Czech Republic: Historic B.B. Bürgerbräu To Begin Sales in U.S.
The Budìjovický Mìštanský Pivovar (BMP), the oldest brewery in the renowned Czech city Èeské Budìjovice (“Czech City of Budweis”) announced on June 8 that it has started to export its historic B.B. Bürgerbräu to select U.S. markets starting this June. Classic Beverages LLC of Darien, CT is the exclusive importer.
While the city of Èeské Budìjovice is known principally for the quality of the B.B. Bürgerbräu beer that is brewed there, it has also become celebrated for the trademark disputes that its name has provoked. Throughout the 19th Century and up until 1918, this half-German, half-Czech city was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and was officially known by its German name “Budweis”. When the Czechs declared their independence in 1918, they officially changed the name to Èeské Budìjovice – “Èeské” meaning “Czech”. The Czechs did the same for many of their other cities- officially recognizing the city of “Saaz” as “Žatec”, “Pilsen” as “Plzeò”, and more famously “Prague” to “Praha”. Nonetheless, the names Budweis, Pilsen and Prague carry forward to this day. The finest beer hops still come from “Saaz” and the best beer still comes from the City of Budweis. Prague remains the popular name by which the country’s capital is known.
B.B. Bürgerbräu was first brewed in 1802 when it was called “Budweiser Bürgerbräu”. The Bürgerbräu name literally means “Beer of the City’s Residents”. It was exported to the United States and throughout Europe in the 19th Century, and drew such acclaim that numerous breweries adopted “Budweiser” to describe a style of beer and tried to emulate the taste, quality and brewing process of Bürgerbräu. As a further testament to its quality and reputation, B.B. Bürgerbräu was named as the official Court Supplier to the Württenburg’s King Wilhelm II in 1895, and is still listed as such today.
After the Communists seized control in 1948, the local apparatchiks erroneously considered Bürgerbräu to be the “German” brewery of the town and for political reasons forced the owners to give up their trademark rights. As a consequence, the owners adopted new names like “Samson” and “Crystal” which are still brewed today.
After the Velvet Revolution in 1989, the new Czech democratic government recognized the injustices done to the Brewery and reinstated its domestic right to use the “Budweiser Bier” and “B.B. Bürgerbräu” trademarks. B.B. Bürgerbräu was re-introduced in the late 1990s and is brewed today in the same place with the same recipe, ingredients and brewing methods from the 1800s.
“The beer from the City of Budweis is considered to be the finest brewed beer in the world,” reports Rob Neuner of Classic Beverages, “and B.B. Bürgerbräu is the original standard bearer.”
“The city of Budìjovice evokes in the minds of beer drinkers throughout the world images of the finest beers in the world--much the same way as the Bordeaux, Champagne and Burgundy regions of France evoke images of the finest wines in the world,” added Neuner. “B.B. Bürgerbräu is a full bodied, world class European lager that is brewed in small batches with greatly extended lagering periods. It is distinct from all American macrobrews.”
Similar to the wine designations, The European Union recently bestowed its rare Protected Geographic Indication to the Brewery for the term “Budejovicke Pivo” (“Beer from Budweis City”) affirming that the superior quality of its beer is inextricably tied to the region where it is produced.
B.B. Bürgerbräu will be initially available in New York, Illinois and seven other states in 12 oz Six Packs, 16.9 oz bottles. 15.5 gallon kegs will also be available on a limited basis in select bars and restaurants.
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