The first brewery recorded in the Bohemian region was the Brevnov Monastery in 993 in modern-day Prague. Brevnov held a monopoly on brewing in this region, with a ban against brewing beginning within a decade of its foundation, a ban from which Brevnov Monastery was exempt.
Hops were not introduced until nearly 100 years later. First used in brewing by Vratislav II in 1088, it would not become popular for several hundred years. Even so, Czech hops were high-valued and it was the most expensive hops sold at the Hamburg Market in 1101.
Brevnov Monastery Brewing
Source: Praga
In 1250, Pope Innocent IV ended the 250-year ban on brewing in the area.
Brewing rights were given to noble families or homeowners across Bohemia and Moravia. Despite this, war and conflict destroyed most breweries of the time.
In the 19th Century, improving transportation led to better importing and exporting of brews. This led to the arrival of dark “bottom-fermented” Bavarian beer from South East Germany in 1830. Imitations of this dark beer led the new brewery Pilsen, or Pilsner, to try it in 1842.
However, they used a different malt-drying technique that led to the same crisp taste with a golden color. Pilsen, owned by 250 residents of the town of Pilsen, inspired a revolution. Between 1860-70, “bottom-fermented” breweries went from 135 to 831. Those that couldn’t make the switch quickly shut down.
The 20th Century was a dark time for the brewing industry. To start, many breweries consolidated, as small breweries were unable to survive the harsh economy of the time. Also during this time, the original wheat beer disappeared, taken over completely by the techniques of the time.
Between the first and second World Wars, few of the smaller brewpubs and breweries survived to see the fall of Hitler. Of the ones that did, many more would be closed soon after when the communist era began in 1948.
The breweries that remained during the communist regime were greatly restricted until just 2 types of beers remained, light and dark. The Czech brewing industry remained frozen like this for 40 years. The unexpected benefit of this dark period being that old-fashioned techniques were preserved, later earning Czech brewing a reputation for the preservation of tradition.
Effects of communism on Breweries
Early capitalism was hard on Czech beer. Communist “brewery groups” were privatized, stripped, and sold off after Velvet Revolution in 1989. By this time the total number of breweries was at an all-time low of 60. At the turn of the century, the Czech beer industry began to slowly pick up and in 2007 more than 100 breweries and varieties of beer had blossomed.
Inspired by US and UK’s craft beer movement, “top-fermentation” and wheat beer returned in popularity in the 21st century. Today, there are now more than 400 breweries open and operating in the Czech Republic.
Written by: Kelsey McDade
Rail, Evan, ‘A Brief History of Czech Beer Or, Everything Old is New Again’, Prague.eu, https://www.prague.eu/en/articles/history-of-czech-beer-10522, (Accessed January 24, 2023).