Żywiec Brewery is a brewery

Brewery

A brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company....

 founded in 1852, in Żywiec

Zywiec

Żywiec is a town in south-central Poland with 32,242 inhabitants . Between 1975 and 1998, it was located within the Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship, but has since become part of the Silesian Voivodeship....

, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

, then part of Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...

. It was nationalised after the Second World War. Grupa Zywiec S.A. consists of five main breweries: Żywiec Brewery, Elbrewery

Elbrewery

The Elbrewery Company is Poland's largest brewery and belongs to the Żywiec Group, established in 1998 after merging Zakłady Piwowarskie Żywiec SA and Brewpole B.V..-Brewery:...

, Leżajsk, Warka Brewery

Warka Brewery

The Warka Brewery is one of Poland's oldest breweries and belongs to the Żywiec Group. Żywiec Group has five main breweries: Żywiec Brewery, Elbrewery, Leżajsk Brewery, Cieszyn Brewery and Warka Brewery, and is majority owned by the Dutch Heineken Group...

 and Cieszyn Brewery

Cieszyn Brewery

The Cieszyn Brewery is a brewery in Poland and belongs to the Żywiec Group. Żywiec Group has five main breweries: Żywiec Brewery, Elbrewery, Leżajsk Brewery, Cieszyn Brewery and Warka Brewery, and is majority owned by the Dutch Heineken Group...

. Currently the Dutch Heineken

Heineken

Heineken is a Dutch beer which has been brewed by Heineken International since 1873. It is available in a 4.6% alcohol variety in countries such as Ireland. It is the flagship product of the Heineken company and is made of purified water, malted barley, hops, and yeast. In 1886 H...

 Group (Heineken International Beheer B.V.), with a 61% shareholding, has control over major operations. The brewery has the capacity of producing 5 million hls a year, making it the largest brewery in Grupa Zywiec.

History

The brewery started operating in 1856. It was owned by the Habsburgs until it was confiscated by the post-WWII Communist government of Poland. At the beginning of the 1990s a court case was started by the descendants of the original owners, who sued the Polish government demanding $77 million compensation for the nationalisation and the use of the Habsburg family name and coat of arms for marketing purposes. The case was settled out of court on undisclosed terms in December 2005.

Products

The brewery

Brewery

A brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company....

 produces several brands of beer, usually pale lager

Pale lager

Pale lager is a very pale to golden-coloured beer with a well attenuated body and a varying degree of noble hop bitterness. The brewing process for this beer developed in the mid 19th century when Gabriel Sedlmayr took pale ale brewing techniques back to the Spaten Brewery in Germany and applied it...

s of varying strengths from usually 10.5° to 14° Balling or 5.6-9.5% alcohol, including:

• Żywiec Full a pale lager
  Pale lager
  Pale lager is a very pale to golden-coloured beer with a well attenuated body and a varying degree of noble hop bitterness. The brewing process for this beer developed in the mid 19th century when Gabriel Sedlmayr took pale ale brewing techniques back to the Spaten Brewery in Germany and applied it...
  
  
• Żywiec Full Light a pale lager

See also

• Polish beer
  Polish beer
  Beer in Poland has always been important for the Poles. There are 70 breweries in Poland . Most breweries in Poland are named after the city in which they were founded. Following World War II, after centuries of financial independence, most breweries were nationalized under the communist regime...
  
  
• Elbrewery
  Elbrewery
  The Elbrewery Company is Poland's largest brewery and belongs to the Żywiec Group, established in 1998 after merging Zakłady Piwowarskie Żywiec SA and Brewpole B.V..-Brewery:...
  
  
• Leżajsk Brewery
• Warka Brewery
  Warka Brewery
  The Warka Brewery is one of Poland's oldest breweries and belongs to the Żywiec Group. Żywiec Group has five main breweries: Żywiec Brewery, Elbrewery, Leżajsk Brewery, Cieszyn Brewery and Warka Brewery, and is majority owned by the Dutch Heineken Group...
  
  
• Cieszyn Brewery
  Cieszyn Brewery
  The Cieszyn Brewery is a brewery in Poland and belongs to the Żywiec Group. Żywiec Group has five main breweries: Żywiec Brewery, Elbrewery, Leżajsk Brewery, Cieszyn Brewery and Warka Brewery, and is majority owned by the Dutch Heineken Group...
  
  

External links

• Żywiec Official Website
• Żywiec Group
• Brewery Museum
• Documents about the brewery and its owners at the Żywiec branch of Katowice State Archive.