Facts about Krönleins Bryggeri AB
Like Krönlein's Bryggeri, the Krönlein family has a long tradition of beer brewing behind them. For six generations, the family has run a brewery business. That makes Krönleins the family with the longest brewing tradition in Sweden.
History
The history of Krönlein's Brewery in Halmstad goes all the way back to 1836 - more specifically on February 15th when founder Anders Julius Appeltofft bought a half-timbered house at Stora Torg in Halmstad. Apart from his trading activities, Appeltofft has plans to start a brewery and he has found the right property for the purpose. The house that he buys is the old "hospital" or "curhuset" and he sets up offices and dispensaries there. The brewery is named Appeltofftska Bryggeriet after the founder. The actual brewing takes place in an adjacent building on Hospitalsgatan. During the first decade, Appeltofft brews beer according to old Swedish tradition, so-called "Svensköl" as well as the popular weak drink of the time. Svensköl was a sweet and low-alcohol top-fermented beer that would certainly taste very foreign to today's beer lovers. The half-timbered house still stands today and is in excellent condition. After a complete renovation, guests can once again view the fine ceiling paintings over a cup of coffee or a light beer, as a patisserie is run there today. The business in the beginning was completely artisanal. Everything in the production was done by hand. The malt crusher and water pump were operated by hand, which was heavy and sweaty work. In 1849, new land was purchased which was a couple of hundred meters from Stora Torg. On the ground there was a bastion cellar from the early 17th century located next to the old moat. The bastion's task was to protect the city from enemies from the west - hence the name "Wester Katt". Remnants of the old defense wall, which today lies below the ground surface, can still be viewed in Krönlein's corporate pub. The purchase of the land served two purposes for the brewery. On the one hand, a warehouse was built to store the beer and on the other hand they gained control over the water supply. At the same time, a malthouse building was erected for malt production. Under the old bastion there was a source of water where many Halmstad residents got their water. The water was found to be of the absolute highest quality - naturally pure with a fresh, neutral taste. It is from this source that Krönleins Bryggeri has drawn its water since its inception in 1836. If you use your imagination, you can easily imagine how the water was loaded into large barrels that were transported by horse and cart over Halmstad's cobbled streets.
Bavarian beer
When Bavarian-type beer made its way into Sweden in 1843, it was initially difficult to convince the Swedish beer drinkers of the excellence of the new type of beer. Bavarian beer was, to the uninitiated, dark and not sweet enough. The man who introduced the beer to Sweden was Fredrik Rosenquist and his newly started brewery was called Tyska Bryggeriet and was located in Stockholm. The taste of the new dark beer was less distinctly sweet and with more carbonation. The storage time was longer and the beer was undoubtedly of higher quality than "Svenskölet". The introduction of Bavarian beer was helped by Rosenquist's then-modern marketing methods and the fact that the Royal Palace became one of the best customers. The Queen's mother, who was of German descent, had until now bought her beer from Germany. But with Tyska Bryggeriet around the corner, it became the new supplier. After only a decade or so, Bavarian beer was the most popular in Sweden. It is worth mentioning that beer in Sweden has waged a fierce and often unfair battle against brandy since the Middle Ages. The brewers had a monopoly on the very profitable brandy production and were therefore not interested in increasing beer consumption and keeping the quality of the beer up. With the arrival of Bavarian beer, this trend was broken and the Swedes got a tasty alternative to brandy. The data is different when the brewery started brewing Bavarian beer. According to one source, Appeltofft brewed Bavarian beer right from the start in 1836, but that is hardly likely given the information about the introduction in 1843 in Sweden. Another source gives the 1850s, but the most likely is sometime in the late 1840s. Bavarian beer, as mentioned earlier, requires more storage space than "Svensköl" and we know that the brewery in any case had the practical opportunity to store Bavarian beer with the establishment of the lager cellar in 1849. The lager cellar was probably established precisely for this purpose. In any case, Appeltofftska was well ahead among Swedish breweries. The local competitor, Östra Bryggeriet, did not start with Bavarian beer until 1863 at the earliest.
