Budvar to launch session beer Pardál in UK

At 3.8% ABV, the company says that the beer, Pardál, “meets the emerging requirement of a lot of drinkers for a quaffable session beer with the added plus of coming from the celebrated Budvar stable”.

It was launched in the Czech Republic four years ago, following consumer research that suggested drinkers wanted a lower ABV beer — Budvar Original weighs in at 5% ABV.

It now accounts for 18% of Budvar’s domestic sales and was subsequently launched in Germany where it sold 200,000 hectolitres last year.

The brewer said it was currently in talks with “one of the big” on-trade players to roll out Pardál on draught only and has already secured a listing for the bottled version in Morrisons this autumn.

“Its success back in the Czech Republic and in Germany indicates that, without a shadow of a doubt, it will do well here,” said sales director Joe Laventure.

Pardál — which translates as panther in Czech, but is also used as a colloquial term to mean “top bloke” — is described as a “highly quaffable beer with a bitter taste and rich,
hoppy head”.

It is the first launch in the United Kingdom from the Czech brewery since its yeast beer — the 4% ABV unpasteurised, unfiltered version of Budvar Original — was unveiled four years ago.