Labietis

Founded in 2013 by Reinis Pļaviņš and Edgars Melnis out of Riga's homebrewing circle, Labietis was Latvia's first modern craft brewery — and chose its own path from the start: no American IPAs or Belgian saisons, but "Pagan Brews" fed by Latvian folklore, foraged herbs and plants — meadowsweet, yarrow, the country's berries and roots. Beneath the dried bouquets hanging in its taproom in the creative Miera iela district, meads, herbed beers and barleywines like Pokaiņu Mežs tell a liquid mythology that ranks the house among Riga's best rated. Beer as a living history lesson.