Who owns BUDVAR/CZECHVAR BEER?

Not to be confused with Budweiser

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The Budweiser Budvar brewery was founded in 1895 in České Budějovice, Habsburg Empire (now Czech Republic) by August Zátka, a Czech politician and brewery owner. In an effort to challenge the Budweis Bürgerbräu, a rival brewery in the same city owned by German-speaking residents, Zátka teamed up with several rivals to take on the brewery directly. The brewery was originally known as the Czech Joint Stock Brewery.

During World War II, production faltered under German occupation. The company was ruled by a Nazi administrator, and renamed Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, České Budějovice Brewery Administration. By 1948, Czechoslovakia had become a communist state, and Budweiser Budvar was nationalized. While most countries privatized their breweries after the fall of communism, the successor state of the Czech Republic retained Budweiser Budvar after the Velvet Revolution, largely due to the nation’s cultural connection to the craft of brewing.

The name Budweiser has caused an ongoing dispute with Anheuser-Busch since the beginning of the 20th century. Although Budvar was established after the American Budweiser was first created, the name was in use the in the city of České Budějovice since the 1200s, and Adolphus Busch was inspired by Budweis Bürgerbräu’s use of the term when he visited Europe in 1876. Budvar conceded the rights to the term in the United States in 1939, just a week before the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Nazis. As a result, the beer is known as “Czechvar” in the US, as well as in Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Peru, and the Philippines. In 2010, Anheuser-Busch InBev lost its last appeal for the trademark in the European Union’s Court of Justice, and therefore Budweiser is known simply as “Bud” throughout the EU.

Popular Beers by this Brand

• Czechvar
• Czechvar Lager
• Dark Lager

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