Kasztelan Brewery

Kasztelan Brewery

The Kasztelan Brewery in Sierpc, around 125 kilometres north-west of Warsaw in the heart of Poland, stands in a town with centuries of brewing tradition: beer was already being brewed in Sierpc in the Middle Ages, reaching princely tables and enjoying a good reputation throughout the region, and in the 19th century the town was home to numerous local breweries whose quality earned Sierpc a reputation as a place especially friendly to the art of brewing. Building on this heritage and an excellent water supply, a modern brewery was constructed between 1969 and 1972, with the first beer filled on 21 July 1972, and the associated malthouse following between 1974 and 1977. Until 1991 the operation traded as Plant No. 5 of the Warsaw breweries and brewed four brands: Pils, Jubileuszowe, Kasztelańskie and Sierpeckie.

With privatisation in 1996 the brewery became a joint-stock company, and in 1999 the German Bitburger group took the majority stake, after which the operation traded from 2000 under the name Browar Kasztelan, named after the leading nationwide beer brand brewed there. The name Kasztelan means castellan or burgrave, a local official whose title derives from the Latin word for castle, and the logo shows a Polish magnate of the 16th century. In 2002 the brewery passed into the Carlsberg group and today belongs to Carlsberg Polska, which has invested more than 111 million zloty in its development since 2015 and, with an annual production of around 800,000 hectolitres, ranks among the significant breweries in the country.

Today the Browar Kasztelan is considered one of the most innovative breweries in Poland and a pioneer within the Carlsberg group in reducing CO2 emissions and conserving resources, with barley malt regarded as the heart of its beers and the recipes having been developed in Sierpc from the very beginning. The range includes Kasztelan Jasne Pełne, Kasztelan Niepasteryzowane, Kasztelan Niefiltrowane, Kasztelan Mocne and Kasztelan Korzenne, and the beers have been repeatedly awarded at the Chmielaki Krasnystawskie and the Festival of Polish Beers, while Kasztelan received the Consumer Laurel as best regional product in 2007. As the pride of the town of Sierpc, the brewery combines tradition with modern technology and shows how medieval brewing heritage and contemporary production can come together in a traditional Polish company.