All About Beer Magazine - Volume 35, Issue 5
October 1, 2014 By Heather Vandenengel

pilsner urquell brown bottleIn a move that harkens to the brewery’s roots, Pilsner Urquell is rolling out its iconic Czech pilsner in brown bottles for the U.S. market.

While the beer was originally packaged in brown bottles, in the 1980s the brewery made the switch to green bottles, which offer less protection from UV rays that can damage the quality and cause beer to taste “skunky.” However, since the company released its bottles in fully enclosed cartons in 2012, the potential for damage was not the driving factor in the redesign, said Chad Wodskow, the global marketing manager for Pilsner Urquell. 

“As we started designing our cans and trying to celebrate our heritage, we felt it was really important to carry this all the way through and relaunch the bottle like it used to be, and that’s where we get the amber bottle we have now,” he said.