Estonian beer
Estonian craft brewers combine Baltic traditions with modern techniques, and that produces beers with a lot of depth. Expect robust stouts, hoppy IPAs and sour beers, often barrel-aged. At Hoptimaal you'll find Estonian beer from Pühaste, Põhjala, Tuletorn Brewing and Anderson's Brewery, among others.
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Breweries from Estonia 4
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From farm beer to craft beer in under ten years
For a long time, beer in Estonia was a farm affair. Archive records suggest that in 1940 almost every farm still brewed its own beer. By the early 2010s that was over: the market was dominated by industrial pilsner lagers, largely from the A. Le Coq brewery.
In 2013, Põhjala released what many consider the first Estonian craft beer. A new generation of brewers followed and gave local traditions a modern interpretation.
The story of Pühaste fits that picture. Eero Mander started out as a homebrewer in a summer cottage in the village of Pühaste, in Valgamaa. He brewed his recipes as a cuckoo brewer at other Estonian breweries and opened his own brewery in Tartu in 2016.
Baltic porter, stout and a broad choice of styles
The Baltic porter is the anchor of the Estonian scene. The style emerged in the eighteenth century, when English porters were shipped to the Baltic Sea regions. Those beers were brewed stronger and later adapted to local yeasts and fermentation methods. A modern Baltic porter is often around 7–10% ABV, smooth in texture, and tastes of dark chocolate, coffee, liquorice and dark fruit.
Around that tradition, Estonian breweries built a broad range. The microbreweries brought a wide variety of styles, from traditional Baltic porters to modern IPAs. You'll also come across barrel-aged imperial stouts, for example on bourbon, rum or whisky barrels, plus sour beers with fruit and wild beers.
Põhjala is the best-known example. The name means 'northern realm', and the brewery is the only Baltic brewery that has ever appeared in the RateBeer list of the best breweries in the world.
Estonian beer at Hoptimaal
With us you'll find Estonian beer from Pühaste, Põhjala, Tuletorn Brewing and Anderson's Brewery. The range runs from stout and porter to IPA, sour beer and mead. The barrel-aged stouts stand out in particular, such as Põhjala Marble (Cellar Series), Pühaste Sublimis Bourbon BA and Anderson's Kaerakatš Barbados Rum BA. They are rated highly on Untappd.
If you prefer something fruitier or smoother, look at Põhjala Cocobänger or Tuletorn Smoothie Parkour. Pühaste Moros from the Silver Series is an example of an aged dark beer for the cellar.
Every brewery has its own page with us, with all the beers we supply from them.
Frequently asked questions
What is typical Estonian beer?
The Baltic porter is the style the Estonian beer scene leans on: strong (often 7–10%), smooth in texture, with flavours of chocolate, coffee and dark fruit. Estonian craft brewers also make imperial stouts, IPAs and sour beers.
Which Estonian breweries are well known?
Põhjala from Tallinn and Pühaste from Tartu are the best-known names. At Hoptimaal you'll also find Tuletorn Brewing and Anderson's Brewery.
How old is the Estonian craft beer scene?
It's young. In the early 2010s the market was still dominated by industrial pilsner lagers. In 2013, Põhjala released what many call the first Estonian craft beer.
Beer from other countries
- Dutch beer 175
- American beer 71
- Belgian beer 68
- Canadian beer 54
- German beer 37
- English beer 37
- Spanish beer 21
- Romanian beer 17
- French beer 16
- Swedish beer 15
- Norwegian beer 14
- Polish beer 11
- Irish beer 8
- Finnish beer 9
- Hungarian beer 8
- Latvian beer 8
- Croatian beer 8
- Danish beer 8
- Portuguese beer 4
- Welsh beer 5
- Scottish beer 4
- Brazilian beer 4
- Ukrainian beer 2
- Greek beer 3
- Slovenian beer 3
- Czech beer 3
