Today, Volfas Engelman, the second largest brewery in Lithuania has signed a licence agreement with His Royal Highness Luitpold, Prince of Bavaria. The agreement grants the Lithuanian brewery the exclusive right to produce Bavarian beer according to traditional recipes of the royal Wittelsbach family and in compliance with the Bavarian purity law for beer.
Prince Luitpold acted on behalf of his company König Ludwig International, a brand licensing company, and as a shareholder of the subsidiary König Ludwig Schlossbrauerei Kaltenberg, which operates a brewery in the Castle of Kaltenberg , 50 kilometers west of Munich, Germany.
The brewing traditions of the royal family began in 1260. In 1516, Prince Luitpold’s ancestor, Duke Wilhelm IV of the Wittelsbach dynasty, which ruled Bavaria for 738 years (1180-1918), adopted the Beer Purity Law, which became a standard for the entire beer world.
The famous Oktoberfest in Munich was also initiated by the Wittelsbach family and was actually a celebration of the marriage of Crown PrinceLudwig of Bavaria to PrincessTherese of Saxe-Hildburghausen in 1810, a festival that was repeated every year thereafter, only interrupted by wars and pandemics.
The founders of the longest continuously operating brewer in Lithuania, Rafail Wolff and Ferdinand Engelman, gained experience in Germany before opening their factories. So, the Bavarian traditions are not alien to the brewer and are nurtured even today according to Marius Horbačauskas, CEO of Volfas Engelman.
He also stressed the fact, that his brewery “officially received permission to brew wheat beer from the brewery founded by the Wittelsbach family. This is a very important assessment of our factory and its capacity. We have already started producing the new product according to the authentic recipe, and it will soon be available on the country's retail shelves."
Volfas Engelman, based in Kaunas, is the second-largest and the longest continuously operating brewery in Lithuania. The company, which celebrates this year its 170th anniversary, is owned by the Finnish Olvi Company Group.
"From now on, the 170th anniversary will mark not only the sustainable brewing traditions, but also the well-deserved trust of the Bavarian monarchical family," said Mr. Horbačauskas after signing the agreement. - Since the very beginnings of Volfas Engelman, we have been upholding the Bavarian brewing tradition, and both our own land and the land close to us as brewers are united by the link between the development of long-standing brewing traditions. The acquaintance with His Royal Highness, which began a year ago, was also the natural start of an official cooperation."
