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Brewery Jihlava
Ježek! A beer you will do with
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From history to the present times
Malting in Jihlava is first mentioned in a municipal book in the first half of the 14th century. Similarly to other crafts, the free association of maltsters and brewers developed into a malting guild. The first real malting statute was confirmed by the municipal council of Jihlava in October 1579.
Quality and exportsBecause of its high quality, the beer was demanded in distant markets. The beer was delivered to the court in Vienna, to Ladislaus the Posthumous, Emperor Frederick III, the Styrian Archduke Charles and many other significant personalities of those times and thus the fame of the beer spread in many foreign countries. At the beginning of the 17th century, during one winter season nine hundred batches of beer were made in Jihlava in order to be exported. The main destination for Jihlava’s beer was the Austrian market, and it was very popular in Brno.
New Jihlava BreweryIn 1735 Emperor Charles VI granted the guild the privilege of producing beer not only in the city, but also in the villages in the city’s jurisdiction. In 1748 Maria Theresa determined the number of houses with the right to brew beer in the city of Jihlava to be 123. In 1859, all 123 owners of brewing rights joined in the new brewery, the present Jihlava Brewery. The new brewery in Jihlava was opened on 4 April 1861. However, the brewery considers the year 1860 as the year of its incorporation, when it started to operate as a significant economic entity.
Changing of ownersFrom its incorporation the brewery had mainly German owners. After WWII it was nationalised and then privatised in 1995, when Karel Schwarz became the owner. He tried to sell the brewery, which was overburdened with debt, but was unsuccessful. Therefore, he then transferred the shares to the management of the brewery. At that time, the brewery was battling against economic problems and was balancing on the verge of liquidation. In 2001 the Belgian company Bockhold gained a majority share in the brewery. The company specialised the production in the brewery in the export of cheap beer, mainly to Belgium, Germany and Austria. For that purpose, modern CK tanks were installed in the brewery.
IdentityIn 2008 the almost bankrupt brewery was bought by the Czech brewing company Pivovary Lobkowicz. In the summer of 2008, under the management of its new owners the brewery returned to the production of beer according to old original recipes. The beer once again has its typical full rich taste and darker colour. The position of eleven-degree Ježek on the market has returned to the old one – it is quality beer for a fair price. This change was appreciated not only by consumers through increased sales of Ježek, which almost doubled, but also in the evaluations of experts. The Association of Friends of Beer awarded Ježek 11% the prize for the eleven-degree beer of the year in 2011 and in 2012.
Increased demandThe brewery has recently introduced several new products to the market. Apart from new multipacking of bottles, there is the new unfiltered Ježek – a living beer with a high content of brewer’s yeast. It is a pale lager, unfiltered, yeasty and unpasteurised, with an alcohol content of 4.9%, which is also delivered to selected restaurants in tanks. The brewery also brews special beers for some occasions For Easter there are the red and green Velikonoční Krasličák (Easter Krasličák), for the occasion of St. Martin’s Day, there is Svatomartinský speciál (St. Martin’s special) and for the occasion of St. Nicholas’ Day, there is Čertovský speciál (Devil’s special).
