Budweiser Budvar (Budějovický Budvar) Brewery: Homage to the World's Most Prestigious Hop Variety, Saaz, which is German for the famous Czech Republic Hop Town of Žatec.

The above September, 1993 photo, was taken by White Beer Travels Beer Hunt and recce regular, Sylvia Clow. In it, Miloš Heide, the then Master Brewer, of Budweiser Budvar (Budějovický Budvar), is offering Žatec hops to John White, of White Beer Travels, in front of the brewery's copper. After the trip, Dr Eric Clow printed the photo onto a much-loved T-shirt for John's 1993 Xmas present. Click here to see a photo of John wearing it, during a White Beer Travels Group Beer Hunt, based in New Orleans, whilst on a visit to the Abita Brewery, in Abita Springs, Louisiana, USA. John can also be seen wearing it in the Highwood Brewery, in Lincolnshire, England, in a White Beer Travels Web page covering the Cantillon Brewery, in Brussels, Belgium.

During the 1993 tour round Budweiser Budvar (Bud Brew), Miloš recounted many fascinating anecdotes about brewing and otherwise; sons and relatives of his are also Master Brewers. With regret, I can report that Miloš passed away in 2001. The present Budvar Brew Master is Josef Tolar.

České Budějovice (Budweis),
in The Czech Republic (Česká republika) (ČR)

Budweiser Budvar (Budějovický Budvar) Brewery & its Cylindro-Conical Fermenters
(photos ex the Budvar website)

The City of České Budějovice, which is Budweis in German, and the town of Plzeň (Pilsen in German) are particularly renowned for beer and brewing. They were both once awash with breweries, but now they have just two each. In České Budějovice, the most well known brewery is Budvar (in full, Budweiser Budvar or Budějovický Budvar) (Karolíny Světlé 4, www.budvar.cz). In Plzeň, the brewery that immediately comes to mind is Pilsner Urquell (Plzeňský Prazdroj, in Czech), www.pilsnerurquell.com. These two breweries are unquestionably the most famous breweries in The Czech Republic. This Web page covers: Budvar and its infamous struggles with the American Anheuser-Busch Company; and České Budějovice's other brewery. A White Beer Travels Web page giving information on Plzeň, can be reached by clicking here. Of course, many beer lovers never get beyond the Czech Capital, Prague (Praha), which, of course, has a number of outlets for the beers from České Budějovice and Plzeň; click here to go to the White Beer Travels Web page covering Prague.

The most commonly seen Budvar (Bud Brew) beer is the 12^o Budweiser Budvar Světlý ležák (Light Lager) (5%). Other beers include: the 10^o Budějovický Budvar světlé výčepní pivo (Light Tap Beer) (4%); the 12^o Budweiser Budvar tmavý ležák (Dark Lager) (4.7%); the 16^o Bud Super Strong (7.6%) (called Bud Premier Select in the UK); the 12^o Budweiser Budvar kroužkovaný ležák (Yeast Lager) (5%); and the 10^o Pardál světlé výčepní pivo (Light Tap Beer) (3.8%). The Yeast Lager is a variant of the 12^o Budweiser Budvar Světlý ležák; it is a clear beer, unlike a cloudy Kvasnicové pivo (Yeast Beer). The Budweiser Yeast Lager is the equivalent of a clear UK Real Ale, in that there is yeast in the container from which it is delivered, but the yeast is resting at the bottom of the container, which is why the description of the Budweiser Budvar Yeast Lager on the Budweiser Budvar website, states that before being served, it must not be disturbed for a period of at least a week, and it must be stored at a temperature of 6-8°C. It is only available in specially selected outlets, these including the Budvarka, in České Budějovice, see below, and in the "Budweiser Bar", in U Medvídků (www.umedvidku.cz, White Beer Travels Web page), a complex of bars in Prague, which includes the X-Beer Brew Pub (Minipivovar U Medvídků), which produces top-class beers.

České Budějovice, which is the Capital of the South Bohemia Region (Jihočeský kraj) of The Czech Republic (Česká republika), was once officially referred to by its German name of Budweis (in full, Böhmisch Budweis, i.e. Bohemian Budweis), i.e. until the collapse of the Habsburg Austro-Hungarian Empire, at the end of the First World War, in 1918. A wine from Würzburg, in Germany, is a Würzburger, the latter being the adjectival form, in the German-language, of Würzburg. Indeed, the use of the word Würzburger on a wine label is protected in law; it means that the wine comes from Würzburg. By analogy, only beers from Pilsen should be allowed to have the appellation Pilsener, and only beers from Budweis should be allowed to be called Budweiser, surely? However, for some reason, this does not apply to beer, and very famously, it does not in the case of Budweiser.

