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Installation of new equipment in the new lager cellar started. A giant crane with a load-bearing capacity of 350 tonnes moved first two stainless tanks with a volume of 2100 hl from transport vehicles into the cellar. The tanks are more than 14 m long and their diameter is more than 5 m. The tanks were made by ZVU Strojírny Hradec Králové.
In 2017 Budějovický Budvar exported record beer volumes. It exported 990 508 hl of beer to 76 countries, which is 1.5% more year-on-year. Light Budějovický Budvar lager was the most important export article in 2018 and its sales grew by 2.6%.
Budějovický Budvar CVIKL Unfiltered yeast beer – light beer. As this beer is not filtered, it is more bitter than the light beer Budějovický Budvar. Thanks to fresh activated yeast added shortly before bottling, the beer retains its fresh taste like in the brewery cellar. The yeast also cause slight turbidity of the beverage. Alcohol contents: 4.0% vol. London Pride Premium ALE type beer made in London that made the Fuller’s brewery famous all over the world. It has an amazing copper-like colour, fresh fruits and spices aroma and a pleasant malty taste with subtle fruits tones and medium hop bitterness. Alcohol content 4.7% vol.
Budějovický Budvar broke another magic line in its history and confirmed the long-term trend of growing interest in beer of the Budějovický Budvar and Pardál brands. On Thursday 11 February 2016 the volume of beer brewed in this brewery and shipped exceeded 50 million hectolitres. In the first year after being founded (financial year 1895/1896) 35 223 hl were shipped.
During the whole year Budějovický Budvar was commemorating the 120th anniversary of its existence. During this year, several limited beer editions carrying this theme emerged, e.g. a light yeast unfiltered lager in kegs and more. The anniversary motif appeared on many souvenirs (ceramic tray, metal sign, opener, set o historical images, beer pitcher, tankard with a lid, etc.). The brewery staged a number of cultural events and published a book about the history of Budějovický Budvar, completed the reconstruction of the multimedia exhibition "A storey of the Budweis beer", staged theatre-like brewery tours with actors playing scenes in contemporary costumes and A Day in Budvar.
The primary objective of the project was to consolidate the appearance of packaging with brand values, enable easier product identification for consumers, reduce the number of label variants and increase the output of the bottling plant.
On 12 November 2014 a revolutionary innovation was launched on the Czech market – a beer called Budějovický Budvar B:CRYO. This is a super-special beer made using a patented, protected procedure: the so-called cryoconcentration in the bottle: by freezing water, the beer turns into a highly concentrated beverage with 40 degrees, 60 EBC bitterness and alcohol content around 21%. Using an original tapping device, B:CRYO is pushed out of the bottle and guests can themselves tap the beer into their glasses. With innovation Budějovický Budvar set up a brand new beer category. The cryoconcentration procedure in the bottle is unique in the world and subject to a patent.
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On 14 February 2013 the brewery's own new bottling plant for canned beer with a filling capacity of 16 800 cans per hour started operation.
On 25 August the first batch of special BUD beer was brewed using fresh hops. Fresh hops belong go the most precious beer-making inputs, because they must be processed immediately after harvest, i.e. on the same day they were picked. Therefore, they are hardly ever used in brewing. Budějovický Budvar was the only Czech brewery in 2012 that brewed beer using fresh hops. The hop sorts used are Žatecký poloraný červeňák picked in the "U Splavu" hop garden that belongs to the famous site "Údolí Zlatého potoka" (Golden Creek Valley) of the hop-making municipality Blšany.
Budějovický Budvar became the exclusive importer of apple cider of the Somersby brand into the Czech Republic. Somersby is the premium brand of the Danish corporation Carlsberg Breweries.
Budweiser Budvar started selling one-way kegs for tapped beer with a volume of 20 and 30 l, which is very unusual for Czech conditions. The KeyKeg system works on the same principle as the popular beer tank: beer is filled into an inner bag made of a special membrane that is completely gas-tight and ensures high microbiological and sensoric beer quality.
