Rychtář

History

historie The Hlinsko Brewery is one of those breweries whose history is not very long. It was founded in 1913 and was the last brewery founded in Bohemia between 1913 and 1971.

The idea to build a brewery in Hlinsko dates from about 1880. In 1912, a society named Social Brewery was established that was given the privilege to build a brewery without a malt house.

The very first beer was brewed on 12 December 1913. At that time, the brewery was perfectly equipped: The equipment in the brewery was powered by electricity, and the capacity was 100 hectolitres per dose. In the twenties, the performance was some 26,000 hectolitres.

Being a prosperous enterprise, in 1925 the brewery was transformed into a joint-stock company. Unfortunately, further development was interrupted by the Nazi occupation. During the Protectorate period, only 7% light beer was brewed - and the quantity was limited. In 1945 the performance was less than 17,000 hectolitres.

In 1948, the brewery was nationalised and became a part of Horácké pivovary n. p., registered in Havlíčkův Brod.

The renovation of the brewery continued at the beginning of the '70s: the fermenting room and the machine cooling system were modernised. Since then, 11% light beer has been produced. However, in the second half of the seventies, the brewery industry was reorganised and the brewery in Hlinsko reduced its production. Only one type of beer was produced at that time - 10%. This was the period when the future existence of the brewery was very uncertain. In regard to the unsatisfactory bottling line (installed in 1951) , it was assumed that only keg production would continue, which would have resulted in further reductions. Thanks to excellent results achieved in the quality and in the economic output, the reduction programme was put aside. The performance was slowly growing, and in the '80s it varied from 60 to 72,000 hectolitres.

After ten years, the production of 12% light beer was re-introduced. In 1981, renovation of the bottling line commenced, which was completed very quickly. The same year – on 12 June – was first time when light lager, 12% RYCHTÁŘ, was bottled.

Until 1996, the brewery was a part of the company Pivovary Hradec Králové, a state-owned company. In 1996 it was purchased by IMEX Premium. At present, the brewery is in the possession of K Brewery Trade, a Czech brewing company.