Long tradition, new innovation

Lubomir Neubauer*

Samson Brewery in the Czech Republic, founded in 1795, looks back on a turbulent history, during the course of which it changed its name several times over. The beginning of 2012 saw the most recent amendment to its designation, with Samson Brewery once again evolving from what was Budweiser Bürgerbräu. The reason for the latest alteration was that when American brewery group Anheuser Busch bought into the company, it procured the rights to the name "Budweiser Beer" (among other commodities), which both Budweiser Bürgerbräu and the Budweiser Budvar brewery had a claim to. However, even though Samson Brewery has had to switch names many times, over the past few decades it has been totally consistent regarding its investment in top-quality technical systems. In 1994, for example, it first invested in KHS kegging technology with an output of 110 kegs per hour. In 1996 this kegging line was expanded and the original capacity doubled. A little later in 1999 Samson decided to purchase the Innopro Getra Eco cartridge filter system. Its most recent investment is in an Innofill DPG-ZMS filling system. Lubos Martis, master brewer at Samson, says, "What prompted us to place this new order was our outstanding previous experience with KHS technology. Our keg line has run like clockwork since day one and the same goes for the filter system. We're also extremely satisfied with KHS' after-sales service. And finally, we're totally convinced by the technological merits of our new filling system. Oxygen pickup in the product and the CO2 consumption here are particularly low."

Checkered history

What's now Samson Brewery was founded as Budweiser Bürgerbräu (the Budweis civic brewhouse) by nine wealthy German families in 1795. At this time many families in Budweis were in possession of the royal seal of approval needed to make beer. However, the brew produced varied greatly in quality. In 1795 the idea was thus formed to form an association that made beer on a professional basis 

*Head of the KHS office for the Czech Republic and Slovakia, KHS GmbH, České Budějovice, Czech Republic. Phone: +420 38 5515 102

with a view to setting up a thriving line of business. This was done and the enterprise took off, with the brewhouse in Budweis producing around 10,000 hectoliters in its first years of production alone. 1802 marked a milestone in its history when beer was first sold under the name of Budweiser. 1872 was another important year for the company's future course of business when the first exports to America were made. In 1877 the Budweiser beer brand was registered in the USA and Budweiser Bürgerbräu's output hit the 50,000-hectoliter mark. In 1879 the brewery was granted permission to print the official logo of the city of Budweis or České Budějovice on its labels and in 1895 the Budweiser Budvar brewery was opened. It's interesting to note that where Budweiser Bürgerbräu was founded by German families, Budweiser Budvar, now owned by the state, was an affiliation launched by the Czechs. What's more, the first master brewer to work at Budweiser Budvar was from Budweiser Bürgerbräu. 

By 1900 the latter civic brewhouse was selling 100,000 hectoliters of beer. This figure had risen to approximately 150,000 hectoliters by 1948, the year in which the South Bohemian Brewery Group was also founded, to which both Budweiser Bürgerbräu and Budweiser Budvar belonged alongside several other Czech breweries. In 1960, with the output now at about 180,000 hectoliters, Budweiser Bürgerbräu changed its name to Samson Brewery. The renamed company now produced the Samson beer brand. In 1991 the South Bohemian Brewery Group was disbanded and Samson Brewery was changed back to Budweiser Bürgerbräu – which henceforth again made Budweiser beer. In the mid 1990s the brewery boomed, with annual sales of 435,000 hectoliters. Since the beginning of 2012 the company has again functioned under the nomenclature of Samson Brewery, once again selling Samson beer. 

Samson Brewery again active

Says Martis, "The consumer first has to get used to our most recent change in both company name and the name of our beer brand. That's why we recorded a loss in sales for 2012. By 2014, we'd like to increase our current sales of 150,000 hectoliters a year to 200,000." This rise is to be encouraged by a specific investment in the company's brands. In the future young adults are to be more strongly targeted as potential buyers and Samson's beers become established in the higher price segment, moving up from the current medium price bracket.

Broad spectrum of beer brands

Approximately 84% of the brewery's total sales is attributable to the Samson brand, with 10°, 11° and 12° beer and a shandy sold under this name. At the moment it's mostly the over 50s who buy Samson – which, considering the brewery's history, is no surprise as this target group is familiar with the brand from the past. A further approximately 15% of total sales is notched up by the 1795 brand which is also available in strengths of 10°, 11° and 12°. Most of this is destined for export. The non-alcoholic Pito brand and light Dianello beer account for the last few percent. 

Pito in the Czech Republic synonymous with alcohol-free beer

One interesting point worth mentioning here is that with Pito Samson Brewery holds a unique position on the market. Developed in the mid 1970s, Pito was the first non-alcoholic beer in the Czech Republic. Even today, when Czechs order a Pito, what they mean is they'd like an alcohol-free beer. What could be a greater sign of acceptance for a brand? Another interesting fact is that just recently Samson launched a shandy to market which is proving extremely popular among the young adult target group. Within the space of a year sales of the four different types of shandy rose to a total of 9,000 hectoliters. The company has also won many awards for its shandy, including one for the best shandy in the Czech Republic from the Czech Brewers' Association. Says Martis, "With our shandy we're launching an offensive on a younger target group. For us, this is one of several ways of making the Samson brand even more attractive to young adults."

