LITOMERICE, Czech Republic — A microbrewery owned by the Catholic Diocese of Litomerice in the Czech Republic has won gold and diamond medals at an international beer competition, capping a triumphant run for the small operation in northern Bohemia.
The Bishop's Brewery at St. Stephen's took home top honors at the Czech Brew Star 2026 competition held in Brno on Feb. 6, the diocese announced March 16.
The brewery's amber lager, Jezule 15%, won gold, while its flagship Czech pale lager, Dekan 11%, was named the overall winner in the Czech light lager category and received a diamond medal — the competition's highest distinction.
Days later, the brewery's Easter special — a dark stout brewed from five types of malt — won a gold medal at an international beer festival in Litomerice, along with the main prize for best beer among all microbreweries in the Ústí nad Labem region of northern Bohemia.
Archbishop-designate Stanislav Pribyl of Prague blessed the Easter stout a few days before the fifth Sunday of Lent, March 22.
"God, you never cease to care for what you have created, you send the abundance of your blessing and give the earth its fruitfulness. We praise you for your infinite goodness and ask your blessing for this batch of beer," Pribyl prayed. "Beer is a precious drink; through it, people meet and friendships deepen. Grant that whoever drinks it may receive protection of body and soul."
Why a stout?
Head brewer Robert Kríž said the choice to brew a stout as the Easter special was deliberate.
"Everyone makes green beer before Easter, so we said we'd do something completely different — and the decision fell on a strong dark beer," Kríž explained.
The stout, a bottom-fermented dark beer made from five types of malt, draws its distinctive flavor primarily from chocolate malt. Kríž described the result as similar to Guinness but noted: "We definitely don't want to compare ourselves with them. We have our own taste, and that needs to be tried."
Not 1 but 3 awards
The Czech Brew Star is an international competition that evaluates exclusively unfiltered and unpasteurized beers. The 2026 edition in Brno attracted 113 breweries from six countries — the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Cyprus, Greece, and Italy — with 52 tasters from nine countries judging 444 entries.
The Jezule 15% lager takes its unusual name from the affectionate Czech diminutive for the Infant Jesus. The name was inspired by the children's book "The Flight Into Egypt Through the Kingdom of Bohemia" by the German-Bohemian author Otfried Preußler, a favorite of Pribyl's. The beer was originally brewed as a Christmas special and was produced for only the second time in the brewery's 11-year history.
"The judges praised the perfect harmony of flavors, aroma, and overall quality of this beer," Kríž said.
Richard Kirbs, the brewery's director, called the Dekan lager's diamond medal "a fantastic success in unprecedented competition."
"This is also the best reward for our brewer and the whole team," Kirbs said. "The 11-degree Dekan can be tried in the brewery restaurant practically at any time."
The Bishop's Brewery at St. Stephen's was established in 2015 in the Diocesan House of the Diocese of Litomerice. It is one of a small but growing number of Church-owned breweries in Europe, continuing a monastic and ecclesial brewing tradition that dates back centuries in the Czech lands.
Pribyl, a Redemptorist, was named archbishop of Prague by Pope Leo XIV on Feb. 2 and remains administrator of the Diocese of Litomerice until his installation in Prague on April 25.