The first In Loco restaurant ("In the right place") was opened in the Clarion Congress Hotel in České Budějovice. The restaurant provides state-of-the-art premises and excellent gastronomic experience. Insiders may find it interesting that the concept is based on the idea of the meeting between the "big world" with the world of stubborn and somewhat specific South-Bohemian nature and culture. The Budějovický Budvar brand is the bond between these two worlds, because it knows both these worlds and can make a difference in both of them.
Budějovický Budvar signed an exclusive import and sales agreement with Carlsberg Breweries for the premium lager Carlsberg in the Czech Republic.
On 1 March light beer of the Pardál brand was launched. The Pardál brand significantly extended the exiting selection of the brewery. Its taste is very different from that of Budějovický Budvar. High bitterness is its distinct feature. The Pardál brand is also interesting in the sense that 300 future consumers were participating in the development of its sensoric properties. This procedure was unique in the world and several Czech breweries copied it later.
The brewery opens a new Visitor Centre and Multimedia Exhibition "The Storey of Budweiser Beer" where it depicts the history of brewing in České Budějovice. The centre also includes a shop with beer souvenirs and promotional objects.
On 5 October 2005 the Budějovický Budvar brewery introduces new half-litre bottles for its complete product portfolio and brands.
The European Commission gave Budějovický Budvar the right to use the "Budějovické pivo" and "Českobudějovické pivo" (Budweiser beer) geographical marks. This decision came into effect on 1 May 2004.
The first Original Beerhouse Budvarka was opened in the Malý pivovar hotel (Small Brewery) in České Budějovice. The concept of the original beerhouse chain is intended for all those who like a traditional environment but want a state-of-the-art beerhouse with a nice climate where they can enjoy excellent beer and Czech as well as foreign cuisine with friends.
Prague – Beer of the year 2003, the pale lager Budějovický Budvar won a survey among readers of the "Pivní Kurýr" journal (Beer Courier) about which beer shall be the beer of the year.
Budějovický Budvar launched a robust and modern beer tapping technology in 2003. This system of stainless tanks ensures the highest quality and freshness.
Prague – Beer of the year 2002, the pale lager Budějovický Budvar won a survey among readers of the "Pivní Kurýr" journal (Beer Courier) about which beer shall be the beer of the year.
Prague – Czech TOP 100, the Budějovický Budvar brewery won the first place in the South Bohemian Region in the competition "One Hundred Admired Czech Businesses" and was ranked as the 10th most admired company in the country.
Lisbon – Monde Selection, the Belgian International Institute for Quality Selections awarded the gold medal and diploma to the BUD Super Strong beer.
Bratislava – The Slovak Brewing Association announced the Budějovický Budvar lager as the best Czech beer imported to Slovakia.
Prague – Beer of the year 2001, the pale lager Budějovický Budvar won a survey among readers of the "Pivní Kurýr" journal (Beer Courier) about which beer shall be the beer of the year.
Prague – Czech TOP 100, Budějovický Budvar won the 9th place in the "One Hundred Admired Czech Businesses" and won in the Food Makers category.
Prague – Czech top 100
Prague – Beer of the 20th century, vote of Czech brewing experts (research institutes, technical universities and universities, beer brewers from Czech breweries) in a survey organised by the Pivní kurýr (Beer Courier) journal under the auspices of the editing office of the Kvasný průmysl (Fermenting Industry) journal. Budějovický Budvar is the survey winner for "Excellent beer and great financial results".
Prague – Beer Friends Award, the light lager Budějovický Budvar became the Beer of the Year 2000 in a survey of the Beer Friends association.
Luxembourg – Monde Selection, the Belgian International Institute for Quality Selections awarded the gold medal and diploma to the BUD Premier Select beer.
London – survey of the Match of the Day journal, the Budějovický Budvar lager became the best beer for EURO 2000 in a survey organised by this British sports journal. The individual "beer representatives" (with Budějovický Budvar representing the Czech Republic) were split into same groups like in the upcoming European football championship and even the competition was running like EURO 2000. In the final Budějovický Budvar safely defeated its Italian rival.