After returning to the USA from a tour of Europe in the 1870s, German immigrant Carl Conrad, who was a drinks salesman, in St Louis, attempted, at home, to reproduce certain beers that he had come across on his trip, particularly those that he sampled in what is now The Czech Republic. When he was happy with a beer that mimicked one that he had tasted in Budweis, he asked his brewer friend, fellow German immigrant Adolphus Busch (1839-1913), who had accompanied him on the European trip, to brew it commercially for him. Adolphus ran the brewery for his father-in-law, Ebehard Anheuser. The resultant American "Budweiser" beer was first sold commercially in 1876. It was bottled by Carl's company "C Conrad & Co"; bottles bearing this legend or "CCCo" are highly prized by breweriana collectors.

The Budweiser Budvar Brewery was founded in 1895, i.e. over fifteen years after Carl Conrad and Adolphus Busch's visit to České Budějovice in the 1870s. It was first called the Český akciový pivovar (Czech or Bohemian Joint Stock (Share) Brewery). It was set up as a Czech rival to an existing brewery in the city that is still in operation today: Budějovický Měšťanský pivovar (Samson Brewery) (www.budweiser1795.com, www.budweiser-burgerbrau.cz, www.samson.cz), which, as can be seen from its first website address quoted, was founded in 1795, exactly a hundred years before Budweiser Budvar. Hence, it was the Samson Brewery, not Budweiser Budvar, which inspired the name of the American beer; present day Samson brand of beers have the wording Budweiser Bier on the label, Bier, of course, being German for Beer. American beers with European names are now very common throughout the world, for example, Michelob, but especially Budweiser, which Carl Conrad was somehow allowed to register as a Trade Mark, in 1878, despite it being obvious that Budweiser means "Comes from Budweis", something which Carl would have known, being a German immigrant to the USA. The trademark was transferred to the Anheuser-Busch Company in 1891. Note that the English translation of the official name of the Samson Brewery is Budweiser Burghers' Brewery, which is also the original name of the Pilsner Urquell Brewery; the Samson Brewery was set up by the České Budějovice's German-speaking burghers, with brewing rights, indeed it previously had names such as Bürgerliches Bräuhaus and Budweiser Bürgerbräu, the latter even today generally appearing with the place's Czech name in promotional material, the company letterhead, alternative website address, etc; there is a kiosk, with seating, in Prague, serving the brewery's beers, called, would you believe, the Budweiser Bürgerbräu, at Králodvorská 14 (open each day from 4pm to 11pm). The forerunner of the Budweiser Budvar Brewery was also a Burghers' Brewery, but the burghers (citizens) in question were Czech-speaking, and, as is typical of a Burghers' Brewery, these citizens had brewing rights, which had been passed down from times immemorial. In 1895 there was a growing pride in being Czech, and speaking Czech, rather than the official language of the country, German; it was very much a case of Na zdraví (Cheers), rather than Prost. Thus, it is ironic that there are now international legal tussles between Budějovický Budvar and Anheuser-Busch over a German name: Budweiser.

České Budějovice was founded by the Bohemian King, Přemysl Otakar II, in 1265. He granted brewing rights to the burghers of the City. In 1351, České Budějovice was granted the "mile privilege" by Charles IV (Karel IV) (1316-1378), the King of Bohemia and the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor. This gave České Budějovice's burghers a monopoly on all brewing activities within a certain radius of the City, which resulted in the setting up of individual "House Breweries" in the City. In 1795, a number of the burghers joined forces to form the previously mentioned Burghers' Brewery, just as the burghers with brewing rights in Pilsen had done, when forming their own Burghers' Brewery.

Some of the historical information in the previous three paragraphs and below comes from the Budweiser Budvar website (www.budvar.cz). Many beer books do not mention Carl Conrad's role vis-à-vis American Budweiser, i.e. they give the impression that Adolphus Busch did the European tour on his own, and that it was he that came up with the idea of copying beers from Budweis and then misnaming them Budweiser. Note that an excellent source of beer history is the American Beer History site, www.beerhistory.com. It contains an in-depth history of American and Czech Budweiser, which tallies with that given in Budweiser Budvar's website. Technically speaking, you could say that it also agrees with that given in the Anheuser-Busch website, www.anheuser-busch.com, since the latter provides no explanation as to the origin of the American Budweiser's name! To quote from their website: "In 1876, Adolphus collaborated with his close friend, Carl Conrad, to create a new beer brand - Budweiser - which now outsells all other brands in the world. Twenty years later, Adolphus developed another beer brand - Michelob - that soon became the pre-eminent superpremium U.S. beer, a position it retains to this day."

