Who owns PILSNER URQUELL?

PILSNER URQUELL is owned by

ASAHI HOLDINGS

Website

Pilsner Urquell began in the year 1842 in the city of Plzeň, now a part of the Czech Republic. The brewery was then called Bürgerbrauerei, or “Citizen’s Brewery” in German, and was owned by the residents of the town of Plzeň. The brewery hired Josef Groll to brew a help meet its audience’s demand for bottom fermented lager beer. In addition to the relatively modern use of lager yeast, Groll used the recent inventions of the drum roaster, which allowed for light-colored malted barley, and the hydrometer, which allowed brewers greater control of their beer’s sugar content, to create a light, dry beer. The beer became the world’s first ever Pilsner, now the most popular style of beer in the world by volume.

Quickly, the beer spawned multiple copycats, both in Bohemia and abroad. In Germany, the beers became more dry and bitter, as opposed to the breadier, slightly sweeter Bohemian pilsners. A competitor brewery was established in Plzeň in 1869, known as První Plzeňský, with a beer they called Gambrinus. Bürgerbrauerei’s version of the beer gained the name Pilsner Urquell in 1898 to distinguish it from other pilsners that sprang up after it began. In 1933 the company merged with První Plzeňský to take over the local market.

In 1946 the brewery was nationalized by the Czech government. After the Velvet Revolution, the company was established as a joint stock company in 1992. In 1999, it was sold to South African Breweries, who three years later purchased Miller to become SABMiller. When Anheuser-Busch InBev purchased SABMiller in 2016, they sold several European brands to Asahi to appease antitrust regulators. Molson Coors retains distribution rights in the United States, but all production still occurs in Plzeň.

Popular Beers by this Brand

• Pilsner Urquell

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