Żywiec Brewery

Żywiec Brewery is a brewery founded in 1852 by the Habsburg family in Żywiec ( _de. Saybusch), at that time in Galicia, Austria-Hungary, now in Silesian Voivodeship, Poland. It was nationalised after the Second World War. The brewery was acquired by Heineken International in the mid-1990s.

History

Founded in 1852, started brewing in 1856. Built and initially owned by Archduke Albert, Duke of Teschen and his younger brother Karl Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria, and called "Zywiec Archducal Brewery" cite web|url=http://miasta.gazeta.pl/katowice/1,75700,3723646.html|title=Newspaper article about the brewery, Gazeta Wyborcza (Katowice), 7 November 2006 pl icon|accessdate=2007-10-03] "Żywiec" entry in cite book
last = Czuma
first = Mieczysław
authorlink =
coauthors = Leszek Mazan
title = Encyklopedia Galicyjska
year = 1998
month =
publisher = Anabasis
location = Kraków
language = Polish
isbn = 83-85931-06-6 ] . It remained in the hands of the Habsburgs until nationalisation in the post-WWII communist Poland. At the beginning of 1990s a court case was started by the descendants of the original owners, who sued the Polish government demanding $77 million Radio Free Europe report, 14 December 1999cite web|url=http://www.rferl.org/reports/pbureport/1999/12/28-141299.asp|title=Friar Sues State Treasury Over Sold Brewery|accessdate=2007-10-08] compensation for the nationalisation and the use of the Habsburg family name and coat of arms for marketing purposes. The case was settled out of court on undisclosed terms in December 2005 [http://miasta.gazeta.pl/katowice/1,35019,3054465.html pl icon] cite web|url=http://www.warsawvoice.pl/view/10117/|title=Beer Battle Comes to a Head|accessdate=2007-10-03] .

Products

The brewery produces several brands of beer, usually pale lagers of varying strengths from usually 10.5° to 14° Balling or 4-6% alcohol, including:
*"Żywiec Full" a pale lager
*"Żywiec Porter" a Baltic porter
*"Żywiec Full Light" a pale lager

ee also

*Polish beer

References

External links

* [http://www.zywiec.com.pl Żywiec Official Website] en icon pl icon
* [http://www.muzeumbrowaru.pl/ Brewery Museum] de icon en icon pl icon
* [http://www.katowice.ap.gov.pl/ang/en_zyw.html Documents about the brewery and its owners] at the Żywiec branch of Katowice State Archive.