Beer in Finland

Sahti

Sahti is a traditional Finnish farmhouse ale, made mostly with rye and barley malts, but sometimes also oats, and filtered through straw or juniper twigs. The modern version has a distinct banana flavor from the bread yeast used to ferment it. It was often praised in the writings of the beer connoisseur Michael Jackson. Although less common today, it is still served at weddings and other special occasions. There are also a few commercial producers.

Finnish beer tax-classes

Beer was classified into tax classes by law in Finland until the year 1995 when Finland joined the European Union. After joining EU the law was reformed so that the tax is set directly by the percentage of alcohol by volume contained in the product: with 0.5-2.8% beers €0.02/cl of alcohol, with beers over 2.8% €0.0214/cl. However, the old classifications are still voluntarily used widely and the old tax classes are still often marked on the products and advertisements.

Beer with an alcohol content of 5.6% or higher may only be sold in state-owned Alko liquor stores or bars and restaurants with the appropriate license. It is also sold in tax free shops on Baltic Sea cruiseferries. Because of tax regulations, the tax free shops may only be open when the ships are either on international waters or visiting Åland (which has special exempt status in the EU).

Finnish beer market

Finland's beer market has been described as international rather than local. The market leader is Denmark's Carlsberg Group, owner of the Finnish brewery Sinebrychoff, with a market share of 46.9%. Its beer brands include Koff and Karhu. Carlsberg is followed by Heineken International, which controls - through its Hartwall brewery - a 29.5% share of the national market and produces the Lapin Kulta and Karjala brands. Olvi is the largest Finnish-owned brewery, holding approximately a further 20% of the Finnish market. The rest of the Finnish breweries are smallish regionals or microbreweries, all founded post-1985. As of 2017, there are 85 microbreweries in the country. Craft breweries are allowed to sell their products directly to consumers.

Prohibition

Prohibition started in Finland on 1 June 1919 and lasted nearly 13 years, during which the production, import, sales, transportation and storage of alcohol products was only allowed for medicinal, scientific, and technical purposes. A referendum on the continuation of prohibition was held starting on the 29th and closing on 30 December 1931. The referendum closed with a 70% majority against the law and resulted in the end of prohibition on 5 April 1932 at 10:00 when the new state-owned alcohol retail stores opened their doors to customers.

Finnish breweries

• Auran panimo
• Bock (brewery)
• Bock's Corner Brewery (brewery)
• C. A. Robsahmin Portteripanimo (sold in 1895)
• CoolHead Brew
• Finlandia Sahti
• Hartwall (Karjala)
  • Lapin Kulta (owned by Hartwall)
• Keudan panimo
• Koskipanimo
• Kotkan Höyrypanimo
• Laitilan Wirvoitusjuomatehdas (Kukko)
• Lammin Sahti
• Mallaskoski (Kuohu, Häjy, Komia, Makia)
• Malmgårdin Panimo
• Nokian Panimo (Keisari, Året Runt)
• Olvi (Olvi, Sandels)
• Palvasalmi (bankrupt)
• Panimo Honkavuori
• Rekolan Panimo (Amerikan Serkku, Metsän Henki, Munkintie)
• Saimaan Olut (Saimaa), Marsalkka, Rokrammi, Luostari

• Sinebrychoff (Karhu, Koff)
  • Porin panimo (owned by Sinebrychoff)
• Pyynikin käsityöläispanimo
• Stadin Panimo
• Suomenlinnan Panimo
• Vakka-Suomen Panimo
• Ålands Bryggeri (Stallhagen)

Finnish brewery restaurants

• Bock's Corner Brewery (Vaasa)
• Hollolan Hirvi (Hollola)
• Panimoravintola Beer Hunter's (Pori)
• Panimoravintola Bruuveri (Helsinki)
• Panimoravintola Huvila (Savonlinna)
• Panimoravintola Koulu (Turku)
• Panimoravintola Plevna (Tampere)
• Perho (restaurant)(Helsinki)
• Ravintola Herman (no longer brewing)
• Teerenpeli Panimo & Tislaamo(Lahti)

Annual Finnish beer events

• Helsinki Beer Festival (held since 1997)
• Isojano-tapahtuma (held since 1993)
• Olutfestivaalit (held since 1990)
• Sahdinvalmistuksen SM-kisat (Finnish sahti brewing championships, held since 1992)
• Suomalaiset sahtipäivät (held since 1995)
• Suuret oluet – pienet panimot (held since 2003)
• Kaljakellunta (held since 1997)