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

Smíchov Smíchov () is, since 1922, a district and cadastral area 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 It was only on 22 February 1903, that Smíchov was elevated to ...

district of

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

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 b ...

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

Molson Coors Molson Coors Beverage Company is a Canadian-American Multinational corporation, multinational Drink industry, drink and brewing company, brewing company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Molson Coors was formed in 2005 through the merger of Mo ...

and its products are exported to 37 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 Braník (sometimes inaccurately called Bráník) is a district and cadastral area in Prague, Czech Republic, located in the south of the city, on the east bank of the Vltava The Vltava ( , ; ) is the longest river in the Czech Republic, a ...

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 Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

. 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 contrasts with ...

, 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 Brewery, Boddi ...

, which merged with AmBev in 2004 to form

Inbev InBev () was 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 Anheu ...

. 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 plc is a Jersey-based private equity and investment advisory firm with approximately €186 billion of assets under management and approximately €157 billion in secured commitments since inception across American, European, ...

bought all of

Anheuser–Busch InBev Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, known as AB InBev, is an American-Belgian multinational drink and brewing company based in Leuven, Belgium. It is the largest brewer in the world, and in 2023, was ranked 72nd in the ''Forbes'' Global 2000. Additio ...

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

bought StarBev. In May 2023, it was announced that English actor

Orlando Bloom Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Copeland Bloom (born 13 January 1977) is an English actor. He made his breakthrough as the character Legolas in The Lord of the Rings (film series), ''The Lord of the Rings'' film series (2001–03). He reprised his r ...

is the new

brand ambassador A brand ambassador (sometimes also called a corporate ambassador) is a person paid by an organization or company to represent its brand in a positive light, helping to increase brand awareness and sales. The brand ambassador is meant to embody the ...

for Staropramen beer.

Products

* Staropramen Smíchov – a pale draught beer with 4.0%

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, ...

(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 *Czech (surnam ...

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

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 ...

, 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 group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

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 by volume that aims to reproduce the taste of beer while eliminating or reducing the inebriating effect, carbohydrates, and calories of regular alcoholic brews. Low-alcohol beers can come in diff ...

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,

and

Velvet Velvet is a type of woven fabric with a dense, even pile (textile), pile that gives it a distinctive soft feel. Historically, velvet was typically made from silk. Modern velvet can be made from silk, linen, cotton, wool, synthetic fibers, silk ...

brands. Staropramen beers are also produced under licence in several other European countries, including Serbia ( Apatin Brewery), Croatia ( Zagreb Brewery), Romania ( Bergenbier), and Georgia (JSC Lomisi).

References

{{Reflist

External links

Czech site

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

History

Products

See also

References

External links