After many years of copyright conflicts, in 1911, Budweiser Budvar and Anheuser-Busch signed an agreement. Note that the trademark Budvar, which means "Bud Brew", was registered in 1930, its German equivalent Budbräu (Budbrew if keeping it one word, otherwise also "Bud Brew") is another registered trade mark of the brewery. In 1936, Budvar became part of the brewery's name, when it was changed from "Český akciový pivovar" to "Budvar – Český akciový pivovar České Budějovice", which, in 1967, was updated to the present Czech and Germanic/International names of "Budějovický Budvar" and "Budweiser Budvar", a company which is owned by the Czech government. Budějovický Budvar/Budweiser Budvar means "Bud Brew from Budweis/České Budějovice". The summary outcome of the 1911 agreement was that Anheuser-Busch could use the name Budweiser in the American market and Budweiser Budvar could use the name in Europe. There were exceptions to this ruling, for example both beers bear the Budweiser name in England. However, the American operation has always being trying to suppress the Budweiser Budvar brand name, even to the extent of trying to take over the brewery. Note that the Budweiser Budvar beer is sold in the USA, but it is called Czechvar (Czech Brew) (www.czechvar.com). In fact, it can be proved that true Budweiser beer was imported into the USA as early as in 1872, four years prior to American Budweiser being introduced. Fortunately there has been major resistance from the Czech Government to any take over of the Budweiser Budvar brewery, ably backed up by organisations such as the UK's premier beer consumers' organisation, CAMRA (www.camra.org.uk). Note that, despite their differences, in 2006, Anheuser-Busch commenced the distribution of Budweiser Budvar beers in the USA!

From a taste point of view there is no contest. On draught, in The Czech Republic, Budweiser Budvar is a truly wonderful drink. Beers from Budweis were the "Beers of Kings", an expression that was adapted by the American brewery for its main beer and then registered as trade mark: "King of Beers®". This is an absolute joke, since the US concoction does not come close to true Budweiser beers when it comes to what really matters: taste. But then, what would one expect from a brew in which a large proportion of the mash was rice, compared to 100% malt for the Czech product? Then there is the prestigious Saaz hops used in the Czech beer, the much longer conditioning (lagering) time, etc, etc. Note that Michelob, Anheuser-Busch's "superpremium" beer, as they describe it on their website, see above, was an all malt beer until 1961, when rice was added to the mash, although Anheuser-Busch announced in 2007 that it was to become an all malt brew again, but they stil must be scrimping somewhere, since it is still no contest, when compared with the genuine Czech beer. Amazingly, that rice was in the mash was stated on its font, which pointed out that it contained less rice than their Budweiser! It seems that Anheuser-Busch have finally realised that "super premium" beers have no rice, as per the original beer from Michelob (Měcholupy) that the American product is named after, the Dreher brewery in Michelob, see above, being another place visited on Carl Conrad and Adolphus Busch's European tour mentioned above. The brewery in Michelob (Měcholupský pivovar) closed in 1927. Měcholupy is in The Czech Republic, close to Žatec (Saaz), the famous hop town, click here for more info

Although surrounded by extensive industrial suburbs, České Budějovice has a particularly impressive medieval centre. Its principal general tourist attractions are on, or just off, the Premysyl Otakar II Square (Náměstí Přemysla Otakara II), the largest square in The Czech Republic. These include: the City Hall (Radnice); St Nicholas Cathedral (Chrám sv. Mikuláše), off the North East corner; the Samson Fountain (Samsonova Kašna), in the centre of the square; the Black Tower (Černá věž), by the Cathedral, from which good views of the medieval layout of the city can be obtained; the former 13th century Dominican Monastery of St Mary (Dominikánský klášter), the oldest building in the city, reached by going West from the North West corner of the square, along Piaristická; and, for beer lovers, the big draw was the former Masné krámy (Meat Market), on Května, leading North, from the same corner. When I visited it, it functioned as a marvellous pub/restaurant, but, at the moment, it is closed, and its future is uncertain.

Lagering (Maturation) Vessels, New and Old, in the Budvar Brewery
(photos ex the Budvar website)

Visits to the Budweiser Budvar Brewery can be booked from the Budvar website, as can visits to its multimedia presentation, "The Story of Budweiser Beer"; there is also now a Budvar Museum on the site. On brewery visits, one sees brewing equipment, new and old, such as the Lagering vessels in the above two photos; the beer is lagered (ninety days for the normal strength beers, 250 days for Bud Super Strong/Premier Select. The brewery is about a kilometre (just over a half a mile) North of Husova in the city centre. It can be reached by a number 2, 4, 6 or 12 bus. Close to its gates is a modern restaurant; beer quality in the restaurant has been outstanding on all visits.

On the main square, in České Budějovice, there is one of the smart outlets for the unfortunately dumbed down Pilsner Urquell, i.e. one of their "Pilsner Urquell Original Restaurants", which are also to be found in Kiev, Klatovy, Karlovy Vary, Pardubice, Prague and Brno, see the website (www.pilsnerurquell.com) for their addresses, etc. The one in České Budějovice is within the historic Grand Hotel Zvon (Náměstí Přemysla Otakara II c. 28, tel 038 731 13 84, www.hotel-zvon.cz), the history of which goes back to 1265, the year in which the city was founded.

The Main Tourist Information Office is on the main square (Náměstí Přemysla Otakara II), at c. 2 (Town Hall, entrance Number 2) (tel 038 680 14 13, www.c-budejovice.cz). Excellent, on-line maps pinpointing all the places featured in this Web page, well any place in The Czech Republic come to that, can be found using www.mapy.cz.

John White (1945-), , November, 1993, updated in June, 2007.

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