Velkopopovick Kozel is a Czech lager produced since 1874[1]. In that year, Franz Ringhoffer founded a brewery in Velk Popovice (Gropopowitz) near Prague. Their symbol is a goat (Kozel, Gropopowitzer Ziegenbock).
In 1995, the company was purchased by the Radegast Brewery, which merged with the Plzeňsk Prazdroj, a. s. Brewery in 1999, only to be purchased by SABMiller the same year.
Within the Czech Republic, Kozel is available as a Pale, a Medium, a Premium, and a Dark beer.
Production has been licensed in Russia, Israel, Hungary, Ukraine and Slovakia, making Kozel the most popular Czech Beer outside the Czech Republic.[2]