History of Heineken

In 1863 Dutch businessman Gerard Adriaan Heineken bought De Hooiberg brewery, put his own name on it and began making Heineken beer. Before that Gerard persuaded his mother to invest her money in the company because Gerard claimed that it would result in much less drunkenness as more people would drink beer, and hence fewer people would drink gin.

De Hooiberg was a small brewery that had been founded in 1592 and was serving a small regional market.

In 1886 Gerard Heineken commissioned Dr. H. Elion, a student of Louis Pasteur, to isolate a strain of yeast to brew his lager. Elion isolated a unique strain called Heineken A-yeast, that provides fruity yeast aroma to the beer.

As demand for Heineken beer grew, Gerard Heineken opened breweries in other European countries and in 188o began exporting Heineken beer to United States, which would over time emerge as the as the company’s most important importer of Heineken beer.

In the 1950s, Heineken sales grew between 20 to 30 percent per year and astonishing figure. The company focused sales on elite hotels, restaurant and cafés, reinforcing Heineken’s reputation for quality.

By end of 1995 Heineken had bought a 66% stake in the largest Slovakian brewery and malt works, had increased its interest in a Polish brewery and had completed the integration of an Italian brewery.

Heineken remained the best selling imported beer in the United States until 1998 when Corona of Mexico outsold it.
History of Heineken