Europe Travel Guide

Beer
?esk Bud?jovice has long been well known for the fine beer brewed here since the 13th century. For a time the town was the royal brewery for the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and beer from Budweis (the German name for ?esk Bud?jovice), or “Budweiser Beer”, attained fame. Beer brewing remains a major industry here.

The largest brewery is Pivovar Bud?jovick Budvar, which has legal rights to market its beer under the “Budweiser” brand name in much of Europe. The same product is also sold elsewhere under the names “Budvar” and “Czechvar” due to legal squabbles with Anheuser-Busch over the Budweiser brand. The American lager was originally brewed as an imitation of the famous Czech original but over time has developed its own identy and attained remarkable commercial success. Anheuser-Busch has made offers to buy out the Czech brewing company in order to secure global rights to the name “Budweiser”, but the Czech company has refused all such offers, considering keeping the Budweiser name Czech to be a matter of national pride.