Caps become lucky buttons in Africa
Tre Hjärtan Export was loaded aboard the Gripsholms and Kungsholms boats, secured with Salénrederierna and sailed to America with Broström's tender service. Anders Krönlein also managed to sell his strong beer to Africa, where the caps got an unexpected use, to say the least. The inhabitants of the Ivory Coast took a liking to the three hearts printed on the caps and sewed them onto their clothes as lucky buttons. The buttons were believed to protect the wearer from evil spirits. Strong beer sales were released in Sweden in 1955 and Tre Hjärtan Export quickly became one of Systembolaget's best-selling strong beers and remained so for a long time. The classic Tre Hjärtan Export is still available today with a packaging that is close to the original. Before it was time for the next success for the brewery in Halmstad, Anders Krönlein handed over the CEO position to his son Hans. Trained as a certified brewmaster in Weihenstephan Germany, Hans Krönlein started at the brewery as brewmaster in 1952 to take over as director in 1961. The next success for the Krönlein family came with the introduction of middle beer in 1965, which gave the whole industry a much-needed boost. Tre Hjärtan Mellanöl was a great sales success. Structural rationalizations are taking place throughout the brewing industry and also affect Halmstad's two breweries. The local competitor, Östra Bryggeriet, is bought up by Krönleins in 1979. As a side note, it can be mentioned that Krönleins stops producing its own malt in the same year. Hans Krönlein runs the company until 1991 and sons Carl and Tage Krönlein take over as CEO and Vice CEO in 1992. Hans Krönlein remains as Chairman of the Board. Before he handed over to his sons, something happened that was to be the crowning glory of a long and successful brewing career. Hans Krönlein developed a beer that won the BEER WC in England in 1990 in the "Lager" class. The beer called Crocodile Export Lager was also a success on the Swedish market. In 1996, they decided to change their name from Appeltofftska Bryggeri to Krönleins bryggeri AB. In this way, the connection to the Krönlein family and its brewing tradition became clearer.
The brewery becomes a limited company
The founder Anders Julius Appeltofft dies in 1851 from pneumonia contracted on a cold September evening at "Norre Katt", i.e. the restaurant that was located in the current Norre Katts Park. His widow continues the movement until 1855 when the son Per Gustav Appeltofft takes over the business, as the eldest son of 8 siblings. Appeltofftska Bryggeriet was at this point in need of capital, so the brewery was transformed into a joint-stock company in 1861, which is one of the years that can be seen today on the facade of the brewery. In the same year it can be read that "The working staff at Appeltofftska Bryggeriet consists of a Brewmaster, a Bookkeeper, a cellar maid, nine Brewery and two stable boys, as well as two Boys for cleaning bottles etc". The business is thus still quite modest, but a period of efficiency and expansion begins. The company board realizes in 1867 that the cost of supplying water by horse and cart can be reduced with the construction of a fixed water line from the source to Stora Torg. The project developed into Halmstad's first water main with many subscribers who, in addition to the brewery, were supplied with water. Krönleins also pledged to the fire department to always keep the water reservoir full of water in the event of a fire. A pumping station was powered by two horses walking around in a horse walk to keep the reservoir full. This happened in 1870 - 15 years before Halmstad municipality could offer any fixed water connections
Pilsner beer
When pilsner-type beer began to be brewed in Sweden in the 1870s, the market consisted partly of Bavarian beer, which was completely dominant, and partly of a new bottom-fermented variant called Swedish lager. As most people probably know, the pilsner beer originally comes from the city of Pilsen in the Czech Republic, where it had been brewed for a couple of decades. Pilsner beer filled a taste-wise void in the Swedish beer range. The easy-drinking beer was less sweet with a distinct hop bitterness and lighter in color than other types of beer available. As usual, the Swedes were hesitant about news and pilsner beer only became a success when the marketing was aimed at the upper class and the rich Opera Källaren in Stockholm. However, it would take some time before the pilsner beer was accepted throughout the country. Only after the First World War did the pilsner beer become the dominant type of beer in Sweden.
The brewery today
Regarding the ownership structure, Krönleins Bryggeri AB is a very stable company. The Krönlein family has had total ownership of the company since the 1920s and it has been their firm belief to keep it that way in the future. Krönleins has a long and strong brewing tradition with six generations of breweries. This tradition gives Krönleins a unique position within the Swedish brewing industry today. Krönleins not only enjoys that tradition, but also thinks ahead and uses new technology to communicate with the market.