The renewed flavours of the beers produced by Szent András Brewery in Békésszentandrás are the result of more than twenty years of hard work, dedication and experimentation. In recent years, more and more people have discovered the brewery’s distinctive hoppy and fruity beers, which made it increasingly important to expand production capacity.
This expansion was supported by an EU-funded project. The brewery purchased new equipment that has made production faster and more efficient. Thanks to the development, bottled beers are now heat-treated in a separate system using a new tunnel pasteuriser.
The new process also includes dry hopping with a hop cannon. This means the beers spend less time in the tanks, saving time while also bringing out their aromas even more. The EU project has shortened not only the brewing process, but also inspection times and the necessary hygiene tests. The new laboratory equipment purchased through the project has also helped reduce downtime at the plant.
Procurement, logistics and financial processes have also become more transparent and easier to plan. The introduction of an integrated enterprise resource planning system has reduced administrative tasks in everyday operations and made decision-making faster.
Szent András Brewery was founded in the early 1990s by József Simkó and Csongor Rozsán. Although they had not been trained as brewers — one was a civil engineer and the other an agricultural engineer — they decided, almost on impulse, to start making beer.
After several years of experimentation, their Black Rose beer became the first premium, high-alcohol black beer in Hungary and received unanimous recognition from the profession. Later, they took on another challenge: producing beer made with real fruit, which was still unusual in Hungary at the time. After their first Sour Cherry Beer, they went on to create several other fruit beer varieties. In 2011, Szent András Brewery was named Brewery of the Year. In 2014, the modernisation of the plant began, bringing a new design and, of course, new brews. Over more than twenty-five years, the brewery has won more than thirty awards and created nearly twenty types of beer, along with seasonal specialities, limited-edition series and experimental brews.
Today, the brewery’s wide range of beers can be found not only in smaller specialist shops, but also in restaurants, bars and retail chains across Hungary. Its products are also becoming increasingly popular abroad.
Ultimately, the project has helped increase the amount of beer reaching the market — much to the delight of beer lovers.
The development was implemented from EU funding in the project GINOP-1.2.1-16-2017-00442 under the Economic Development and Innovation Operational Programme Plus.
Find out more about the project in the Project Finder:Details
