Consumers choose Velkopopovicky Kozel Cerny as the Dark Beer of the Year 2006

For the eighth time, Velkopopovicky Kozel has carried off the title of Dark Beer of the Year, which is awarded by the magazine Pivni kuryr in its traditional poll of consumers. As data from the Czech Association of Brewers and Maltsters makes clear, Czechs are being converted in ever greater numbers to the taste of dark beer, whose share of the Czech beer market is constantly growing. Velkopopovicky Kozel has again confirmed its leading position in this growing segment. Representatives of the brewery and marketing department accepted the award from the organisers today at the Beer of the Year award ceremony in the Prague restaurant U Fleku.

„The Velkopopovicky Kozel brand enjoys the leading position in the dark beer segment on the Czech market. We see positive trends both for bottled and tap dark beer. We’re glad that we’ve again succeeded in living up to consumer expectations and that we’ve again been able to demonstrate our determination and persistence in producing the best possible quality,“ said Martin Kudela, manager of  Velkopopovicky Kozel brand marketing.    

On the Czech market dark beer has a small but growing segment. Compared with 2002, there has been on average a 25% increase in sales. According to retail monitoring by the company AC Nielsen, Velkopopovicky Kozel dark beer has a 46% share of this segment. This year, the brewery in Velke Popovice produced a total of 70 000 hectolitres of black beer.

Dark beer from Velke Popovice has also won fans abroad, particularly in Scandinavia and the Baltic states, Great Britain, France, Greece, Spain last but not least Australia, where in 2004 it even won the gold medal in the dark beer category at the International Beer Championship in Sydney. In Finland, the beer is the most popular imported brand, a symbol of the entire category of dark beers.

Velkopopovicky Kozel Dark Beer is produced from a mixture of special dark malts, which give it its ruby colour, and unlike dyed beers its foam is also dark. It’s distinctive for its caramel taste with a clear bitter flavour acquired from using fine aromatic hops. The alcohol content is 3.8 %.

For more information:

Alexej Bechtin, Plzensky Prazdroj spokeperson, tel.: 257 287 209, 724 617 219
Radim Kovacs, AMI Communications, tel.: 234 124 112, 724 012 617

Velke Popovice