Luxembourg – Monde Selection, the Belgian International Institute for Quality Selections awarded the gold medal and diploma to the pale lager Budvar in 0.33l bottles.
In 2000 the brewery was exporting beer to 56 countries. On some markets it started setting up its own subsidiaries. Germany was the biggest market at that time and 200 000 hl of beer was heading there.
Brussels – Monde Selection, the Belgian International Institute for Quality Selections awarded the silver medal and diploma to the BUD Premier Select beer.
Prague – Beer of the year 2000, the light lager Budějovický Budvar won a survey among readers of the "Pivní Kurýr" journal (Beer Courier) about which beer shall be the beer of the year.
Brussels – Monde Selection, the Belgian International Institute for Quality Selections awarded the gold medal and diploma to the pale lager Budvar in 0.33l cans.
Prague – Czech top 100
Luxembourg – Monde Selection, the Belgian International Institute for Quality Selections awarded the gold medal and diploma to the pale lager Budvar in 0.33l bottles.
Brno – Gold cup Pivex, competition Pivo 2000 (Beer 2000) – the special beer BUD Premier Select won the bronze medal.
Ósaka, Japan – silver medal as the only awarded medal from the International Beer Summit.
Oslo – the pale lager Budějovický Budvar won the title "Best Imported Beer of the Year" in Norway.
Prague – Czech top 100
Prague – Beer Friends Award, the Budějovický Budvar lager was the "Beer of 1998 with an Award" in a survey of the Beer Friends association.
Prague – Czech top 100
Prague – Q quality level
Milan – Giovanni Marcor award for the most progressive enterprise in food, agriculture and ecology The European Commission guarantees this prize. What makes this prize so exceptional? It was awarded to an enterprise from a non-EU country.
London – Budějovický Budvar was named among the ten best beers in the world in the International Book of Beer
Brno – Gold cup Pivex, Pivo 1997 (Beer 1997) competition – silver medal for pale lager Budějovický Budvar
London – the pale lager Budějovický Budvar was announced as the best imported lager – Star Buy – in Great Britain by the BBC Good Food journal in the Super Brews category.
Prague – Budějovický Budvar was ranked 16th among the biggest Czech exporters in the Exporter of the Year competitions organised by the Chamber of Commerce of the Czech Republic.
Budějovický Budvar shipped more than one million hectolitres of beer thanks to major modernization of its facilities.
Prague – Czech top 100
Prague – Golden Seal and Beer of the Year 1995 title – award for pale lager Budějovický Budvar in a competition of the Beer Courier journal.
Prague – the Budějovický Budvar lager won the second place in a survey by the Pivní kurýr (Beer Courier) magazine. The survey focused on the popularity of Czech and Moravian beers.
Prague – Q quality level (our brewery was the first in the then Czechoslovakia to obtain this reputable Quality mark)
A new age started for the brewery after the break in 1989 when the Budějovický Budvar became an independent enterprise on 1 January 1991. Thanks to a general upgrade of all systems and equipment, establishment of direct business relations with domestic and foreign partners and construction of our own warehouses, the brewery could increase its output by 250%.
Luxembourg – the Belgian International Institute for Quality Selections awarded the gold medal and diploma to the pale lager Budějovický Budvar.
Paris – gold medal and quality diploma to the Budějovický Budvar lager.
Brussels – the Belgian International Institute for Quality Selections awarded the silver medal and diploma to the pale lager Budějovický Budvar.
Krasnystaw – first place for pale lager Budějovický Budvar in a beer tasting competition in Comecon countries
Leipzig – gold medal and diploma for excellent quality ("Hervoragende Qualität") at the Internationale Lepziger Messe exhibition
London – bronze medal and diploma for pale lager Budějovický Budvar in an international bottled lager competition.
Leipzig – gold medal and diploma for excellent quality ("Hervoragende Qualität") at the Internationale Lepziger Messe exhibition.
