History of the largest brewery in Hungary, Dreher, dates back to the year of 1854. Since then its beers have been making lives of (not only) Hungarians more enjoyable. That’s why we decided to celebrate its 165th anniversary mostly with its founder’s legacy!
Dreher’s family has been tied to beer since 1836, when Anton Dreher developed the bottom-fermented beer. It had a brown colour, needed cool temperature for maturation and storage and the conditions necessary for production gave it also the name – lager (meaning warehouse in German). Beer was truly in Anton’s DNA, even his father Franz Anton Dreher had studied brewing and started the family’s brewing tradition which has remained in the Dreher brand till today.
In the beginning the brewery was using rock cellars in Kőbánya district and remained there during its whole history. Given that Dreher’s connection with Budapest is undeniably strong, we decided to make his legacy even more visible in the city for brewery’s 165th anniversary.
Digging into Dreher’s legacy
We assembled a team of historians and researchers to make many remarkable monuments. We put the brewery picture and Anton Dreher on the anniversary packaging. We brought the tradition of brewing in Kőbánya back into consciousness by campaigns on social media. We let young and talented artists redesign iconic posters from the beginning of the 20th century. We made a special exhibition with never seen artefacts and photos. We organized a historical beer dinner with an authentic vintage menu. We published a book and a booklet with 165 short stories about Dreher family, the brewery and its employees.
And most importantly, Dreher Brewery announced a new address name on Dreher Antal Street no. 3. The design of the name wonderfully depicts the first year of the company dating to 1854 and continues with a sign of never-ending future. Anton Dreher also received posthumous honorary citizenship of Budapest.
“165 years after the company’s founding we celebrate the Dreher tradition and the brewery which has survived to this day and operates continuously in the Kőbánya district of Budapest. The brewery’s fortunes are inseparably intertwined with the life and history of the 10th district and its residents, many of whom have direct ties to our company,” says Dreher Breweries’ CEO, Gábor Békefi, at the beginning of the book about its founder.
We are proud of Dreher’s family legacy and chiefly of the fact we are keeping its tradition alive in Asahi. So cheers to another 165 years of Dreher!
