This year will be marked by commemorating the 120th anniversary of Budweiser Budvar Brewery’s founding

Throughout the whole year, Budweiser Budvar Brewery, N.C will be commemorating the 120th anniversary of its founding, as 15th April will mark 120 years since the founding general meeting of shareholders of the “Czech Joint Stock Brewery in České Budějovice” (hereinafter referred to as “CJSB”), which is the direct legal predecessor of today's Budweiser Budvar. The first Board of Trustees (9 members, Chairman JUDr. František Hromada) was elected at the founding general meeting. On 7th October 1895, the CJSB’s first brewing master Antonín Holeček brewed the first batch of beer amounting to only 200 hectolitres. Mainly brewers of Czech nationality from České Budějovice (led by JUDr. August Zátka) were behind the origination of the CJSB. The brewery thus directly followed in the historical tradition of brewing the original Beer from Budweis in České Budejovice and began to develop this tradition.

"We are proud to continue in the 750-year long tradition of brewing the original Beer from Budweis under the brand of Budweiser Budvar. We have looked after and kept this tradition for future generations. When brewing Beer from Budweis, we follow time-tested craftsman procedures, using only original ingredients and brewing only in České Budějovice. For that reason our beer can boast the Protected Geographical Indication," says Budweiser Budvar’s director Jiří Boček. The right to use the Protected Geographical Indications "Budějovické pivo" and "Českobudějovické pivo” was acquired by Budweiser Budvar in 2004. Protected Geographical Indications guarantee consumers genuine quality, therefore that the product purchased is not a cheap imitation, and that it was made at a specific location using exactly defined ingredients and a specified manufacturing process. "Budweiser beer is exported to 70 countries worldwide. We don’t only represent our brewery, but also significantly contribute to increasing the familiarity with České Budějovice as well as the Czech Republic in the world," adds Jiří Boček.

Budweiser Budvar’s February ball also took place in the spirit of the 120th anniversary. In March, one of the favourite "Walk through the History" took place, commemorating 120 years of the history of the brewery, and visitors could visit areas where a regular guided tour usually does not take them. Since March, a limited edition gift-pack “Budweiser Budvar Collection" with four kinds of beer of the "Budweiser Budvar" brand (pale and dark lager, special beer and draught beer) has been available on the market. From 1st April, all bottles of pale lager and draft beer of the "Budweiser Budvar" brand are going to have neck labels with a motif of 120 years. During the year, the market is going to see more limited beer editions commemorating Budweiser Budvar’s founding. The anniversary theme is going to appear on a number of souvenirs (e.g. a ceramic beer mat, a metal sign with a historical motif, bottle opener, a set of historical photos, a beer jug, a tankard with a lid etc.). Budweiser Budvar is also preparing a series of cultural events, such as the publication of a book about the history of Budweiser Budvar, completion of the reconstruction of the multimedia exposition "The Story of Beer from Budweis", historic evening tours of the brewery with dramatized scenes in period costumes or the Open Day in Budvar. The brewery is going to continuously inform about individual events.

Why Budweiser Budvar?
The name of the brewery and the name of its key brand - "Budweiser Budvar" are related to the place of origin, therefore to České Budějovice. From the very beginning, the CJSB used for the sale of beer in various forms the word "Budweiser", which at the time was based on then used names Budějovice or Budweis. As far back as in the 13th century, the town of Budějovice - Budweis - excelled in brewing beer known as Beer from Budweis, or called "Budweiser Bier" (i.e. "Beer from Budweis”). Designating the product by the place of origin was logically adopted by the CJSB when it was established (e.g. "Budweiser Aktienbier"), which thus directly accepted to continue a tradition of producing original Beer from Budweis. During the development of its business activities, the CJSB began to register miscellaneous designations with the "Budweiser" element as trademarks. In 1930, another important trademark - "Budvar" was registered, which originated by bringing together two Czech words - BUDějovický (“from Budweis” in English) and pivoVAR (“brewery” in English). Subsequently in 1934, the trademark “Budvar – budějovické pivo” (“Budvar – Beer from Budweis” in English) was registered. The "Budvar" trademark was supplemented by the previously used designation of origin - “Budweiser”. Since the name of "Budvar" beer quickly became synonymous with high quality, the CJSB was in 1936 officially renamed as "Budvar - Czech Joint Stock Brewery České Budějovice”.  

"Budweiser Budvar" Premium Lager gradually became the key and flagship product of the brewery. Under the brand name of “Budweiser Budvar" a further seven kinds of beer are sold beside pale lager B: ORIGINAL (draught beer B: CLASSIC, dark lager B: DARK, Krausened lager B: SPECIAL, non-alcoholic beer B: FREE, special beer B: STRONG, special beer B: CRYO and non-filtered yeast beer CVIKL). Currently, "Budweiser Budvar" is one of the best known and most valuable Czech brands in the world: it participates in the export from the Czech Republic by more than 20%, being exported to 70 countries. The modern history of the brewery began in 1967, when the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic established Budweiser Budvar, N.C. as the direct legal successor of the original "Czech Joint Stock Brewery in České Budejovice."

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