Pilsner Urquell (Plzeňský Prazdroj)

The beer that conquered the world. On 5 Oct 1842 Bavarian brewer Josef Groll debuted the first batch — its brilliant golden clarity was revolutionary in a world of dark, cloudy ales, and it spawned an entire global category. The trademark 'Urquell' (Original Source) was registered in 1898 purely to fend off imitators. Below the city run nearly 20 km of 13th-century sandstone cellars where unfiltered Urquell is still poured from hand-pitched oak barrels at 6–7°C.

The founding thesisFrustrated by wildly varying local beer quality, the burghers of Pilsen pooled their money in 1839 to build a state-of-the-art Burghers' Brewery.

1. 1839
   Burghers unite

   Pilsen citizens pool resources to build a modern communal brewery.

2. 1842
   First pale lager

   Josef Groll debuts the world's first golden pilsner.

3. 1898
   Trademark

   'Pilsner Urquell' registered to protect against thousands of imitators.

4. 2017
   Asahi era

   Acquired by Asahi Group Holdings via SABMiller's Central European assets.