The Atlungstad Distillery () is a distillery in

Stange Municipality is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Hedemarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Stangebyen. Other villages include Bekkelaget, Espa, Bottenfjellet, Il ...

Innlandet Innlandet is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. It was created on 1 January 2020 with the merger of the old counties of Oppland and Hedmark (Jevnaker Municipality and Lunner Municipality were transferred to the neighboring county of Viken ( ...

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. It was established in 1855 by a group of farmers. Regular distillation was discontinued in 2000, but trial runs were later carried out. In 2012, the distillery was added to the

Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage The Directorate for Cultural Heritage ( or ''Direktoratet for kulturminneforvaltning'') is a etat, government agency responsible for the management of cultural heritage in Norway. Subordinate to the Norwegian Ministry of the Environment, it mana ...

list of priority technical and industrial cultural heritage, after which

NOK Nok is a village in Jaba, Nigeria, Jaba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The village is an archeological site. Archaeology The discovery of terracotta figurines at this location caused its name to be used for the Nok culture, ...

7 million was allocated to restore the distillery to its former condition. An additional NOK 4.7 million was allocated for the distillery in 2017. It has been owned by the company Atlungstad Brenneri AS since 2011. In October 2013, the owners signed a cooperation agreement with the Arcus company that they would restart regular production of

akvavit ''Akvavit'' or ''aquavit'' () is a distilled spirit that is principally produced in Scandinavia, where it has been produced since the 15th century. ''Akvavit'' is distilled from grain or potatoes and is flavoured with a variety of spices and he ...

at the Atlungstad Distillery. The distillery is open for tours in the summer.

History

The Atlungstad Distillery was established in 1855, when a number of farmers gathered together in a cooperative society, and it replaced several smaller distilleries in the area. Because water was important for many of the distillery processes, it was built at the mouth of Fjetre Creek (''Fjetrebekken''), where it empties into

Mjøsa Mjøsa is the largest lake in Norway and the fourth deepest in Norway and Europe. It is located in the southern part of Norway, about north of the city of Oslo. Its main tributary is the river Gudbrandsdalslågen flowing in from the north; the ...

. The buildings were built of red brick, which is typical of the industrial architecture of the late 1800s, and it was also equipped with a smithy and a barn. Characteristic features of the structure are its high

column still A column still, also called a continuous still, patent still or Coffey still, is a variety of still consisting of two columns. Column stills can produce rectified spirit (95% alcohol by volume, ABV). Description The first column (called the ana ...

and the high factory chimney. The buildings contain potato bins, alcohol and distillation equipment, and akvavit storage. The distillery burned in 1864, but it was rebuilt two years later within the same walls. It was expanded in 1911, and in 1954 a new seed-cleaning facility was built. In 1920, the company Atlungstad Finspritfabrik (Atlungstad

Neutral Spirits Rectified spirit, also known as neutral spirits, rectified alcohol or ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin, is highly concentrated ethanol that has been purified by means of repeated distillation in a process called rectification. In some countr ...

) was dissolved, and the stocks of distillates were distributed to the shareholders. A new company, Stange Brandenderi (Stange Distilling), was established a few days later. In 1925, the retailer

Vinmonopolet Vinmonopolet (), symbolized by Ⓥ and colloquially shortened to Polet, is a government-owned alcoholic beverage retailer and the only company allowed to sell beverages containing an alcohol content higher than 4.75% in Norway. As the arm of the ...

took over distillation of neutral spirits, and a year later the distilling company was given the name Stange Brænderi & Frøforretning (Stange Distilling & Seed Company). A year later it was merged with the distilleries in Tangen and Romedal to form Hedmark Frøforretning og Brenneri (Hedmark Seed Company and Distillery). In 1995 this company was purchased by HOFF Norske Potetindustrier. Regular distillation at the Atlungstad Distillery was discontinued in 2000, and it was converted into a reserve distillery that operated on an as-needed basis. This activity was also discontinued in 2008. In 2011, the distillery was acquired by Atlungstad Brenneri AS, which started test distillation that fall. In 2013, the company signed an agreement with Arcus to once again produce akvavit on a regular basis.

References

{{reflist

External links

Atlungstad Distillery
website
Atlungstad Distillery
at the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage website
Atlungstad Distillery
at Akevittruten
Atlungstad Distillery
at Norske Akevitts Venner Cultural heritage of Norway Stange Manufacturing companies established in 1855 Distilleries Listed buildings and structures in Norway Norwegian companies established in 1855