Velkopopovický Kozel is a

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, ...

lager Lager () is beer which has been brewed and conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be pale, amber, or dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially available style of beer. The term "lager" comes from the German for "storage" ...

produced since 1874.History
- Velkopopovický Kozel The brewery was founded in

Velké Popovice Velké Popovice (german: Groß Popowitz) is a municipality and village in Prague-East District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,300 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages of Brtnice, Dub, Dubiny, Klenové, K ...

, a town 25 km (15 mi) southeast 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 ...

. Their symbol is a

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

(Kozel means "male goat" in Czech). The company was bought by

SABMiller SABMiller plc was a South African multinational brewing and beverage company headquartered in Woking, England on the outskirts of London until 10 October 2016 when it was acquired by Anheuser-Busch InBev. Prior to that date, it was the world's ...

in 2002 and sold to

Asahi Breweries is a Japanese global beer, spirits, soft drinks and food business group headquartered in Sumida, Tokyo. In 2019, the group had revenue of JPY 2.1 trillion. Asahi's business portfolio can be segmented as follows: alcoholic beverage business (4 ...

in 2016.

History

The first historical mention of the

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 ...

dates back to the 14th century. The brewery in

, as we know it today, has its origins in the 19th century. After years of disagreements and the gradual decline of the brewery, it was bought by a rich industrial tycoon, František Ringhoffer, who was the Mayor of

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 ...

and one of the most successful entrepreneurs at the time. The brewery was built in 1875, though the first batch of Kozel beer was brewed in the previous year. The brewery introduced new technologies, giving rise to its modern history. At the turn of the 20th century the brewery passed through its second major reconstruction and its production capacity was increased to 90,000 hectoliters per year from the original 18,000 in the beginning. The brewery survived the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, operating in a restricted mode and without much innovation. It grew again in the period between the wars. Kozel became famous for its dark 14° "Bock" beer. However 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 ...

brought new production restrictions for all breweries and the protectorate brewery faced problems in acquiring the raw materials it needed. After the war, the brewery was nationalized and faced a lack of workers. In 1951, therefore, the company management solved this problem by employing women in the brewery. The ratio of women and men remained almost 1:1 until 1962 and bottling was exclusively in female hands. In 1965, Kozel delivered the world's first beer in

tank trucks A tank truck, gas truck, fuel truck, or tanker truck (American English) or tanker (British English) is a motor vehicle designed to carry liquids or gases on roads. The largest such vehicles are similar to railroad tank cars, which are also desi ...

and gave rise to the tradition of tank pubs. After thirty years of socialism the brewery achieved independence in 1991 and in 1992 became a public limited company. In 2002, Kozel and the Radegast brewery were acquired by the

Pilsner Urquell Pilsner Urquell (; cs, Plzeňský prazdroj ) is a lager beer brewed by the Pilsner Urquell Brewery in Plzeň (German name: Pilsen), Czech Republic. Pilsner Urquell was the world's first pale lager, and its popularity meant it was much copied, ...

brewery, part of brewing conglomerate

. In 2016 it was one of the brands sold by

, the divestment a result of the acquisition of the former by ABInBev, to meet with global antitrust regulation. In 2012, Kozel canned beer was the subject of viral advertising in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

: launched into

space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...

, beer dropped by parachute and everything was transmitted by online camera.

The Goat Mascot

The name Kozel and its emblem have their origins in the period after the First World War. ''Kozel'' means "male

" in Czech, and a dark beer was at that time called ''

bock Bock is a strong beer in Germany, usually a dark lager. Several substyles exist, including: *Doppelbock (''Double Bock''), a stronger and maltier version *Eisbock (''Ice Bock''), a much stronger version made by partially freezing the beer an ...

'', which means "goat" in German. At that time there was a lot of competition in brewing. Brewery founder Emanuel Ringhoffer realized that it was necessary to distinguish the brewery from its competitors and started to brew in Velke Popovice a strong,

dark beer Beer styles differentiate and categorise beers by colour, flavour, strength, ingredients, production method, recipe, history, or origin. The modern concept of beer styles is largely based on the work of writer Michael Jackson in his 1977 book ...

to local tradition, known locally as ''Kozel''. At that time a French painter passed through Velke Popovice, who was moved by the hospitality of the local people, and out of gratitude to them decided to create an emblem for the brewery. The

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

was inspired by the figure of the goat, and turned it into an emblem. Since then, each beer from Velke Popovice was known as ''Kozel'', and the animal mascot has decorated the label for almost a hundred years. In the 1930s the owners tried to firm and consolidate the position of the brewery, and to give it a more attractive image, they brought a live goat to the brewery as an attraction. The Kozel brewery still has a live mascot and other attractions for visitors today. Up from the 1970s, after a few previous generations, all goats have been named after the original caregiver Olda and this name has been passed down from goat to goat for over 40 years.

Brewery

The brewery in

is open for visitors and tours are available.

Production

The company brews these different types of beer: *Kozel 10 – a 10° pale draught

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

, with 4.2%

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 ...