In 1973 Budějovický Budvar launched an innovation: canned beer. Attempts to bottle beer into cans directly in the brewery were connected with technical issues (low output) and eventually failed. Therefore, the brewery management decided to cooperate with the Zlatý bažant (Golden Pheasant) brewery in Hurbanov that was running an automatic bottling line for cans.
Prague – the State Food Produce Quality Inspection gave the "Excellent Quality Enterprise" award to the Budějovický Budvar brewery.
České Budějovice – Zlatý klas (Golden Ear) and Level II medal – both titles were awarded to the canned pale lager Budějovický Budvar at the National agriculture exhibition "Země živitelka" ("Earth, our Provider").
České Budějovice – gold medal and recognition for gift packaging of pale lager Budějovický Budvar at the Země živitelka ("Earth, our Provider") exhibition in South Bohemia.
České Budějovice – the gift packaging (4-pack) of pale lager Budějovický Budvar won the bronze quality seal. The competition was organised by Potraviny České Budějovice (Budweiser Food Enterprise).
Prague – the Budějovický Budvar brewery was awarded this important national title from the Czechoslovak government. The Labour Order was awarded for outstanding work results in industry, agriculture, transport and trade in a state or another public service for major success in science, research or a cultural activity or technical innovation and invention of a large scale and/or for credit for an increase in the defensive ability of the army.
In 1967 the Budějovický Budvar brewery, national enterprise, was established as the successor of the original joint stock brewery and city brewery and took over most of their protective marks. It was operating on the same level as Jihočeské pivovary (South Bohemian Breweries) and the companies shared the management.
Wels (Austria) – Gold medal and diploma at the Internationale Welser Messe exhibition
During occupation, a Nazi manager was allocated for the joint stock Budějovický Budvar and the brewery became part of a network of protectorate breweries. Export was literally wiped out during the war, even though the joint stock brewery had been exporting major volumes until 1942.
At the beginning of 1939, at the onset of war, both Budweiser breweries were forced into entering into a new agreement with the Anheuser-Busch corporation under the threat of confiscation of its goods in the USA. However, this time the agreement was not of any benefit for the two breweries. Against inadequate financial compensation they committed not to use the Budweiser and Budweis marks or other derived marks for the region of North-American mainland from Panama to the north.
In 1930 the brewery registered its protected trademark Budvar used for 12° export pale lager. The extraordinary international success of this trademark made the company board integrate the trademark into the brewery name. So since 1936, the name was: Budvar-Český akciový pivovar, České Budějovice (Budvar-Czech joint stock brewery, Budweis).
Znojmo – silver medal at a National and anniversary exhibition
Rome – gold medal and diploma for Budweiser beer from the Joint-stock brewery in České Budějovice at an international exhibition.
When the Anheuser-Busch corporation registered its Budweiser trademark in 1907 in the USA, both Budweis-based breweries protested (the joint stock brewery had been exporting beer to the USA since 1906). Folling long disputes, a contract was signed in 1911 where the Czech joint stock brewery recognised – against compensation – the validity of the US registration. It however did not waive its right to identify its products with the word "Budweiser" and appendix "original" all over the world.
The growing volume of beer production necessitated an extension to all production facilities, as it only took a few years and the brewery was now brewing more beer than the competing city brewery. Between 1905 and 1908 a second brewing plant was built, lager cellars were extended and other facilities were modernised.
Stuttgart – gold medal for beer at a food exhibition.
Prague – gold medal for beer at a Food makers' exhibition
Prague – silver medal for beer at a Pharmacists' exhibition
On 20 May 1896 the opening ceremony of a "Joint Stock Brewery Restaurant" took place. The official opening day was Sunday, but the restaurant and its interiors, designed in a smart style and with electric light bulbs, were bursting at the seams already on Saturday due to vast amounts of pilgrims. At this moment the brewery became the centre of Czech national city life.
High-quality beer from a joint stock brewery was breaking through the tough, competitive market. The high beer quality brought important awards already in 1896 at an exhibition of food producers and pharmacists in Prague. In 1897 the products of the brewery won the gold medal at a food exhibition in Stuttgart.
