Ingredients

‘Czech hops’ is a world-famous term

Its best-known varieties – Sládek, Saaz semi-early red-bine hops and Saaz late play a key part in our beer production in Pilsen, Nošovice, and Velké Popovice.

The hop pellets used to brew our beers are made by crushing the cones immediately after harvesting without access to air. This process preserves the intense bitterness and unique aroma of hops and eliminates the need to use anti-mould treatments. In exceptional cases, we use the cones – for example, to make a special brew called Gambrinus First Hops.

What makes Czech hops so unique? Thanks to specific soil and climatic conditions, they possess exceptional flavour and aroma qualities that make them the world’s most recognised hops. Their favourable percentage of so-called alpha acids makes them suitable for direct hopping.

The majority of our hop supplies are sourced locally. But as we also produce specialty beers, flavoured beers and other beverages for whose production certain foreign hop varieties are more suitable, we purchase small volumes of hops from abroad (for example, to make our Excellent Ice Beer, to which a dose of the Sorachi Ace hops variety lends its subtle citrus aroma).

We also consider it important to support research institutes in the cultivation of new, more resistant varieties. The year 2018 was also unique for Plzeňský Prazdroj in that it became the first local brewery to market a special beer made from the newly cultivated variety of Žatec hops called Boomerang.

Beer can only be brewed from water you would enjoy drinking.

Few would doubt its importance for the final taste. When Baron Franz Ringhoffer was looking for a place to build a new brewery, the very reason he chose Velké Popovice was the quality of the water there.

Similarly, the reason experts selected Nošovice for the construction of a new plant in the 1960s was the proximity of the Morávka River with its excellent water quality.

In Pilsen, the wells are famous for their soft water, which lends the beer its mildness.
Of course, this water goes through checks or treatment, as needed, in the breweries. It is important to know that more water is used than the amount that finally ends up in the beer. For details on what we do to preserve this ever more precious liquid, see the section headlined “We have reduced water consumption by one-third since 2010.”