Praga Czech

I got an update/confirmation from Sampson brewery..

"Our brewery today named Samson was established in 1795 and was the first brewery in the world to brew a beer labelled Budweiser – We also shipped beer in 1872 into the USA labelled Budweiser – before AB started to call any beer Budweiser in – 1876.

Czech Budvar (Czechvar) started to brew Budweiser in 1895 but got many trademark right transferred from Samson, under Communism when all breweries in Czech was government owned.

Samson sold all it’s remaining right to Budweiser to AB INbev and today can not use the name Budweiser in the agreement."  - Sampson Brewery




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Praga is produced at the famous Czech Brewery Pivovar Sampson which is the original producer of Budweiser.

Here is a timeline story about  Pivovar Sampson... 

• 1795 Budweiser Bier Bürgerbräu started producing Budweiser (to be sold as B.B. Bürgerbräu in the U.S. after the trademark lawsuits)
• 1874 Budweiser Bier Bürgerbräu is exported to the U.S.
• 1896 Anheuser Busch starts producing Budweiser in the U.S. This is when trademark disputes started
• 1960 the brewery was renamed Sampson Brewery 
• 1989 the brewery was renamed "První budějovický pivovar Samson" (First Budweiser brewery Samson)
• Late 2011/early 2012 - Samson AS sells a small unit of their company called Budejovicky Mestansky Pivovar to AB-InBev. No brewery was sold, just some land and the rights to "Budweiser Bier" trademark in some countries.

Deciphered from info taken from an article in The Wall Street Journal, Wikipedia and Pivní Filosof - Beer Philosopher (interesting read)

Not sure if I am correct on all of this as it is very confusing. It is also interesting to note that B.B. Bürgerbräu is not available here now and is owned by AB-InBev. The last importer that had it in the U.S. no longer shows it on their website. Now AB-InBev no longer distributes Czechvar in Missouri either, we stopped seeing it earlier this year right around when the sale of Budejovicky Mestansky Pivovar was announced? Not sure what the giant AB-InBev has planned for B.B. Bürgerbräu, Czechvar and the Budweiser name?



That brings us to the new beer in the U.S. and to The Wine and Cheese Place
We now have a new Czech beer from the original Budweiser producer...

Praga Premium Pils...$2.49 / pint

Praga Dark Lager...$2.49 / pint

Praga Dark Lager...$10.99 / 6pk
What is “Praga”..
Praga is the old name for city of Prague
Independent brand / No big brewery groups

“Praga” lager and dark is built on more than 200 years of the Czech brewing tradition
Our brewery has existed since 1795 and is known for the highest quality beers.
We brew Praga with passion for quality and use only the best ingredients
The Praga brand has been a sleeping brand that we have re-designed, re-positioned and re-launch in 2012