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Staropramen is a Czech beer brand produced by the eponymous brewery in Prague. Pivovary Staropramen sro is the second largest beer producer in the Czech Republic and number 1 in Prague. The company has an extensive portfolio of brands (Braník, Wroclaw, Ostravar, Velvet), and also exports and promotes Belgian beer brands Hoegaarden, Stella Artois on the country’s market. The flagship brand Staropramen is represented in 38 countries. In 2012, the StarBev concern, which includes Staropramen, was acquired by the American company Molson Coors Brewing for $3,5 billion.
Historical reference. The Staropramen Brewery was founded as a joint stock company in 1869. After less than two years of construction, under the guidance of an experienced “sladek” (master brewer) Pavel Kvaiser, the first batch of beer was brewed. An important step in the promotion of the new company was the opening of the Na Verandách restaurant in the autumn of 1871. In 1880, beer sales immediately increased after the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I visited the brewery and left a note of thanks in Czech in a memorial book.
At the beginning of the 1913th century, the brewery began to use the double decoction method to obtain lagers with a particularly mild and harmonious malt flavor. The registration of the Staropramen trademark took place in 90, at the same time the famous Czech graphic artist Frantisek Tichy created a label for Staropramen. In the 2003s, the plant relied on innovation and technical re-equipment, in 2006 Staropramen was the first in Europe to use a completely cooled draft. In 2011 the company developed new and lighter bottles, and the following year patented the Staropramen Coolkeg, a unique self-cooling keg. In 3, the volume of production exceeded XNUMX million hectoliters of beer.
Since 1993, the Staropramen brewery has been part of the British Bass Group, then became part of the StarBev group. In April 2012, it was announced that StarBev’s co-owners had sold the entire company to American brewing giant Molson Coors.
Awards
Czech Beer of the Year, Prague:
- 2005 – Bronze (Staropramen Světlý) medal;
- 2006 – Gold (Staropramen Světlý), bronze (Staropramen Dark Lager) medals;
- 2011 – Gold (Staropramen Světlý) and silver (Staropramen Ležák) medals;
- 2016 – Bronze (Staropramen Ležák).
Slavnosti piva (Pivo České republiky), České Budějovice:
- 2017 – Gold (Staropramen Ležák) medal.
Gold Brewer’s Seal, Tabor:
- 2004 – 2 gold (Staropramen Ležák, Staropramen Černý) medals;
- 2011 – 2 gold (Staropramen 11 °, Staropramen Nealko) medals.
- 2015 – Silver (Staropramen Granát) medal, gold (Staropramen Cool Grep) and bronze (Staropramen Cool Třešeň) in the Shandy category (a mixture of simple beer with ginger or lemonade);
- 2016 – bronze (Staropramen Nealko).
Pivex Gold Cup (Zlatý pohár Pivex), Brno:
- 2005 – Silver (Staropramen Ležák) medal;
- 2011, 2012 – Gold (Staropramen Nealko) medal;
- 2015 – Gold (Staropramen Ležák) and silver (Staropramen Světlý) medals, SUPERIOR KOLEKCE prize.
Brussels Beer Challenge:
- 2012 – 3 silver (Staropramen Granát, Staropramen Dark, Staropramen Selection) medals
International Beer Challenge, London:
- 2012 – Bronze (Staropramen Premium) medal.
EFFIE Awards Czech Republic, Prague:
- 1998 – Bronze award for the Pražské pivovary commercial.
EFFIE Awards Ukraine, Kiev:
- 2008 – Gold award for the image campaign “Softness Staropramen”.
Epica Awards:
- 2015 – Gold (Staropramen Limited Edition) medal for packaging design.
Golden Hammer, Riga:
- 2014 – Silver award for design and branding “Charles Bridge”.
Interesting Facts
Unlike brands that focus only on supporting music festivals and sports tournaments, Staropramen pays great attention to social programs. The company is a general partner of Helppes, an organization that trains guide dogs for people with disabilities. Staropramen sponsors the Super Day event, when Helppes ceremonially hands over trained dogs to new owners.
Types of beer Staropramen
Staropramen Premium, 5%
Premium beer is brewed based on an old Czech pilsner recipe. The production uses light malt, selected varieties of Žatec hops and a unique yeast race. This combination gives the bouquet a delicate herbal aroma with notes of caramel, roasted coffee beans and spices. A special aging method ensures a rich, rich and long-lasting lather. From the first sip, you can feel the smoothness and delicacy of taste, rich malt component and unobtrusive hop bitterness. When choosing snacks, the manufacturer suggests turning to national Czech cuisine or making a classic hamburger with Emmental cheese.
Staropramen Black (Dark), 4,4%
Full-bodied dark Bavarian-style lager that attracts with an intense coffee-chocolate bouquet and excellent balance. The color of the drink depends on the lighting: in the bottle it seems almost black, and in the light – brown-ruby. Everything that dark beer is famous for is concentrated in the taste: a rich malty body with notes of caramel and biscuit is balanced by the noble bitterness of Žatec hops. A viral video posted on YouTube quickly gained popularity: it shows how easy it is to persuade the inhabitants of Prague to “pass over to the Dark Side” if Staropramen Černý beer awaits them there. Manufacturer’s recommendations regarding the choice of gastronomic accompaniment: smoked pork ears, grilled sausages, toasts with sandwich pasta with cracklings.
Staropramen Garnet, 4,8%
An acclaimed semi-dark lager that spawned many imitations and became the progenitor of the Granat variety. It is believed that it was at the brewery in Smichov in 1884 that beer was first brewed with such an unusual ruby-red hue, which gave it its name. The peak of popularity of “Granat” reached in the 30s of the last century, then it was not produced for a long time. In 2000, he returned to the assortment portfolio under the name Millenium, and after 2 years he again began to be produced under the original name. The recipe includes pale and specialty malts, which are blended using the old “pour” method. It has a rich aroma, including hints of caramel, toffee, sun-dried cherries, toasted malt. The taste is oily, with a light coffee note and restrained hop bitterness.
Staropramen Unfiltered, 5%
Unfiltered beer is brewed according to the original recipe from wheat and barley malts, Saaz hops, with the addition of apple extract and coriander. The drink has a cloudy-opal color typical for wheat beer, a cap of dense foam settles slowly, leaving a “lace” on the walls of the glass. The peculiarity of beer is a pronounced yeasty aroma with well-marked notes of French baguette, fruit and fresh hay. The taste is smooth, with a pleasant balance between sweetness, noble acidity and hints of hops. A worthy gastronomic accompaniment will be fried ribs, croutons with cheese, onion rings.
