Budapest 2018

Tuesday 24th April 2018

Krimó Pub és Sörfőzde at Kazinczy útca 8

Courtesy Jeff Sechiari
Courtesy Jeff Sechiari
Courtesy Jeff Sechiari
Courtesy Jeff Sechiari
Courtesy Jeff Sechiari
Courtesy Jeff Sechiari
Courtesy Jeff Sechiari
Courtesy Jeff Sechiari
Courtesy Jeff Sechiari
Courtesy Jeff Sechiari
Courtesy Jeff Sechiari
Courtesy Jeff Sechiari

Wednesday 25th April 2018

Monyo Brewing

Courtesy Terri Goddard, Crookham Travel
Courtesy Tony Fox-Griffith, Crookham Travel
Courtesy Tony Fox-Griffith, Crookham Travel

Courtesy Jeff Sechiari
Courtesy Jeff Sechiari
Courtesy Jeff Sechiari
Courtesy Jeff Sechiari
Courtesy Jeff Sechiari

Fővárosi Serfőzőé

Dreher Sorgyarak Kobanya Brewery

Crookham Travel writes:- Originally set up by Peter Schmidt in 1854 as Kőbányai Serház Társaság, Anton Dreher Senior (pictured), the owner of the substantial Austrian brewery in Schwechat, bought the company in 1862. The brewery was renamed the Brauerei Steinbruch, Steinbruch being the German name of Kőbánya. Anton Senior died in 1863 and his son Anton Junior (1849-1920) took over the running of the group at the extraordinary age of 14. He invested in new technology and increased the brewing capacity at Kőbánya, which soon became the largest brewery in Hungary. The Dreher family controlled several other breweries within the Austro-Hungarian Empire and they were the developers of the amber-red beer that is known as the Vienna style. By 1870 their brewery in Pest had become the largest brewery in Hungary.

The company established and ran four breweries under the Dreher name in Austria, Triest in Italy17, Michelob in Bohemia (now Měcholupy in the Czech Republic) as well as the Hungarian one. In the following years, Anton Jr. bought up and integrated the majority of the neighbouring rival breweries that were also in Kőbánya. Anton passed control of the Kőbánya brewery to his son Eugene (Jenő) Dreher and two years later, the Hungarian company gained its independence from the Austrian parent, trading as Dreher Antal Kőbányai Serfőzdéje – ‘Antal’ being the Hungarian version of the German name ‘Anton’. The Dreher family's companies were the most significant developer and producer of pale lager beer up until World War I.

Despite the setbacks following the disbanding of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, by the 1920s, due to judicious acquisitions by Jenő Dreher the brewery controlled 70% of the beer market in Hungary and during the following decade the group had acquired almost all of the neighbouring breweries including the Elsö Magyar Részvény Serfözöde and Haggenmacher Kőbányai, leaving only the Fővárosi Serfőzőé independent until they too were taken over as well during the Second World War. In 1928 they bought Királyi Serfőzde of Kanizsa and later in the same year the group became known snappily as the Dreher-Haggenmacher Első Magyar Részvény Serfőzde Rt. Brewing was concentrated at the original Elsö Magyar Részvény Serfözöde plant and their original brewery is the current Dreher brewery – pictured. The original Dreher plant set up by Peter Schmidt was put to other uses by the group – I have not been ableto verify whether it still stands.

The Dreher family remained in control until the company was nationalised in 1948, after which their premises became known as Site No. 1 of the Kőbánya Beer Brewery (Kőbányai Sörgyár 1. számú telephely). A year later Jenő Dreher, the last active descendant of the family, died. With the death of Jenő, there were no more members of the Dreher family involved with brewing and outside Italy no beer brands bore their name. Fortunately the newly nationalised brewery continued to employ people who understood how to brew fine beers and Kőbányai Sörgyár produced 90 percent of the country's beer supply. Following the fall of Communism, in 1981 they became the independent company Kőbányai Sörgyár. After just two years of independence they were bought by South African Breweries (SAB) who themselves became SABMiller. In 1997 they were re-branded as Dreher Sörgyárak. After SABMiller were taken over by AB-InBev, as part of the takeover terms Dreher was sold on to Asahi Breweries of Japan. Today, this is the largest brewery in Hungary and we have a very detailed visit to their attractive brewery on Wednesday. Their Kőbányai Sör is their best-selling brand and one of the top-selling beers in the country.