Malduguns

Malduguns — "the will-o'-the-wisp" — flickered to life in 2013 in Rauna's former bakery, when three companions from Latvia's homebrew scene, Andris Liepiņš, Krišjānis Zeļģis and Valdis Jansons, decided to pool their kettles. A pioneer of national craft, listed in its very first year among RateBeer's hundred best brewers in the world, the Vidzeme house cultivates small-scale craftsmanship and quiet experimentation: the American pale ale Cilpa turned classic, the Zaļā Bise single-hop series with its twenty-odd variations, the mighty roasted-malt Tumšā Puse, down to braggots with Smiltene honey and Brett mixed fermentations. The spark that lasts.