Josef Groll

[4] In 1839 the burghers with brewing rights decided to build a new brewery capable of producing a bottom-fermented beer with a longer storage life.

The burghers of Plzeň not only built a new brewery, but also hired Josef Groll, a Bavarian brewer with lager-brewing experience.

[5] Josef Groll's father owned a brewery in Vilshofen an der Donau in Lower Bavaria and had long experimented with new recipes for bottom-fermented beer.

The use of soft Plzeň water, barley malt prepared in indirectly heated English-style kiln and Saaz hops, resulted in golden color and herbal, floral taste.

Josef Groll died on 22 November 1887, aged 74, of a heart attack in the house of his daughter Kathi Hutter in Vilshofen an der Donau.