Zywiec beer is a Polish medium-light bodied pilsner beer that is popular in Poland and gaining popularity in the United States and all over the world. Zywiec beer has been brewed in the village of Zywiec, Poland for almost 150 years at the Zywiec Brewery. Zywiec Brewery began exporting its products in 1913. They began exporting and extended its distribution to other towns of the Austro-Hungarian Empire which include Budapest, Ostrava and Cieszyn. Zywiec beer spread all over the world when Polish residents traveled and immigrated to other countries and brought Zywiec beer along with them. It spread to such countries as France and Great Britain mostly due to WWII. Zywiec is by far the most popular beer in Poland, and has had good success in other countries and continents, and is quite popular in heavily Polish populated cities in the United States such as Chicago and Buffalo, NY. In the 1990s, the brewery was acquired by Heineken International and was also thoroughly modernized. It is currently considered to be one of the most modern breweries in the world. Zywiec Beer has become a symbol of Polish pride and Polish recognition for many Poles.