The Czech Rebel Story
In
the year 1333 the Bohemian king John of Luxembourg granted to Jindrick
of Lipa, the then lord of Nemecky Brod, a royal set of rules for
the town container the right to brew beer. It concerned the time-honored
prerogative of the town allowing citizens owning a house inside
the town walls to brew beer. It was probably the first time that
this right was accorded to a subject town.
During the rebuilding of the town, destroyed in the year 1422
by Hussites, the breweries were also reconstructed. Gradually,
all rights, including that of brewing, were confirmed. first by
King Jiri of Podebrad (1452), then by King Ludvik (1520) and then
by King Ferdinand (1544). This process was concluded in 1637 when
Emperor Ferdinand III declared Memecky Brod a
royal free town and
awarded it a town badge and
a town charter as a royal town.
Originally every townsman prepared his malt and even beer himself,
and likewise drew it on his own or sold it to lease-holding publicans.
Over time, there arose in the town an associated of brew-masters,
who established larger breweries. These could be better equipped
and allowed the preparation of beer by all those who held the right
to brew beer. The brewery in the town hall was destroyed in the
great fire of 1662. It was subsequently renovated in the year 1673
when the guild of maltsters was also founded.
After the fire of 1834 the brew-masters bought the knightly Bukovsky
house (today the brewery’s administrative building) where
there was a small hand brewery. This was the day of the founding
of our brewery. With the growing quantity of brewing, the capacity
of the brewery ceased to meet the demands made on it. Therefore
it was decided to undertake the fist large-scale reconstruction
of the brewery, which was completed on 12 October 1880, when the
brewery was opened. On this day, when the modern production of
beer began, the latest phase in the history of the brewery opened.
Since then the brewery has undergone a whole series of reconstruction
and modernization work, has survived both times of way and of socialism.
After the Second World Way the name of the town was changed to
Havlickuv Brod.
Since World War II, the brewery has constantly raised production
levels. In 1995 a dispute among 17 physical persons was resolved
and the brewery once again returned to the hands of the descendants
of the original owners, who on January 24, 1995 founded the joint
stock company Mest’ansky pivovar Havlickuv Brod a.s. The
continuing reconstruction of the brewing equipment, especially
the construction of a new brewing house and cylindrical-conical
tanks (CCT), allowed the repeated raising of output to a level
of 150 thousand hl. in 1999. After further investment in the year
2000, the brewery created the preconditions for the growth of capacity
to 167 thousand hl. Therefore its production capacity places it
in the category of small breweries with an annual output of up
to 200 thousand hl.
The Havlickuv Brod thwon brewery is the holder of a while range
of awards.
For example:
- 2nd place – Beer of the Czech Republic (2000)
- 2nd place – World Beer Cup 2000 (New York)
- 1st place – Golden Seal of Quality for Beer (2001).
Total
Beverage Solution Acquires Import Rights to Czech Rebel, BB Burgerbrau
and Havlicek Beer Brands (April 25,
2008)
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