. *Kozel 11 – an 11° pale

, with 4.6% ABV. It has been on the market since 2005. *Kozel Černý – a dark draught beer with 3.8% ABV. This beer has an unusual dark foam. *Kozel Řezaný – a mixture of light and dark lagers, with 4.6% ABV. *Kozel Florián – an 11° amber lager with 4.7% ABV *Kozel Mistrův Ležák – a 12° pale lager, with 4.8% ABV. *Kozel Mistrův Pšeničný – a wheat ale, with 5.2% ABV. *Kozel Mistrův Tmavý – a dark lager, with 4.4% ABV. File:Velkopopovický Kozel, Světlý ležák.jpg, Kozel 10 File:Velkopopovicky Kozel Medium 11°.JPG, Kozel 11 File:KozelMistruvLezak.jpg, Kozel Mistrův Ležák File:Velkopopovický kozel černý (Beer- czech republic).jpg, Kozel Černý Kozel has won many different awards including the

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 ...

n Beer Award, the Czech Beer of the Year, the

World Beer Cup The World Beer Cup is an international beer competition organized by the Brewers Association, a trade group representing America's small and independent craft brewers. It is the largest competition in the beer industry and has been described as " ...

and more.Velkopopovický Kozel is the most successful Czech beer abroad
- Velkopopovický Kozel Kozel Premium won awards at the World Beer Championships in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

in 1995, 1996 and 1997.

Exports and Licensed Production

Kozel became the best-selling Czech beer brand in the world. It is now sold in about thirty countries worldwide. Licensed production began in January 2001 in the Slovakia, later in Kaluga, Ulyanovsk and Vladivostok in Russia. In Hungary Kozel is brewed in Budapest and in Ukraine in Donetsk. Recently Kozel has entered new markets in Scandinavia, UK, Canada, Israel, Greece, Kazakhstan and Italy. Efes Moldova, Efes Georgia and Efes Turkey have started production of Kozel. Kozel Dark is showing steep growth in South Korean beer market. The main reason for Kozel Dark's increase in sales volume is diversification of consumer tastes. In addition, Kozel Dark's stores have increased more than 30 times in the last two years. The average monthly sales of stores in Itaewon, Hongdae, and Gangnam, which are Seoul's major commercial areas, have averaged more than 1.6 million pieces per month.

Awards

Awards which has Kozel received in Czech and International beer competitions.Awards
- Velkopopovický Kozel 2012 *1st place Velkopopovický Kozel 11° (category: 11° beer) - Czech Beer of the Year, Czech Republic 2011 *2nd place Velkopopovický Kozel Medium (category: lager) - Zlatý pohár PIVEX, Czech Republic *1st place Velkopopovický Kozel Medium (best 11° in category lager) - Zlatý pohár PIVEX, Czech Republic *2nd place Velkopopovický Kozel Medium - Australian Beer Awards, Austrálie 2010 *3rd place Velkopopovický Kozel Premium - World Beer Cup, USA *2nd place Velkopopovický Kozel Medium - Australian Beer Awards, Australia *2nd place Velkopopovický Kozel Premium - Australian Beer Awards, Australia *2nd place Velkopopovický Kozel Dark - Australian Beer Awards, Australia *1st place Velkopopovický Kozel Premium - Czech Beer of the Year, Czech Republic *2nd place Velkopopovický Kozel Medium - Czech Beer of the Year, Czech Republic 2009 *Certificate of quality Velkopopovický Kozel Medium - Zlatý pohár PIVEX, Czech Republic *1st place Velkopopovický Kozel výčepní světlý - Zlatý pohár PIVEX, Czech Republic *1st place Velkopopovický Kozel Premium - Czech Beer of the Year, Czech Republic *3rd place Velkopopovický Kozel výčepní světlý - Czech Beer of the Year, Czech Republic 2008 *Certificate of quality Velkopopovický Kozel výčepní světlý, Medium, Premium - Zlatý pohár PIVEX, Czech Republic *1st place Velkopopovický Kozel Medium - Czech Beer of the Year, Czech Republic *2nd place Velkopopovický Kozel Premium - Czech Beer of the Year, Czech Republic 2007 *3rd place Velkopopovický Kozel výčepní tmavý - Australian Beer Awards, Australia *3rd place Velkopopovický Kozel Premium - Australian Beer Awards, Australia 2006 *2nd place Velkopopovický Kozel výčepní světlý - Zlatý pohár PIVEX, Czech Republic *1st place Velkopopovický Kozel Premium - Monde Selection, Belgium *2nd place Velkopopovický Kozel výčepní světlý - Monde Selection, Belgium *2nd place Velkopopovický Kozel výčepní tmavý - Monde Selection, Belgium 2005 *2nd place Velkopopovický Kozel výčepní světlý - Zlatý pohár PIVEX, Czech Republic *Certifikát kvality Velkopopovický Kozel Premium - Zlatý pohár PIVEX, Czech Republic 2004 *1st place Velkopopovický Kozel Premium - World Beer Cup, USA *2nd place Velkopopovický Kozel výčepní světlý - World Beer Cup, USA *1st place Velkopopovický Kozel výčepní tmavý - Australian Beer Awards, Australia 2003 *Gold certificate for long-term and balanced quality of the Beer Velkopopovický Kozel výčepní světlý - Zlatý pohár PIVEX, Czech Republic 2002 *2nd place Velkopopovický Kozel Premium - Czech Beer of the Year, Czech Republic 2001 *1st place Velkopopovický Kozel Premium - Beer festival, Helsinki, Finland 1997-1998, 2000-2005 *Dark Beer of the year - Readers' Choice, Pivní kurýr, Czech Republic 1995-1997, 1999 *1st place Velkopopovický Kozel Premium - Pivní mistrovství světa, Chicago USA

References

External links

Velkopopovický Kozel Official SiteVelkopopovický Kozel Official Czech SiteVelkopopovický Kozel Official Facebook channelVelkopopovický Kozel on InstagramVelkopopovický Kozel on YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Velkopopovicky Kozel Beer in the Czech Republic 1874 establishments in Austria-Hungary Beer brands of the Czech Republic