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 1664
is no number plucked out of obscurity, but the actual date
on which Kronenbourg came into being.
It all began one day in the now famous year of 1664, when
young Jérôme Hatt proudly filled a brand new
barrel with his first official brew. Jérôme had
just been awarded the diploma of brewer-cooper, which meant
he could henceforth brew and sell his own beer. He set up
his brewery right in the centre of Strasbourg, at the Brasserie
du Canon, a few steps away from the cathedral. Little could
he imagine what the future would hold.
In 1850, business was flourishing, but the brewery, which
now belonged to Jérôme's descendant, Frédéric-Guillaume,
often found itself flooded out by the overspill from the river
Ill. The only solution was to up and away to nearby Cronenbourg,
above the flood levels. By 1857, the brewery was helping assuage
the thirst of Parisians some 500 kilometres away, packing
whole trains full of barrels of Hatt beer. this was the beginning
of the brewery's domination of the French domestic market.
In 1922, the Brasserie du Tigre became part of the Hatt brewery
and Brasserie Hatt became Alsace's leading brewer with the
famous "Tigre Bock" beer. In 1947, a new Jérôme
Hatt took over the reins at the brewery and decided to rename
Tigre Bock as Kronenbourg.
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 Kronenbourg
has long been known for its initiatives. In 1947 it was the
first brewery to launch the 33cl bottle, followed by the metal
can in 1953 and the first pack in 1963. Kronenbourg led the
way in advertising and became the leading French beer-maker
both in terms of sales and brand recognition. In 1952, the
famous special beer, 1664, was launched to celebrate Queen
Elizabeth II's coronation. In 1959, Kronenbourg moved into
the European markets, primarily the former West Germany, Switzerland,
Belgium and Italy. The company prospered and the Cronenbourg
brewery could no longer keep up with demand. A new, ultra-modern
brewery, the largest ever built up till then, was opened in
Obernai in 1969.
In 1970, Kronenbourg joined the Danone group along with the
Société Européenne de Brasseries (Kanterbräu).
In 1986, Kronenbourg merged with Kanterbräu to become
the "Brasseries Kronenbourg". To answer the increasing
needs of its on-trade bar and café customers throughout
the country, Kronenbourg began buying depots from 1996 onwards.
The depots were then brought together under a single sales
and administrative network, Elidid boissons services.
Today, Brasseries Kronenbourg is a part of the Carlsberg Group, one of the largest brewing groups in the world.
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