Some breweries in our wide-ranging repertoire have specialized in the preparation of a single type of beer. This applies, for example, to our Kölsch breweries such as Gaffel and Reissdorf or to breweries such as Köstritzer. The traditional brewery from Bad Köstritz in Thuringia focuses its work on the production of the finest dark beers. This type is a bottom-fermented full-bodied beer and owes its strong black color and full-bodied taste to the use of dark malts and roasted malts. The Köstritzer brewery is one of the absolute experts in its field and its tasty dark beer is drunk throughout Germany and now in more than 55 other countries.
Excellent taste and impeccable quality are the top priority at Köstritzer. Beers like the fine Köstritzer Schwarzbier impressively represent the ambition and dedication of the brewery. However, with all the efforts to improve the aroma and raw materials, one thing that must not be neglected is the sustainable use of the earth's resources. Köstritzer has been committed to sustainable production since 2007 and has developed concepts and strategies that bring together ecology, social commitment and economic activity. Using renewable energies, regional raw materials and water-saving processes, the brewery has already significantly reduced its own ecological footprint and is working every day to become a little better and greener.
Long before sustainability and environmental protection were even a topic, the Köstritzer family was already brewing beer. The brewery was first mentioned in documents in 1543. Even then, only dark beer was brewed there. The brewery had its first heyday when the university in neighboring Jena was founded. After hours of studying and listening carefully to lectures and presentations, both the students and the professors craved a cold beer. Köstritzer quenched their thirst for beer with strengthening dark beer, which would later also be supplied to the Counts of Reuss. At the end of the seventeenth century, they took over the estate brewery and named it the Count's Court Brewery. When Emperor Franz II later elevated the Counts of Reuss to the status of prince, the Count's Court Brewery became the Princely Brewery of Köstritz. The company flourished under the princes and was soon supplying not only Jena but also more distant places such as Berlin and Frankfurt. Word of the good dark beer spread and even convinced famous people like Goethe and Bismarck. The Köstritzer brewery's streak of success continues to this day, even though the princes no longer hold the reins.
What Goethe enjoyed, we enjoy too — what about you?
Köstritzer Schwarzbierbrauerei GmbH
Heinrich-Schütz-Str. 16
07586 Bad Köstritz/Thüringen
Deutschland 
