The Czech investment and construction company Ross Holding has announced plans to build and operate a new brewery in Chotebor near Havlíckuv Brod, Radio Praha reported on August 22.
The new facility is to bring a yearly output of 10 to 25 thousand hectolitres. It will be the first brewery built from scratch since the establishment of Radegast in the 1970s. If everything goes according to plan, production of the new Czech beer brand should start next summer.
Today, there are about 50 industrial breweries and about 70 micro-breweries in the Czech Republic, which altogether produce some 20 million hectolitres of beer a year. Around 400 beer labels are available on the market. However, Roman Stryk, the head of the investment company Ross Holding is sure that there is a gap on the market for the new producer.
“We want to produce four to five brands of beer using the traditional Czech method. We don’t want to use the cheap method used by big breweries, which produce so-called Euro-beer. We want to make Czech beer. Our brewer says that it’s a fine beer with a full taste.”
The project was originally outlined by an English beer enthusiast called Ian Jeffrey, who had to sell his idea due to health problems. However, he is still involved and is currently discussing the possibility of selling the new Czech brew in his retail chains in Great Britain.
“Our brewery has a capacity of 10 to 25 thousand hectolitres a year, which is still in the category of smaller breweries. The investment should be around 40 million crowns. We want to produce special, traditional Czech beer which should primarily target the local market. But we are also holding talks with an English company and we plan to eventually expand into eastern markets as well.”
Construction of the new brewery in Chotebor should start in November and the new Czech beer could be available on the market shelves around this time next year. One thing, however, still needs to be resolved – the right name for the new beer brand.
