Staropramen Brewery (Pivovary Staropramen s.r.o.) in the

Smíchov Smíchov () is (since 1909) a district of Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, and is part of Prague 5. It is on the west bank of the Vltava river. History Between 1945 and 1989, the district contained a monument dedicated to Soviet ta ...

district of

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

is the second largest

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 bee ...

in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. It was founded in 1869 and the brand name Staropramen, literally meaning “old spring”, was registered in 1911. It is owned by

Molson Coors The Molson Coors Beverage Company is an American-Canadian multinational drink and brewing company incorporated under Delaware General Corporation Law and headquartered in Golden, Colorado and Montreal, Quebec. Molson Coors was formed in 2005 ...

and its products are exported to 37 different countries, 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; these two breweries would later merge with Staropramen. Due to competition from other Prague breweries, the brand name Staropramen, which translates as “old spring" (water source), 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 , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. Under communist rule after the Second World War, all Czechoslovakian breweries were

nationalised Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to p ...

, including Staropramen. After communism 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. Bass brought Ostravar into the group in 1997, then in 2000 sold its brewing operations to

Interbrew Interbrew is subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV is based in Breda, Netherlands. It has one subsidiary, Ambev S.A. of São Paulo, Brazil. Brands Interbrew brands have historically included Budweiser, Stella Artois, Boddingtons, Beck's, S ...

, which merged with AmBev in 2004 to form

Inbev InBev () is a brewing company that resulted from the merger between Belgium-based company Interbrew and Brazilian brewer AmBev which took place in 2004. It existed independently until the acquisition of Anheuser-Busch in 2008, which formed Anheus ...

. 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. In mid October 2009, private equity fund

CVC Capital Partners CVC Capital Partners is a Luxembourg-based French private equity and investment advisory firm with approximately US$133 billion of assets under management and approximately €157 billion in secured commitments since inception across American, Eu ...

bought all of

Anheuser–Busch InBev Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, commonly known as AB InBev, is an American-Belgian multinational drink and brewing company based in Leuven, Belgium. AB InBev has a global functional management office in New York City, and regional headquarters in ...

's holdings in Central Europe (including Staropramen) for €2.23 billion. They renamed the operations StarBev. In April 2012,

bought StarBev.Molson Coors to buy Staropramen maker StarBev for $3.5bn
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Products

* Staropramen Smíchov – a pale draught beer with 4.0%

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 ...

(in

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

: 10° or ''Výčepní''). * Staropramen Jedenáctka –

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 bre ...

, contains 4.7% ABV (in Czech: 11° or ''Ležák''). * Staropramen Ležák (Premium) –

and flagship of the brand, contains 5.0% ABV (in Czech: 12° or ''Ležák''). * Staropramen Černý – a dark beer with 4.4% ABV (in Czech: ''Tmavé''). * Staropramen Nefiltr Pšeničný – an unfiltered

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

pale lager with 5.0% ABV (in Czech: ''Nefiltrované''). * Staropramen Nealko – a

low-alcohol beer Low-alcohol beer is beer with little or no alcohol content and aims to reproduce the taste of beer while eliminating (or at least reducing) the inebriating effects of standard alcoholic brews. Most low-alcohol beers are lagers, but there are some ...

with max. 0.5% ABV (in Czech: ''Nealkoholické''). * Staropramen Extra Chmelená – an extra bitter pale lager, contains 5.2% ABV. * Staropramen Déčko – pale beer with reduced sugar content (dia), and 4.0% ABV. * Staropramen Granát – a semi-dark lager with 4,8% ABV. The company also produces beers under the Ostravar, Braník and

Velvet Weave details visible on a purple-colored velvet fabric Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric in which the cut threads are evenly distributed, with a short pile, giving it a distinctive soft feel. By extension, the word ''velvety'' means ...

brands. Staropramen beers are also produced under licence in several other European countries, including Serbia (

Apatin Brewery Apatin Brewery ( sr-Latn, Apatinska pivara), a member of the Molson Coors Europe, is a Serbian brewery based in Apatin. It is majority owned by the American company Molson Coors. The brewery's products are exported worldwide. Outside of Serbia, th ...

), Croatia ( Zagreb Brewery), Romania ( Bergenbier), and Georgia (JSC Lomisi).

References

{{Reflist

External links

Czech site

International site
Breweries in the Czech Republic Food and drink companies based in Prague Companies established in 1869 InBev brands Manufacturing companies based in Prague Beer brands of the Czech Republic Molson Coors brands Molson Coors Beverage Company Companies of Czechoslovakia 1869 establishments in Austria-Hungary Food and drink companies established in 1869

History

Products

See also

References

External links