CCSI Cork Crowncap Database - Brewer/Bottler
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 Brewer/bottler #3426 | | | Name | N.V. Bierbrouwerij Bavaria |
| | | | State/Province | Noord Brabant |
| | | | | | Extra info | The history of the Bavaria brewery can be traced back to 1680. In that year Dirk Vereijken owned a brewery at the Kerkdijk (Church Dike Road) in Lieshout, proof of which can be found in an account of the municipal tax records of that year. For three consecutive generations this brewery was handed down from father to daughter and after that for seven generations from father to son. Vereijken, Van Moorsel and Moorrees were the family names attached to this brewery from 1680 till 1773. Since then the brewers from Lieshout belong to the Swinkels family.
For centuries the brewery only produced beer for the local market. It was not until the fourth generation of Swinkels took charge of the brewery that production was expanded. Jan Swinkels, born in 1851, started distribution to the city of Helmond at 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from Lieshout in 1890. Sales rose from 988 hectolitres of beer in 1890 to 1,900 hectolitres in 1900. After the First World War distribution was expanded to other towns and villages in North Brabant. By 1923 output had increased to 3,325 hectolitres of beer. By that time the original brewery buildings had become too small so a larger brewery was built in Lieshout. On that occasion three brothers of the fifth generation of Swinkels took over leadership, and adopted the brand name Bavaria. This name indicated that the new plant was a bottom fermentation brewery, producing pale lager (Bavarian) beer.
Distribution was broadened to include Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, the four largest cities of the Netherlands. In 1933 the brewery added its own bottling plant, which produced 2,000 bottles an hour. By 1940 a malt house was built. The output of the brewery at the beginning of the Second World War was approximately 40,000 hectoliters per annum, with an almost nationwide coverage in distribution.
In 1955 the company started manufacturing soft drinks under the brand name 3-ES. This name refers to the three Swinkels brothers of the fifth generation. In the postwar years beer consumption in the Netherlands had decreased to a very low level. It took Bavaria until 1959 to recover in terms of sales volume. In the sixties Bavaria doubled its production capacity
From 1973 onwards the company took an interest in the exporting business, first of all in Southern Europe. In the late seventies Bavaria introduced alcohol-free beer, that was exported to Islamic countries. By 1981 the total volume reached 1,000,000 hectoliters of beer. From the nineties onwards the business expanded into exclusive and seasonal beers. Moreover, Bavaria started to adapt its drinks to individual markets. Consequently, export grew to cover 120 countries. |
| | | | | | | Other names used for this Brewer/bottler | | | | Name 2 | Bavaria Brewery Ltd. |
| | | Name 3 | N.V. Beiersch Bierbrouwerij Bavaria |
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