Tērvetes alus

In 1971, the Tērvete kolkhoz, south-west of Riga, opened Latvia's first collective-farm brewery, with a strict rule: brew only barley grown on the farm. Half a century later, the brewery still belongs to the Tērvete agrofirm and has renounced nothing: its beers carry the "Zaļā karotīte" certification for Latvian products — only the hops are imported — and its classics, Tērvetes and Senču, rank among the country's best loved. Modernised with new cellars and bottling lines, the house embodies the short supply chain Latvian-style, from the Zemgale field to the mug, at the gates of Tērvete Nature Park.