Baltic Beverages Holding is a

brewing company A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of b ...

owned by

Carlsberg Group Carlsberg A/S (; ) is a Danish multinational brewer. Founded in 1847 by J. C. Jacobsen, the company's headquarters is in Copenhagen, Denmark. Since Jacobsen's death in 1887, the majority owner of the company has been the Carlsberg Foundation. Th ...

. It is a significant operator in the

brewing Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and #Fermenting, fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with Yeast#Beer, yeast. It may be done in a brewery ...

industry in the

Baltic states The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

and Ukraine.

History

The company was founded in 1991 by the Finnish brewery Hartwall and the Swedish brewery Pripps.

Breweries

Aldaris Brewery

With its origins dating back to 1865 in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, Aldaris ('brewer' in Latvian) employs more than 200 workers, and is one of the biggest breweries in Latvia. It brews a range of beers, mostly

pale lager Pale lager is a pale-to- golden lager beer with a well- attenuated body and a varying degree of noble hop bitterness. In the mid-19th century, Gabriel Sedlmayr took British pale ale brewing and malt making techniques back to the Spaten Bre ...

s. The most popular brands include ''Mežpils'' and ''Porteris''. Since 2013 many beer brands (''Luksus'', ''Zelta'', ''Gaišais''

light beer Light beer (sometimes spelled lite beer) is a pale lager that is reduced in ethanol, alcohol content or calories compared to regular beers. Light beer began to be mass marketed in the United States in the early 1970s, following test marketing and ...

, ''Pilzenes''

Pilsner Pilsner (also pilsener or simply pils) is a type of pale lager. It takes its name from the Bohemian city of Plzeň (), where the world's first pale lager (now known as Pilsner Urquell) was produced in 1842 by Pilsner Urquell Brewery. History ...

and ''Apinītis'') are brewed in other breweries of BBH. A publicly available museum has been opened in the brewery complex in 2015.

Utenos Alus Brewery

Utenos Alus is a

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of b ...

, established in

Utena Utena () is a city in north-east Lithuania. It is the administrative center of Utena district and Utena County. Utena is one of the oldest settlements of Lithuania. The name of the city is most probably derived from a hydronym. The name of the ...

in 1977. Utenos Alus and Švyturys breweries merged into joint-stock company Švyturys-Utenos alus in 2001. In February 2003 the company was reorganised into a closed-end company.

Švyturys Brewery

Švyturys The Švyturys Brewery ''(English: Lighthouse)'' is Lithuania's second oldest brewery located in Klaipėda, Lithuania. It was founded in 1784 by the Reincke family of merchant seamen. The brewery is a part of Švyturys-Utenos alus and currentl ...

is a brewery in

Klaipėda Klaipėda ( ; ) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. It is the List of cities in Lithuania, third-largest city in Lithuania, the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, fifth-largest city in the Baltic States, and the capi ...

. It is part of

Švyturys-Utenos alus Švyturys-Utenos Alus UAB is a Lithuanian beverage company. It comprises the two largest breweries in Lithuania – Švyturys in Klaipėda and Utenos Alus in Utena – and specialised establishments nationwide. In 1999, most of the shares in ...

. The brewery was established in 1784 by the merchant J. W. Reincke in Klaipėda, then known as Memel in

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

. After the creation of the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

, the brewery became part of Memeler Aktien-Brauerei & Destillation on September 15, 1871. It passed to Lithuanian control when the

Memel Territory Memel, a name derived from the Couronian-Latvian ''memelis, mimelis, mēms'' for "mute, silent", may refer to: *Memel, East Prussia, Germany, now , Lithuania **, (Klaipėda Castle Klaipėda Castle (), also known as Memelburg or Memel Castle, is ...

was annexed by Lithuania in 1923. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the region was occupied by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

and, from 1940, the brewery was then administered by Memeler Ostquell Brauerei GmbH. After the war, in 1945, the Klaipėda Region was transferred back to Lithuania and the brewery returned to the Lithuanian control.

and Utenos Alus breweries merged into the joint-stock company Švyturys-Utenos alus in 2001. In February 2003 the company was reorganised into a closed-end company. Currently

Carlsberg Breweries Carlsberg A/S (; ) is a Danish multinational brewer. Founded in 1847 by J. C. Jacobsen, the company's headquarters is in Copenhagen, Denmark. Since Jacobsen's death in 1887, the majority owner of the company has been the Carlsberg Foundation. T ...

controls Švyturys-Utenos alus through Baltic Beverages Holding. In June 2000 Švyturio Ekstra beer received Silver award in Dortmunder/European Export category at World Beer Cup silver. Same brand won gold medal in Dortmunder beer category at World Beer Championship (USA) in November 2001. In 2002 Švyturys Baltijos beer was awarded Bronze award at World Beer Cup in Marzen/Octoberfest category.

Saku Brewery

Saku Brewery Operating under the business name Saku Õlletehase AS, Saku Brewery is an Estonian producer of beer and other beverages. It was founded in 1820 by the local Baltic German landlord Graf . Since 2008 Carlsberg Group has been the sole owner of Sa ...

dates back to 1820, making it the oldest commercial brewery in

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. It makes a wide range of pale lagers, such as the very popular Saku Originaal, and a few stronger and darker lagers. Since 2008, Saku has been 100% owned by the Carlsberg Group.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Utenos Alus websiteŠvyturys website
Carlsberg brands Beer in Latvia Beer in Estonia Beer in Lithuania Beer in Ukraine Breweries in Estonia Breweries in Lithuania