Estonian Beer

Estonian Beer. Did you know that there is a growing category of people that define themselves as beer hunters? These are the people who like to travel to different places and taste local breweries that are not yet producing high volumes and not exporting. The well-known term of microbreweries today was not really a thing a few years ago.

Since that age has dawned, however (thankfully for some of us) Tallinn has known an unprecedented birth of new beer brands. Here are some of the most noteworthy in a random order. Lehe Brewery is a craft brewery established in 2013 by Gristel and Tarmo to brew refreshing, tasty, and original beers. It’s one of Estonia’s first modern craft breweries.

The origin of Pühaste Brewery goes back to the year 2011, when Eero, their head brewmaster, made his first craft beers. His test beers, brewed in the summer cottage in Pühaste village, Valga County, earned high grades from his friends. Further brewing as a “gipsy”, brought a lot of good feedback from the wider craft beer community from Estonia as well as abroad. Pühaste opened its own brewery in Tartu in 2016.

Põhjala Brewery was founded in Tallinn in 2011 by four Estonian beer enthusiasts and home brewers. At the end of 2018, we moved to our new facility in the historical Noblessner shipyard area by the sea in North Tallinn. Põhjala currently exports to over 30 markets around the world and to almost every country in Europe.

Pöide Brewery is located on Saaremaa island. The brewery started in 2013 in a small family farm in the vicinity of the landmark. But the demand was so high that Koit and Kristel of Pöide couldn’t produce enough of the good stuff in their barn. So they decided to move the house – but leaving the island was unthinkable. Fortunately, they found a perfect new home for their beer right in the heart of Saaremaa – in the island’s charming capital Kuressaare

Sori Brewing is also located in the capital at an old Soviet-era factory in the middle of former restricted Dvigatel factory complex. It was an idea, started by two Finns who moved away from their home country and backed by crowdfunding investors in 2014-2015.

Tanker brewery began with three homebrewers’ common hobby that grew out of control. The Brewery is located in a small village 20 km outside Tallinn. Since it started in 2015 it has produced more than 70 different beers. A lot of them limited editions and one time brews.