E-Malt.com News article: The Czech Republic: Heineken to stop brewing beer at its Velké Březno facility

Heineken will stop brewing beer at its Velké Březno brewery near Ústí nad Labem and move production of the Březňák brand to other facilities within the group, Expats.cz reported on October 28.

The change will affect approximately 20 employees, the company confirmed to Ústecký deník. The site will retain its distribution and logistics operations, while Heineken plans a space presenting the brand’s history.

The announcement marks a shift from the company’s position in March, when it rejected suggestions that the brewery would close and said a reduction in production would not involve layoffs.

Březňák will remain on sale, with production transferred to other Heineken breweries. The company says it intends to preserve the original recipe, ingredients and key elements of the traditional brewing process.

“We are adjusting the scale of production gradually in response to developments in the Czech beer market, particularly the continuing decline in beer consumption and rising energy costs,” Heineken’s external relations director Robert Kičina told Ústecký deník.

The Czech division also owns Starobrno and the Royal Brewery of Krušovice. The report did not specify which facilities would take over individual Březňák products or when brewing in Velké Březno would end.

In March, a company spokeswoman told ČTK that approximately 25 people worked at the brewery. Heineken now says around 20 employees will be affected and that it is seeking alternative positions for them within the company.

“Our priority is to minimize the impact on employees,” Kičina said.

The Velké Březno brewery has already undergone several changes in its operations.

Its bottling line closed in 2014, leaving production of tank and keg beer. In 2017, Heineken opened a distribution center at the site to supply shops and restaurants across northwestern Bohemia.

That logistics role will continue after brewing stops. Public tours of the historic brewery building ended in the spring, although the company’s proposed heritage space would maintain a visitor-facing connection to Březňák.

The decision follows other closures and production transfers across the Czech brewing industry. Earlier this month, Pivovary Staropramen announced that brewing at Ostrava’s Ostravar brewery would gradually end next year, with its principal brands moving to Prague’s Smíchov brewery.

Other traditional breweries that have stopped production in recent decades include those in Louny, Krásné Březno, Prague’s Braník and Holešovice districts, and Pardubice, where brewing ended in spring 2023.

For Velké Březno, the planned transfer means the Březňák name will continue, while the brewery that gave the brand its home becomes primarily a distribution site.



28 October, 2026