Latvia
Breweries on the map
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.
Zoltners
In Kroņauce, near Tērvete, Zoltners gathers under one roof what others keep apart: a brewery, a restaurant and a hotel, set in the tranquillity of Zemgale's rural landscape. The house philosophy fits in one phrase — "from the grain to the beer mug": blonde and dark beers from its own production, to be savoured slowly, accompanied by refined cooking and conversations that linger. In the dining room, the team advises on pairings between Zoltners beers and dishes to reveal every nuance. A beer-gastronomy destination Latvian-style, ideal between Tērvete Nature Park and the castles of Bauska and Rundāle.
No brewery for this initial.