Czechs Love Grilling and Beer, Survey Confirms
13.6.2013 Velkopopovický kozelThe survey of Velkopopovický Kozel brand proves that grilling is very popular in Czech lands. It is a very popular outdoor, weekend, and holiday activity. For 92% of respondents, it became an opportunity to meet with friends and family. They grill meats, all kinds of vegetables, and cheeses by all ways possible. Czech like to improvise while preparing marinades for their meats. 93% of respondents marinate their meats. However, while grilling so often, sometimes they run out of ideas. Velkopopovický Kozel brand thus decided to meet its consumers’ needs and hooked up with top cooks from Prague Culinary Institute and asked them to create recipes that would include Kozel 11° beer as its main ingredient. 74% of the population used beer as part of their meat-marinating process and 51% of them consider the idea exceptional.
„Beer goes absolutely best with grilled meals, not only as a beverage but also as an ingredient. Our survey shows that people like different marinades. However, only 7% of those asked use recipes to prepare them. We think it is because there are not enough of them and therefore we have decided to introduce new, interesting recipes with beer as one of the ingredients that will make the grilling season more colourful,“ explained Karel Kraus, marketing manager of Plzeňský Prazdroj. „We have asked cooks Jarosla Zahálka and Zdeňek Marcín, Chefs from Prague Culinary Institute, to create several unique recipes using the qualities of Velkopopovický Kozel 11° beer,“ Karel Kraus added.
„Kozel 11° has a gentle bitterness that is very good for preparation of grilled foods. I believe that the use of interesting and nontraditional ingredients will please the consumers and that the specialities of grilling will be a pleasantly refreshing feature on their tables,“ Zdeněk Marcín added.
You can find unique recipes, tips, and every week a new part of series „Kozel Cooked“ that introduces a new recipe at www.poctivegrilovani.cz.
Survey facts
What is Czechs’ grilling experience?
According to a survey of Velkopopovický Kozel brand, 98% of the population has grilling experience. It is so popular with them that every 4th Czech grills more than 10 times a year. Czechs are a nation of beer lovers, food lovers, and love to meet with friends. Grilling is the right opportunity to fuse these three aspects into one fun event.
What Czechs grill most often?
Czechs love to grill meats the most, especially chicken and pork. A relatively large portion of grilling fans have started to enjoy grilling vegetables. That has surpassed fish and even beef.
On the other hand, fruit, which is grilled often in other countries, is not really enjoyed as much by Czechs.
Who Czech prefer gilling with?
Czechs like grilling with family and friends the most, while on the other hand, grilling with business partners is not very common.
Velkopopovický Kozel brand is offering to all fans of this new national pastime the opportunity to surprise their guests with thoughtful recipes that were prepared by Jaroslav Zahálka and Zdeněk Marcín of the Prague Culinary Institute.
5 tips on how to grill with beer
1. For basting, always use beer at room temperature, never cold (you can stop the point of boiling and your food will cool off too much)
2. Using dark beer, you will achieve a caramel tone
3. Light beer is great for marinating
4. We should marinade in beer for no longer than two hours so the meat does not go bitter
5. For grilling, use beer with a balanced taste, for example Velkopopovický Kozel 11° or Dark, so the bitterness does not overwhelm the taste of the food
Word about the cooks
Jaroslav Zahálka
– Lecturer of the Prague Culinary Institute where he teaches grilling, Argentinian and Creole cuisine, Mexican cuisine, fusion cuisine and Spanish tapas. He is also The Chef at the Prague restaurant, MOOD.
– In his 16 year-long career, he has experienced many foreign culinary styles and all of them use beer in one form or another: sweet, flavoured, strong, aromatic, very light or neutral.
– The great taste is necessary for cooking to elevate the experience a notch higher; the same goes for wine as well as for beer.
Zdeněk Marcín
– The Chef of the Prague Culinary Institute.
– Likes to use quality materials. He teaches his students how to use them and recognise their quality every day.
– Kozel beer is a symbol of quality to him, especially for its selected materials and traditional recipe.
*Consumers’ survey was conducted via Internet questionnaire (CAWI) at an Internet panel of STEM/MARK agency using the sample of 502 respondents from the Czech population of 18+ of age.
For more information:
Vladimír Jurina
Brand PR Manager
phone: +420 724 617 886
e-mail:
Notes for editors:
- The first batch of beer was brewed in Velké Popovice brewery on December 15, 1874, and just one year later, 18 000 hl of beer were brewed and sold. Only few years later, the brewery became the third biggest brewery in the country. They were famous especially for their dark, heavy beer.
- Velkopopovický Kozel brand is irreplaceable on today’s beer market. It is a brand with the most dynamic rise in Czech as well as foreign markets. Velkopopovický Kozel Dark is the leader among dark beer brands on Czech beer market, and the best-selling Czech beer abroad.
- Velké Popovice brewery has been a part of Plzeňský Prazdroj Company since 1999.
- With its total sale of 9,9 million hectolitres during the calendar year of 2012 (including licenced productions abroad) and with its export to more than 50 countries worldwide, Plzeňský Prazdroj Inc. is the prominent beer producer in the region and the biggest exporter of the Czech beer.
- Plzeňský Prazdroj Inc. is the member of SABMiller plc. group. Pilsner Urquell is the international flagship brand of the SABMiller brand portfolio.
- SABMiller is one of the world’s biggest beer brewing companies with beer brewing activities or distribution in more than 60 countries across six continents. SABMiller’s brand group include such important brands as Pilsner Urquell, Miller Genuine Draft, Grolsch, Peroni Nastro Azzurro, and nearly 200 of other successful regional brands.
- You can find more info about the most recent activities and projects supported by Velkopopovický Kozel brand at www.kozel.cz.
Praha