Holsten

Infobox Brewery
name = Holsten-Brauerei


caption =
location = flagicon|Germany Hamburg, Germany
owner =
opened = 1879
production = 12.9 million hl
active_beers = brewbox_beer|name=Pilsner|style=Pilsner
seasonal_beers =
other_beers =

Holsten-Brauerei AG (Holsten Brewery plc.) is a beer brewery founded in 1879 in what is now Hamburg's Altona-Nord quarter. The name Holsten is the Danish version of Holstein. The group now has seven breweries in Germany. Its nationally distributed premium brands are the pils beers König Pilsener and Holsten Pilsener. These are backed up by leading regional brands like Licher Pilsner and Lübzer Pils. The Hamburg brewery exports beer to the whole world. Its Holsten Premium is sold in five continents and the brewery's Holsten Pils goes to the United Kingdom where it is sold through the group's own subsidiary.In 2003 the Holsten brewery absorbed the Bavaria-St.Pauli-Brauerei GmbH with their main brand Astra.

The Holsten group subsidiary Hansa-Brunnen AG has two plants producing mineral water and carbonated soft drinks, mainly for distribution in northern Germany.

The present-day Holsten brewery in Altona has a production capacity of 3.2 million hectolitres. Its biggest-selling product is the premium brand Holsten Pilsener sold on the German market. The beers exported by the Holsten group are also brewed in Altona.

Holsten are perhaps most famously known for their sponsorship of the Tottenham Hotspur football team from 1986 to 1995, and again from 1999 until 2002. They were sponsors of Tottenham at the time of their last FA Cup win in 1991.

Holsten does also produce the beer for the German Aldi Stores.

In 2004 Holsten-Brauerei was acquired by Carlsberg. Holsten produces both Tuborg and Carlsberg for the German market.

The History of Holsten UK

In the late 19th Century Holsten Brauerei first began trading in the UK when they purchased a brewery in Wandsworth, London. Holsten Pils was first imported into the UK in 1952 thus creating the premium packaged lager market. In 1979 the first of many award winning TV ad campaigns was launched starring Donald Pleasence. In the mid-1980s Holsten became the UK's number one selling premium packaged lager. Up until 1999, Holsten UK had been operated as a joint venture between Holsten Brauerei and S & N. In 1999 the joint venture was dissolved and Holsten UK took over responsibility for the on trade, followed in 2000 by the off trade.

External links

* [http://www.holsten.de/ Official Holsten website]