Lithuania
Breweries on the map
Biržų Alus
Where the Radziwiłł princes decided to establish a brewery in 1686, beer is still brewed today: Biržų Alus counts more than 338 years of activity on the same spot, making it one of the oldest breweries in the Baltic states. Its beers carry on the traditional Biržai style — malty, rounded, often unfiltered — direct heir to the farmhouse breweries of northern Lithuania, alongside porters and seasonal brews. The guided tours with tastings, among the region's best rated, dive into the history of ancient Lithuanian brewing, a stone's throw from Biržai castle and its lake. The founding pilgrimage of any Baltic beer road.
Joalda
In Joniškėlis, a farming town on the northern plain between Panevėžys and Biržai, Joalda carries on the tradition of Lithuanian country beers — the "kaimiškas alus" that made the region's name. Its malty, rounded, no-frills lagers and ales are brewed on a small scale and served in the country's traditional bars and aludės, where they remain the regulars' drink. Little known to tourist circuits, the microbrewery embodies that deep brewing Lithuania which, from farm to small town, never stopped brewing — the quiet link between the legends of the north and today's taps.
Kalnapilis Brewery
Founded in 1902 in Panevėžys by the German landowner Albert Foigt under the name Bergschlösschen — "the little castle on the hill" — the brewery took its Lithuanian equivalent in 1918: Kalnapilis. More than a century later it is one of the country's great beer names, flagship of the Kalnapilio-Tauro group within Denmark's Royal Unibrew. Its Original and Grand Select lagers rank among Lithuania's best sellers, regularly medalled at international competitions, alongside dark and alcohol-free versions. From the capital of Aukštaitija, its kettles tell the industrial side of Lithuanian brewing.
Rinkuškiai Brewery
In Biržai, they say that after the Swedes destroyed the town in 1704, the locals rebuilt the brewery before the castle and the town hall. It is in this Lithuanian beer capital that the Čygas-Kalkys family founded Rinkuškiai in 1991, as soon as independence returned. Keeper of the Biržai style — golden, hazy, unpasteurised beers with generous malt, like Alaus Kelias, the "beer road" — the house also nurtures unbridled creativity, from the strong beers of the Werewolf series to the most unexpected recipes. The adjoining restaurant and shop make the brewery a tasty stop in the country's north.
Širvėnos Bravoras DUNDULIS
Dundulis — one of the names of the Baltic thunder god — brews in Panevėžys a repertoire linking the farmhouse breweries of northern Lithuania to the craft wave. Its pride: the resurrection of historic styles such as keptinis, a beer of oven-baked mash, brown in colour with toasted-bread notes and unique in the world, alongside herbal gruits, IPAs and contemporary stouts, all named after figures of mythology and folklore. Widely poured in the Špunka bars of Vilnius and specialist bottle shops, its beers are the best gateway to Europe's most singular brewing heritage — that of Aukštaitija.
No brewery for this initial.