Prague - Czech experts want to have a patent for beer powder. The Czech Research Institute of Brewing and Malting, which produces beer powder since the mid-1990s, has asked the Czech Industrial Property Office for protection of its invention - the powder beer production.

However, the Czechs face international competition, and so far they have not been able to register the product, because they failed to provide the office in time with explanation of how their beer powder differ from similar products patented in other countries.

In European and global databases of patents and inventions, there are already two patents linked to the production of beer powder. One is registered in Korea, the other in Germany by entrepreneur Siegfried Beissner.

However, the research institute believes that their submission is unique. „Unlike the other patents, our submission describes the production of powder beer that is used for mountaineering, long-distance maritime cruising and long-term hikes," they explained in their application.

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From liquid to paste to powder

And the research institute now has a second chance, because the office has accepted their appeal in which they explained the reasons why they had not been able to provide the office with explanation in time.

The research institute sells beer extracts since the end of the 1980s. First, they started to produce beer paste, eventually they managed to make the product entirely water-free and in the 1990s began to sell beer powder. Every year, they export roughly 20 tons of the powder, in the Czech Republic they sell one ton.

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Main customers: Small breweries

Due to the simplicity of the production of beer from powder, the product is increasingly popular, above all in Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, Peru, USA, Russia, Vietnam or New Zealand. 

Abroad, powder beer is bought above all by small breweries interested in being able to serve Czech beer and for some reason they find it easier to produce it on their own from an extract rather than importing the final product. For example, the first brewery on Easter Island was opened a few years ago - thanks to powder beer.

In addition, the powder can be used to produce quality Czech beer not only in a brewery, but at home as well. The research institute claims that it is made only of original Czech ingredients, including the world renowned Žatec hops.

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