The Starobrno Brewery, located on Hlinky Street near Mendlovo nám., has been a part of the city since 1872 and is becoming an increasingly popular tourist destination.
The original manor brewery was converted into a modern industrial operation by the Mandel and Hayek company starting in 1872. Over time, Starobrno Brewery became the largest brewery in Moravia and the third-largest in the Czech Republic, following Pilsner and Smíchov. However, its success was interrupted by World War II. On November 20, 1944, bombings heavily damaged the malt house, along with the cooperage and all connections for steam, water, electricity, and sewage. Before the brewery could recover from the wartime damage, the Communist coup and nationalization further hindered its progress. For many years, little investment was made in the brewery, which had a negative effect on its overall condition and beer production.
After 1989, the brewery was acquired by foreign capital, initially by the Austrian group Brauunion Österreich. Due to financial difficulties, it later became part of the multinational Heineken, which owns it to this day.
The oldest part of the brewery is the former malt house, located in the southeast of the complex next to the former Staré Brno monastery. It consists of several interconnected buildings with an irregular layout. To the northwest of the malt house, across Pivovarská street, is the central part of the complex, which includes the main production facilities, such as the brewing hall at the front and the former fermentation hall and warehouses in the central area. The administrative building is located to the east of the entrance from Hlinky street. At the northern part of the complex are a newly built bottling plant and cylindro-conical tanks.
Outside the main complex, on the western slope of Žlutý kopec, is the former water reservoir building with a guardhouse, which once served as a refrigeration unit and was connected to the brewery by an inclined lift.
Today, the malt house complex, separated by Pivovarská Street from the modernised main brewery buildings, retains valuable historical, architectural, and technological significance. In particular, the second basement level preserves distinct architectural elements and remnants of the original manor brewery of the Staré Brno monastery, to which the first vertical mill was later added. Throughout its existence the brewery has continuously brewed beer in the same location – within the former brickworks beneath Žlutý kopec.
