Budweiser Budvar has collaborated with Thornbridge on its first ever collaboration lager to be brewed outside its home country.
The lager is called Czech Mates and is brewed with Thornbridge, the original UK craft brewery, home to award-winning craft beers and ales. Czech Mates will be available to purchase from May 16 from Thornbridge and major UK retailers.
Bringing together centuries of Czech brewing expertise, the finest British ingredients and cutting-edge technology, Czech Mates is a Czech-style lager that aims to fuel a growing appreciation for quality, traditionally brewed lager across the UK.
Czech Mates is an aromatic, crisp and beautifully balanced 4.8% beer, brewed to the same high standards as all Budweiser Budvar and Thornbridge products, and made at Thornbridge brewery, located in Bakewell in the heart of the Derbyshire Dales.
The traditional Czech brewing method of decoction and long, slow maturing complement the British-grown Maris Otter malt and East Kent Goldings hops, while Budvar’s decades-old yeast strain makes the journey from Budweis to Bakewell to bring it all to life. In addition, the famously soft water of the Peak District, just like that found in České Budějovice (Budweis), is ideal for brewing lager. Given its dedication to quality and authenticity in brewing, Thornbridge made a natural partner for Budvar.
Research shows that the craft lager sector is growing faster than any other, and Czech Mates will set a new benchmark. The word ‘lager’ means to store, and in keeping with Czech brewing standards, Czech Mates will be lagered for six weeks, far longer than most other UK lagers. This, quite simply, makes it taste incredible. As Adam Brož, Budvar’s brewmaster, puts it: “Time is a very important feature of the lager. The long maturation brings the smoothness, crisp taste, and very high drinkability.”
The collaboration will be supported by a bold social media campaign based around the slogan ‘Mates Don’t Let Mates Drink Bad Lager’. The message is: with a new collaboration bringing together the 800-plus years of lager-making experience of the Czechs and the creativity of a UK craft beer titan, there is no excuse for drinking substandard lager anymore.
Czech Mates will bring something flavour-packed to the UK craft lager scene, while remaining sessionable and accessible. With its dedication to time consuming processes and fine ingredients, this new product will show the UK just how the Czech Republic became known as the Republic of Beer – and why there’s no reason to drink bad lager in the UK ever again.
