The Regent Brewery was founded in 1379. The unique structures of the brewery and malt workshop are a part of the ancient heart of the town of Trebon. Advanced techniques and computer controlled technologies are employed as well as traditional recipes for traditional czech beer using the best assorted raw materials – water from artesian wells, world famous hops from Zatec and high quality barley malt.
Not many breweries in Europe can be as proud of their heritage as the brewery in Trebon, which was founded in 1379. Historically the oldest equipment used for the production of beer in Trebon was owned by the “Canonical order of Augustinian monks“ in 1367. The equipment was mentioned in the archives of Trebon, where it says that the richest classes of the time made beer for themselves and sometimes lent out the equipment to the lower classes as well.
In the year 1482 Vok of Rosenberg expanded the brewery and built new cellars beside the castle. However the rising demand for beer was not met and therefore in 1522 larger scale expansions of the castle brewery were made. Further reconstruction was carried out by Vlach builders in 1560. At the end of the 16th century the Trebon brewery became one of 19 breweries in Rosenberg’s possession with a planned output capacity of 100 batches, about 189,600 litres.
The beer from the Trebon brewery slowly began to gain in popularity. As a result the smaller old castle brewery could not meet demand
and therefore a new brewery was created with the renovation of the Rosenberg’s armoury between the Svinenska and Novohradska Gates where it still stands today. The construction of the new brewery started in 1706 and was completed by Italian builders in 1712. The brewery of today however was not created until the second half of the 19th century when it was completely rebuilt. In 1886-1887 there was an output capacity of 5,000,000 litres which in those days was very high. In 1888, in an exhibition in Brussels, the Trebon brewery received a prize for "quality beer" from the Belgian King. As the years progressed, the fame of Trebon beer spread further and further. At the start of the 20th century the now Regent Brewery had warehouse stocks not only in Prague and Brno but also in Vienna, Styrsky Hradec and Lvov. Deliveries by train went to many European countries as well as to the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. However, in the forthcoming years, Including the 1st and 2nd World Wars, the brewery did not continue to prosper. Before 1914, the production of beer from the brewery exceeded 10,000,000 litres. After the First World War however, production fell by 50% as exports to Vienna plummeted.
In the time before the “pre-Munich Republic“ production of beer fell, the highest output recorded during this time was in 1929 during the period of the Czech economic recession, and was 6,500,000 litres. After this, there was a fall in production and during the Munich Treaty, production was at 4,300,000 litres. During the Second World War, production fell again and at the start of 1945, it ceased completely. Production recommenced at the end of the same year but only a weak 4 percentage beer was produced. Up until the end of the war the brewery was owned by the Schwarzenbergers. After nationalisation in the newly formed Czech Republic, the brewery was controlled by the South Bohemia Beer Brewery Enterprises (a public/government owned enterprise), with its base in Ceske Budejovice. Then during 1953-1955, a Trebon Beer Brewery Enterprise was founded, with breweries in Trebon, Tabor and also Jindrichuv Hradec. From the 1st of January 1989 the brewery became a part of the Cooperative Company Ceske Budejovice. After privatisation in 1992 the brewery became part of a shareholder company, South Bohemia Breweries. In 1999 the shareholders decided to sell the brewery to Regent and in August 200 the brewery was sold to the shareholding company, Bohemia Regent.
In the 1850’s the brewery started brewing the famous Golden lager, created by Joseph Groll in Bohemia, which revolutionised the brewing of beer and remains in various forms the most popular brewing process in the world today.
The business name of the brewery, Regent, was inspired by the historic fame of the knight Jakub Krčín from Jelčany (1533-1604), who began as a Rosenberg accountant and then became regent of the large dominion of Vilem from Rosenberg, the uncrowned king of the entire Bohemian Kingdom. Krčín was the talented builder/planner of the monumental Southern Bohemian interlinking lakes and many business houses and pubs in the middle of which stands Trebon.
As well as this he was a leading financial manager of the Czech feudal estates. The figure of Jakub Krčín is surrounded by many folk tales. According to one, he rides along the thin strip of land between the lakes of Rožmberk and Kaňov (which was built specifically for him) at midnight in a carriage drawn by two cats, because he could not get peace even after his death. During his life he always treated his workers very harshly and just before his death one of them put a curse on him. Another tale tells us how the Devil forced Krčín to plough the fields near Zlatá stoka (Golden Canal) which runs through Trebon. Krčín was strapped into the yolks of the plough with heavy chains. Then, while he strained under the blows raining down upon him by the devil's whip, a link in the chains was lost. From this link a great oak tree grew. To this day the spot where this happened is called "At The Devil's Oak". Regardless of these tales, however, one fact remains, and that is that the Regent of Rosenberg, Jakub Krčín from Jelčany, became in his own way, an inspirational name for the Trebon brewery and the beer that it produces, which he also enjoyed drinking in those days.