The "Český akciový pivovar" (Czech joint stock brewery, current Budějovický Budvar, n.p.) started brewing its reputable beer on 7 October 1895. The events that had happened before its establishment in the city of České Budějovice (Budweis) with a divide between different nationalities were truly dramatic. A part of Czech brewing right advocates, dissatisfied with the situation in the mostly German-oriented City Brewery, supported by top Czech bourgeoisie representatives, decided to set up their own company.
In 1878 C. Conrad registered the Budweiser Lager Bier trademark with the American Patent Office. In 1891 he transferred this trademark on the Anheuser-Busch brewing corporation which thereby obtained the right to sell this beer. The adoption of Budweiser was not only unauthorised, but the owners of the American brand were presenting the brand as a phantasy brand. On the contrary, Budweiser beer from Budweis (České Budějovice) contained specific information about the place of origin based on a city name. The label of Anheuser-Busch from 1876 shows that this beer was brewed according to the Budweiser recipe and using Czech raw materials. Adolphus Busch, founder of the American beer giant Anheuser-Busch, said before the district court in South New York in the dispute about the Budweiser trademark in 1894 the following: "The idea was simple – making beer of the same quality, colour and taste like the beer made in Budweis or Bohemia."
The ever-growing popularity of European beers on the American market made another immigrant C. Conrad believe that he could imitate these beers in America. The problem was which brand to choose for the product. It was clear that it must be a well-known brand from Europe, the name of which can be pronounced also in English. So it was in 1876 when another Budweiser Bier was born. Six hundreds years after beer brewing started in the town of Budweis (České Budějovice). Carl Conrad chose the brewery of Anheuser-Busch for its idea.
Millions of people were coming into the USA from Europe in the hope of a better life. These immigrants also brought their thirst with them, so European beer imported to the USA was very popular among them. And Czech beers were among them: since 1872 also the Budweiser Bier from the town of Budweis.
The facilities and premises of both Budweis-based breweries soon no longer matched the needs for higher beer production. Both plants were reconstructed and rebuilt several times and, but it was soon obvious that further growth of the breweries in the city centre was no longer possible. In 1847 a decision was made to build a new freezing cellar in the Linecké předměstí suburb. A new brewery was built here in 1851-1852.
The townspeople were protesting against this act and the whole dispute ended only in 1795 when the town gave both breweries into the administration of townspeople. The so-called Town Brewery emerged.
Since the beginning of the 18th century, the townspeople had been aspiring the administration of the municipal brewery. They were arguing with the brewing right that had belonged to them since 1495. The municipal council really gave them this right in 1722, but they had to waive brewing in their homes. Therefore, they acquired a house of the brewer Matěj Konvička and the so-called Small Brewery was set up. The city council however declared this house as their property. Since then the city has owned two breweries: the Big Brewery by the Rožnovká brána gate and the Small Brewery on the corner of streets Karla IV. and Kanovnická.
Ferdinand I orders that the people of Budweis send the local brewer with his family-assistants to brew beer in his imperial court in Augsburg.
Ferdinand I, Roman and Bohemian Emperor, praised the Budweis people for very good bread and beer.
Following long negotiations with the townspeople, the Budweis city hall could build its own brewery: the Big Brewery. Based on the agreements with the townspeople, the city brewery was brewing the so-called white (wheat) beer, while individual townspeople were brewing dark (barley) beer.
In 1464 Budweis townspeople used force to enforce respect and destroyed foreign malt houses, breweries and pubs behind town bulwarks and in their vicinity within the one-mile law range of local brewing right advocates.
On 20 June 1410 Wenceslas IV extends the older one-mile law, so that no foreign malt houses, breweries, trades and pubs can be located within one mile from the town.
On 4 May 1351 Karel IV, a Bohemian king, grants the Budweis people different kinds of freedom, including the one-mile law. Since now, no foreign pubs were allowed within 10 km of the town.
The brewing history in Budweis (České Budějovice) starts in 1265 when Budweis was founded by the Bohemian king Přemysl Otakar II who gave the town many privileges, including the brewing right.
