Holsten Brewery (Holsten-Brauerei AG) is a

brewing company 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 b ...

founded in 1879 in what is now

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

Altona-Nord () located in the Altona borough in the city Hamburg, Germany, is one of 104 quarters of Hamburg. In 2023, the population was 26,807. Geography According to the statistical office of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein, the quarter has a total ar ...

quarter. The group now has seven breweries in Germany. Its nationally distributed premium brand is the

pale lager Pale lager is a pale-to- golden lager beer with a well- attenuated body and a varying degree of noble hop bitterness. In the mid-19th century, Gabriel Sedlmayr took British pale ale brewing and malt making techniques back to the Spaten Bre ...

''Holsten Pilsener''. The company was acquired by the

Carlsberg Group Carlsberg A/S (; ) is a Danish multinational brewer. Founded in 1847 by J. C. Jacobsen, the company's headquarters is in Copenhagen, Denmark. Since Jacobsen's death in 1887, the majority owner of the company has been the Carlsberg Foundation. Th ...

in 2004.

History

In 1902, Holsten Brauerei bought the Union Brewery, Point Pleasant,

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its name ...

on the south bank of the River Thames in London. Trade suffered from anti-German sentiment during the First World War and it closed in 1920. Holsten Pils was first imported into the UK in 1952, creating the premium packaged

lager Lager (; ) is a Type of beer, style of beer brewed and Brewing#Conditioning, conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be Pale lager, pale, Amber lager, amber, or Dark lager, dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially availab ...

market. In 1979 the first of many award-winning TV ad campaigns was launched featuring actor

Donald Pleasence Donald Henry Pleasence (; 5 October 1919 – 2 February 1995) was an English actor. He was known for his "bald head and intense, staring eyes," and played more than 250 stage, film, and television roles across a nearly sixty-year career. Pleas ...

and in the mid-1980s Holsten became the UK's number one selling premium packaged lager. In 1991, Holsten acquired the Mecklenburgische Brauerei Lübz. Until 1999, Holsten UK operated as a joint venture between Holsten Brauerei and

Scottish & 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 ...

, but in that year the joint venture was dissolved and Holsten UK took over responsibility for the on-trade, followed in 2000 by the off-trade. In 2003, Holsten Brewery absorbed the Bavaria – St. Pauli Brewery with their main brand '' Astra''. The Holsten group subsidiary Hansa-Brunnen AG has two plants producing

mineral water Mineral water is water from a mineral spring that contains various minerals, such as salts and sulfur compounds. It is usually still, but may be sparkling ( carbonated/ effervescent). Traditionally, mineral waters were used or consumed at t ...

and carbonated soft drinks, mainly for distribution in northern Germany. The present-day Holsten brewery in Altona has a production capacity of . Its biggest-selling product is the premium brand ''Holsten Pilsener'' sold on the German market. The beers exported by the Holsten group are also brewed in Altona. In 2004, Holsten-Brauerei was acquired by

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 ...

for £735 million. Holsten produces both '' Tuborg'' and ''Carlsberg'' for the German market. Holsten is specially produced in Germany (since 1879), but it may be produced by other Carlsberg companies around the world. On 6 November 2014, there was a strike at the brewery with 200 employees involved.

Beers

'' Holsten Pils'' is a 5%

abv Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as alc/vol or ABV) is a common measure of the amount of alcohol contained in a given alcoholic beverage. It is defined as the volume the ethanol in the liquid would take if separated from the rest of the solution, ...

first produced in 1953. The Hamburg brewery exports beer to the whole world. ''Holsten Premium'' is sold in five continents and ''Holsten Pils'' goes to the United Kingdom where it is sold through the group's subsidiary, Carlsberg UK. ''Holsten Export'' is a 5.2% ABV pilsner. ''Holsten Extra Herb'' is a 5.0% ABV pilsner. More hops are added at the beginning and end of the brewing process for a tarter taste. ''Holsten Bernstein Lager'' is a 4.6% ABV

amber lager Lager (; ) is a Type of beer, style of beer brewed and Brewing#Conditioning, conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be Pale lager, pale, Amber lager, amber, or Dark lager, dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially availab ...

. ''Holsten Edel'' ("Noble") is a 4.8% ABV pilsner. It is mostly sold in 330-ml stubby bottles. ''Holsten Diät Pils'' ("Diet Pilsner") is a 4.9% ABV light pilsner formulated especially for diabetics. The brew is fermented longer, thereby leaving no residual sugars. ''Holsten Radler'' ("Cyclist") is a 2.5% ABV shandy made with a 50/50 mixture of pilsner beer and lemon-lime soft drink. It is unavailable in markets where pre-mixed alcoholic beverages are banned. ''Holsten Alkoholfrei'' ("Alcohol-Free") is a non-alcoholic 0.0% ABV pilsner. ''Holsten Fassbrause Zitrone'' ("Keg Soda – Lemon") is a non-alcoholic shandy that is made with a 70/30 mixture of lemon-flavored soft drink and non-alcoholic pilsner beer. It is a niche product sold almost exclusively in Northern European markets. It is sold in 330-ml bottles in six-packs and 500-ml cans. ''Holsten Maibock'' is a 7.0% ABV strong, golden dark lager. ''Holsten Festbock'' is a 7.0% ABV strong, amber dark lager.

Advertising

Holsten sponsored

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

football team from 1983 to 1995, and again from 1999 until 2002. They were sponsors of Tottenham at the time of their last

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

win in 1991. They were also the title sponsor of

Premier League Darts Premier League Darts, known for sponsorship purposes in 2024 as BetMGM Premier League Darts, is a darts tournament which launched on 20 January 2005 on Sky Sports. Now played weekly from February to May, the event originally started as a fortnig ...

in 2006 and 2007. Holsten sponsored a men's lacrosse club in Boston, MA from 1990-1993.

References

External links

* * (mostly in German) {{Authority control Carlsberg brands Breweries in Germany Beer brands of Germany Food and drink companies established in 1879 German companies established in 1879 Manufacturing companies based in Hamburg