Kronenbourg Brewery (Brasseries Kronen- bourg) is the largest brewery in France, part of the Carlsberg group. See carlsberg group. Flagship brand Kronenbourg 1664 is the best-selling premium lager in France and the second-largest in the UK.

As the brand name suggests, the brewery was originally founded in 1664 by a Strasbourg, France brewer, Jérôme Hatt. In 1850 frequent flooding inspired the Hatt Brewery to move to higher ground in the Cronenbourg district of Strasbourg. Its beers began to gain popularity across France, and in 1947 the brewery was renamed Kronenbourg. From the 1950s onward it began international expansion and mergers, and was acquired in 1970 by industrial group BSN (now Groupe Danone). Danone sold Kronenbourg to UK brewer Scottish & Newcastle, and in April 2008, when that company was sold to Heineken and Carlsberg, Kronenbourg became part of the latter. In 2010 the brewery dominates its home market with a 33% share and sells in over 70 countries worldwide.

The flagship brand is Kronenbourg 1664, a 5.5% premium lager brewed with Alsace’s native Strisselspalt hops. See strisselspalt (hop). (It is brewed under license in the UK at 5%). While light and unchallenging compared to craft-brewed beers, it does have a whiff of hop character and is superior to many comparable mass-produced lagers.

The brewery claims Kronenbourg 1664 dates back to the foundation of the brewery—hardly likely given that golden lager wasn’t created until almost 200 years later. The brand actually launched in 1952 in both France and the UK.

Kronenbourg also produces a small range of other beers under the brand name, including a wheat beer, Kronenbourg Blanc.

See also france.