

founded in 1664 by Geronimus Hatt in the

Free Imperial City In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...

of Straßburg,

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

(today

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

). The name comes from the area where the brewery relocated in 1850. The company is owned by the Danish multinational

Carlsberg Carlsberg may refer to: Places * Carlsberg (district), a district in Copenhagen, Denmark ** Carlsberg station, its train station * Carlsberg, Germany, a municipality in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany * Carlsberg Fjord, Greenland Other uses * Carlsbe ...

. The premium brand (and the one sold in the greatest volumes outside France) is ''

Kronenbourg 1664 Kronenbourg 1664 is a golden pale lager with an alcohol percentage of 5.5% ABV in continental Europe and 5.0% for the UK market. It was first brewed in 1664 by Canon Brewery in the Alsace region of France by master brewer Geronimus Hatt. It uses ...

'', a 5%

abv Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...

pale lager Pale lager is a very pale-to-golden-colored lager beer with a well- attenuated body and a varying degree of noble hop bitterness. The brewing process for this beer developed in the mid-19th century, when Gabriel Sedlmayr took pale ale brewing ...

History

Geronimus Hatt, who obtained his Master Brewer's certificate in 1649, started up the Canon Brewery in the Place du Corbeau in

. His son Claude (born November 1665), succeeded his father in the trade in 1683. However, the frequent flooding of the River

Ill ILL may refer to: * ''I Love Lucy'', a landmark American television sitcom * Illorsuit Heliport (location identifier: ILL), a heliport in Illorsuit, Greenland * Institut Laue–Langevin, an internationally financed scientific facility * Interlibrar ...

compelled in 1850 a move to the higher terrain of Cronenbourg, an area of Strasbourg. In 1922, the Hatt Brewery changed its name to Tigre Bock, the most well-known brand of the Tiger Brewery it had acquired to become the leading brewer in

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

. Following the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Kronenbourg became the name of the company, and began international expansion. In 1970, it was acquired by industrial group BSN (now

Groupe Danone A group is a military unit or a military formation that is most often associated with military aviation. Air and aviation groups The terms group and wing differ significantly from one country to another, as well as between different branches ...

), along with the Société Européenne de Brasseries (Kanterbräu). In 1986, Kronenbourg merged with Kanterbräu. In 1953, Kronenbourg was sold in the UK for the first time in honour of the coronation of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

British company

Scottish and Newcastle Scottish & Newcastle plc was a brewing company headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland, which expanded from its home base to become an international business with beer volumes growing almost tenfold. The company was listed on the London Stock Exc ...

(S&N) plc acquired it in 2000 for £1.7 billion. In April 2008, S&N's operations were sold to

Heineken Heineken Lager Beer ( nl, Heineken Pilsener), or simply Heineken () is a pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star. History On 15 Febr ...

and

, the latter acquiring Kronenbourg. Its main

breweries A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of bee ...

are in

Obernai Obernai ( Alsatian: ''Owernah''; german: Oberehnheim) commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. It lies on the eastern slopes of the Vosges mountains. Obernai is a rapidly growing city, its number of inhabitants havin ...

and in

Champigneulles Champigneulles () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France. left, Arboretum de Bellefontaine. It is home to L' Arboretum de Bellefontaine. The Champigneulles brewery, founded on 20 June 1897, was for a long ti ...

, although the Champigneulles site is now up for sale. On 2 April 2015, Brasseries Kronenbourg launched a new corporate identity which it will use in corporate communications. It was designed by Carré Noir, which has been the brewery's design agency for several years. According to a press release, the new logo reaffirms Kronenbourg's identity as a French brewer with 350 years of history.

Beers

Kanterbräu

Kanterbräu is a 4.2% pale lager.

1664

is a 5.5%

first brewed in 1952. A small amount of the Strisselspalt hop, a French aroma hop from Alsace, is used. The main Kronenbourg 1664 brewery (where Kronenbourg also produces almost 300 other beer brands) is in Obernai (France), but the brand is also brewed in the UK by Heineken at its

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

brewery, in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

by Coopers, as well as in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

by Carlsberg.

Other beers

Other brands include: 1664 Brune; Single Malt (French name Malt d'Exception), 6.1% abv; Kronenbourg Blanc, a fruity

wheat beer Wheat beer is a top-fermented beer which is brewed with a large proportion of wheat relative to the amount of malted barley. The two main varieties are German ''Weizenbier'' and Belgian ''witbier''; other types include Lambic (made with wild ye ...

with citrus notes; Kronenbourg Premier Cru 6.0% abv; Kronenbourg Cold Premier 5.0%, a super chilled variant on 1664, draught only, UK; and Kronenbourg Red 4.2%

References

External links

* {{Authority control Breweries of France 1664 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire Companies established in 1664 History of Strasbourg French brands Food and drink companies established in the 17th century French subsidiaries of foreign companies