Zhigulevskoye ( rus, Жигулёвское, p=ʐɨɡʊˈlʲɵfskəjə) is a brand of

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 ...

n beer. The original brewery was founded in

Samara Samara ( rus, Сама́ра, p=sɐˈmarə), known from 1935 to 1991 as Kuybyshev (; ), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with ...

in 1881 by Austrian entrepreneur Alfred von Vacano. The original brand was named ''Viennese Beer'', but, according to legend, in 1934 it was renamed "Zhigulevskoye Beer" to get rid of its "

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...

" name. During the Soviet era, at times it was virtually the only beer brand that could be found anywhere in the country. At the peak of its popularity it was made in more than 700 breweries around the country, and it practically became a generic name for beer. Production was regulated by a

GOST GOST (russian: ГОСТ) refers to a set of international technical standards maintained by the ''Euro-Asian Council for Standardization, Metrology and Certification (EASC)'', a regional standards organization operating under the auspices of th ...

standard since 1938. Zhigulevskoye had to contain no less than 2.8% alcohol by mass and was allowed to have up to 15% of

adjuncts In brewing, adjuncts are unmalted grains (such as corn, rice, rye, oats, barley, and wheat) or grain products used in brewing beer which supplement the main mash ingredient (such as malted barley). This is often done with the intention of cut ...

.ОСТ 350-38, ГОСТ 3473-46, ГОСТ 3473-53, ГОСТ 3473-69, ГОСТ 3473-78 Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union, beer under the Zhigulyovskoye brand has been produced by multiple breweries in several former Soviet countries. Attempts to register it as a trademark in 2000 were unsuccessful.«ЖИГУЛЁВСКОЕ» РАЗРЕШИЛИ ПРОИЗВОДИТЬ ВСЕМ — Маркетинг и практика предпринимательства — Деловая пресса. Электронные газеты
On May 17, the Appeals Chamber of Rospatent accepted all the objections of the Ryazan JSC Russian Brewing Company and canceled the registration of the Zhigulevskoye trademark.

Marketing outside Russia

There was an attempt to market it in Britain under the name "Zhiguli's", but it did not prove popular.

References

Beer in Russia Soviet brands {{beer-stub

Marketing outside Russia

See also

References