One of the 20 largest Czech breweries

As one of the 20 largest breweries in the Czech Republic, Samson today holds 10th place with its export activities, with 50% of the beer it produces sold in 39 countries outside the Czech Republic. The biggest export markets are Denmark, Austria, Russia and Slovakia. Beer has also been exported to Asia since 2012 and especially to India, China and to Latin America.

70% bottled in glass

Seventy percent of the brewery's products is filled into glass bottles. Classic 20, 30 and 50-liter kegs make up 20% of sales, with the remaining 10% distributed between tanks sold to the hospitality trade, cans and Petainer kegs, which the brewery recently started racking. To quote Martis, "We're reckoning on the career of the glass bottle continuing in the future but also with a rise in the can sector. We're also watching how the Petainer keg develops with great interest, as we're just starting out with this on the market."

Chief requirements of the new glass bottle filler: high-quality filling results, reliability and flexibility 

Seeing how much of Samson's product is bottled in glass, it's small wonder that the brewery attaches great importance to its glass bottler being reliable, flexible and of high quality. When the time came to replace the outmoded filling system in use at the brewery, Martis and two other employees visited a number of breweries who were working with the KHS Innofill DPG-ZMS filler Martis had earmarked. He also planned to watch the filler in production at the KHS factory in Bad Kreuznach, Germany. "The response we heard from and what we saw with other KHS customers convinced us on all counts," smiles Martis. "Everywhere people explicitly referred to and greatly praised the outstanding technological merits of the Innofill DPG-ZMS." 

Trust a winning factor

Back in the Czech Republic Martis had to gain final approval for the order of the KHS filling system from the brewery's general director. As Samson's KHS keg technology and filter system were performing so brilliantly, this was no problem. "Trust in KHS technology has also continued to grow among the management and is now extremely great," Martis states. "Quite simply, aspects such as minimum cost, hardly any repairs and top filling quality are convincing in the long term."

Low-oxygen filling process and minimum CO2 consumption

With its new Innofill DPG-ZMS short-tube filling system Samson Brewery now fills a total of five different types of 0.33- and 0.5-liter bottle at a rate of 25,000 containers per hour. The filling process begins as soon as the pressure is equalized between the ring bowl and the bottle by pressurizing with CO2. The filling phase is stopped by the beverage rising in the return gas tube. When filling beer and shandy into glass bottles, the pressurization and filling processes on the Innofill DPG-ZMS are preceded by triple evacuation and double CO2 purging. This ensures the necessary low-oxygen filling process and makes specific savings in CO2. The Innofill DPG-ZMS has no external mechanical control devices. Aseptic sealing systems are used throughout all product and gas passages. The hygienic design of the filling system is one of the features that makes this system easy to operate and maintain.

High machine efficiency 

The quickly replaceable return gas tubes used in the Innofill DPG-ZMS enable the machine to be rapidly changed over to various bottle sizes. High machine efficiency is a given. During CIP sanitizing the filling valves are tightly sealed by rinsing sleeves which are simply attached to the filling valves by twisting them by hand. The CIP sanitizing process reliably reaches all components exposed to the product and can also be carried out even when the filler is not rotating. 

All told, this filling system stands for high product quality, economical production and maximum flexibility – both in terms of processing different styles of product and various bottle types. Says Martis, "In our overall experience we can clearly confirm this."

First market tests with the Petainer keg proving exceptionally good 

Samson Brewery recently had another request to make of KHS regarding its kegging technology. As an export brewery Samson is very interested in the idea of the Petainer keg. "In my view this non-returnable, PET keg stands out over other one-way plastic kegs chiefly because it's easy to connect up to existing tapping systems," explains Martis. "The hospitality trade therefore doesn't have to reinvest in tapping units and bar staff don't have to be retrained." KHS was asked to convert Samson's existing keg line so that it could also process small batches of Petainer kegs. KHS duly made the necessary mechanical conversions and integrated new commands into the software. An initial test batch of 200 Petainer kegs was racked and sent out not just to restaurants and bars in the Czech Republic but also to clients in Brazil, Russia, the USA, Denmark and Ukraine. The test companies reported back that "The Petainers arrived with no shipping damage. The beer quality from the Petainer is outstanding and disposal easy." "After the summer of 2013 we'll know whether it's worth us investing in a separate Petainer keg line," concludes Martis. "If sales progress as we predict, then this will be the case."

Policy now and in the future: to combine innovation with a sound brewing tradition

In the future, too, Samson Brewery wants to earn points with its restaurateurs and customers with innovative product and packaging concepts. Says Martis, "We have plenty of ideas in stock here. Under our new management we're positioning ourselves on the market as an innovative yet traditional brewery whose brands young adults find cool." The first steps in this direction have already been taken. For instance, the company recently went on tour of the Czech Republic in vans boldly sporting the Samson logo and became something of a talking point by presenting its shandy in local discos. Its recipe for success for the future is to combine innovation with a sound brewing tradition. As Samson Brewery with its brands Samson, 1795, Pito and Dianello, this is a credible course of action – and one that master brewer Lubos Martis fully believes in.