Beck’s is a beer, a brand, and a mindset. Driven by innovation.

Founding

In 1873 the Kaiser-Brauerei Beck & May o.H.G. was founded in Bremen by the master builder Lüder Rutenberg, the businessman F.G. Thomas May and the brewmaster Heinrich Beck. Beer was classically served in brown bottles but supply was scarce. Beck’s looked for other glass suppliers and found a wine bottle producer with capacity. Wine bottles at that time were green and that’s how the iconic green Beck’s bottle was introduced. This was extraordinary, recognizable and differentiated Beck’s from other beers at a time when beer was exclusively sold in brown bottles.

Another iconic element of Beck’s beer is the key emblem. The city symbol of Bremen is a key, which was portrayed on the Beck’s bottle. Eventually the city wanted Beck’s to pay a fee for using the key as a symbol, which Beck’s avoided by mirroring the key and registering it as its own trademark.

Medals

1874 crown prince Friedrich, later Kaiser Friedrich III awarded Beck’s a gold medal for the best beer at the International Agricultural show in Bremen.
1876 Beck’s won the prize for best European beer at the global exposition in Philadelphia, USA. Those recognitions were big milestone for Beck’s and the two medals are still embedded in the Beck’s label today.

Export

Born an export beer, Beck’s was the exclusive distributor of beer for the north German logistics ship company Lloyd, which resulted in Beck’s beer to be known around the world very soon. In 1931, breweries in Batavia and Singapore started brewing Beck’s beer to supply the high demand in the far east. Beck’s beer was first distributed and sold in Germany in 1949 to protect against the risk of international markets.

Innovation

Beck’s is a beer, a brand, and a mindset. Driven by innovation.

In 1888 the first ice-machine was introduced to the brewery, making Beck’s independent of the supply of natural ice from Scandinavia required to cool down the brew.
In 1928, Beck’s first introduced the steel cask, allowing for the supply and drafting of fresh Beck’s pils beer.
Through its international focus, Beck’s had access to trends and innovations across the world and introduced the mobile beer can to the German beer market in 1953.
In 1968 Beck’s was the first to introduce the convenient 6-pack format.
Beck’s Gold was introduced in 2002 in a revolutionary packaging – the first beer in a see-through glass bottle coated with a special UV-protection filter. This was by far one of the most successful innovations in the German beer market.
With Beck’s Green Lemon, Beck’s helped grow the beer-mix segment in Germany to immense size. Even today Beck’s Green Lemon is one of the most liked beer-mixes in Germany.
Beck’s Ice was introduced as the first white liquid beer-mix in 2008.
In 2015 Beck’s introduced their premium range “Taste the World” building on their strong history of exploring the world, feeling free and different. The range consists of 4 specialties brewed according to different international beer styles and jumping on the trend of international beer specialties as the first German beer brand.

Branding

One of the most iconic advertising campaigns in Germany was Beck’s “Sail Away” between 1984-2007. Beck’s invested in new green sails for the German sailing ship “Alexander von Humboldt” and thus had access to the ship to create legendary commercials, symbolizing the concept of freedom, exploration and friendship. Redefining freedom, Beck’s launched its campaign “Only you make it legendary” in 2017, which was a huge success. It builds on the values that you have the freedom to decide and that only you make your moments legendary.

Taste

Beck’s Pils: sweet and soft balanced with a clean, dry hop finish; 4.9 %ABV
Beck’s Gold: refreshing mild taste with a clean finish; 4.9%ABV
Beck’s Lime: refreshing pils taste with a slight hint of lime; 4.9% ABV
Beck’s Blue: sweet and soft balanced with a clean, dry hop finish; 0.3% ABV
Beck’s Green Lemon: refreshing, crisp, slightly sweet with lemon taste; 2.5% ABV
Beck’s Green Lemon Zero: refreshing, crisp, slightly sweet with lemon taste; 0.0% ABV
Beck’s Ice: refreshing, slightly fruity, with taste of lime and mint; 2.5% ABV
Beck’s Red Holunder: refreshing, fruity, holunder taste; 2.5% ABV
Beck’s 1873: (inspired by our first Beck’s Pils ever brewed) fresh, intense, dry hop taste; 6.0% ABV
Beck’s Red Ale: (inspired by Ireland) well-rounded malt taste, slightly sweet; 4.5% ABV
Beck’s Pale Ale: (inspired by Britain) crisp, intense hop taste; 6.3% ABV
Beck’s Amber Lager: (inspired by Australia) well-rounded, malty, mild and aromatic taste; 5.7% ABV