Beer In Iceland
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Beer in Iceland likely dates back to the island's settlement by
Norsemen The Norsemen (or Northmen) were a cultural group in the Early Middle Ages, originating among speakers of Old Norse in Scandinavia. During the late eighth century, Scandinavians embarked on a Viking expansion, large-scale expansion in all direc ...
. In more modern history beer was effectively banned in
Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
for most of the 20th century. Since that ban was lifted in 1989, Iceland's consumption of beer has increased markedly and new breweries have begun to emerge.


Early history

Iceland's early settlers came from cultures where drinking
beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...
and
mead Mead (), also called honey wine, and hydromel (particularly when low in alcohol content), is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey mixed with water, and sometimes with added ingredients such as fruits, spices, grains, or hops. The alco ...
was commonplace. Poems such as the ' reference the drinking of ale ('). The climate of Iceland (particularly the cooling trend of the Little Ice Age, 1300–1850 locally) may have made beer production difficult as it became impossible to produce
barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...
domestically.


Prohibition

By the early 20th century, Icelandic attitudes toward beer and alcohol had shifted. A
temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting Temperance (virtue), temperance or total abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and ...
similar to that in other countries pushed for a ban on moral grounds. In Iceland there was a political aspect to the movement as well: as the Icelandic independence movement began to form, beer was often associated with
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
and thus "not the patriotic drink of choice." In a 1908 referendum, 60.1% of voters approved a complete ban on alcohol set to take effect on January 1, 1915. This ban was partially lifted in 1921 in response to a trade dispute with
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
and
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
; the two countries threatened to stop importing Iceland's salt cod if they did not allow for the importing of Spanish and Portuguese wines. Public support for the complete ban eventually began to fade and, in a 1933 referendum, 57.7% of voters approved lifting the ban. Despite the referendum lifting prohibition, beer was still prohibited from containing more than 2.25%
alcohol by volume Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as alc/vol or ABV) is a common measure of the amount of Alcohol (drug), alcohol contained in a given alcoholic beverage. It is defined as the volume the ethanol in the liquid would take if separated from the rest ...
(well below the 4–5% of an average beer). Some full-strength beer was smuggled into the country or produced by homebrewers. Icelanders also worked around the restriction by adding strong alcohol, such as Brennivin, to their beers which, while effective, was described by historian Unnar Ingvarsson as tasting "interesting and totally disgusting." In 1979, an Icelandic businessman, Davíð Scheving Thorsteinsson, attempted to bring beer into the country after a business trip. His beer was confiscated but he refused to pay the fine, arguing he should have the same right to purchase beer from a duty-free shop that airline personnel and foreign tourists were allowed to. While he lost his case the resulting press and attention provoked a new law which permitted Icelanders to bring 6 litres (12.2 pints) of foreign beer into the country. In May 1988, the
Althing The (; ), anglicised as Althingi or Althing, is the Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme Parliament, national parliament of Iceland. It is the oldest surviving parliament in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at ('Thing (assembly), thing ...
passed legislation legalizing beer above . The restrictions were lifted on March 1, 1989. The lifting of restrictions on beer is celebrated as Beer Day on March 1.


Post-prohibition

After the prohibition on beer was lifted, Icelandic drinking habits shifted away from hard alcohol to beer and wine. Between 1989 and 2007, per capita liquor sales decreased by nearly half while per capita beer sales more than doubled. Sales in 2007 were 19.4 million litres. A 2014
World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...
report showed that 62% of the alcohol consumed by Icelanders came from beer. The two largest domestic brewers in Iceland are Egill Skallagrímsson Brewery and Víking (part of Coca-Cola European Partners). Beginning in the late 2000s more small craft brewers have emerged which produce a wider variety of styles and have even won international awards for their beers. The terms ' and ' are the most commonly encountered term for brewery.


Beer sales

Off-premises alcohol sales in Iceland are available only through the state-owned State Alcohol and Tobacco Company of Iceland (ÁTVR). They operate a chain of 46 stores called Vínbúðin. A bill was proposed in 2015 to end the state's monopoly on alcohol sales.


Beer brands

This is a non-exhaustive list of Icelandic beer brands. * 6a Kraftöl in
Akureyri Akureyri (, ) is a town in northern Iceland, the country's fifth most populous Municipalities of Iceland, municipality (under the official name of Akureyrarbær , 'town of Akureyri') and the largest outside the Capital Region (Iceland), Capital R ...
* 22.10 Handverksbrugghús in Grindavik (founded 2019) * Austri brewery in Egilsstaðir (founded in 2017) * Álfur brewery in Garðabær (established 2018) * Beljandi Brewery in Breiðdalsvík (founded 2017) * The Icelandic Beercenter - Bjórsetur Íslands (Established 2007) * Borg Brewery in
Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...
(founded in 2010 within Ölgerðin) * Bruggsmiðjan Kaldi Brewery / The Beer Spa (founded 2006) * Bryggjan brewery in Reykjavík (established 2015, bankrupt 2020) * Dokkan Brewery in
Ísafjörður Ísafjörður (pronounced , meaning ''ice fjord'', literally ''fjord of ices'') is a town in the northwest of Iceland. The oldest part of Ísafjörður with the town centre is located on a spit of sand, or ''eyri'', in Skutulsfjörður, a fjord ...
(established 2017) * Unique Ölgerð in
Akureyri Akureyri (, ) is a town in northern Iceland, the country's fifth most populous Municipalities of Iceland, municipality (under the official name of Akureyrarbær , 'town of Akureyri') and the largest outside the Capital Region (Iceland), Capital R ...
(founded in 2010 within Vifilfell) * Gæðingur Öl in Kópavogur (founded 2011)
Gæðingur Brugghús
* Húsavík Öl in Húsavík (founded 2017) * Jón Ríki Brewery / Restaurant in Höfn * KHB Brugghús Brewery & Distillery in Borgarfjörður (founded 2020) * Lady Brewery in Reykjavík (founded in 2017 as a nomadic brewery) * Litla Brugghúsið in Garður (founded 2020) * Malbygg in Reykjavík (founded 2017) * Og natura in Hafnarfjörður * RVK Bruggfélag, currently named RVK Brewing Co. (established 2017) * Sanitas (founded in Reykjavík in 1905, merged with Sana and moved to Akureyri in 1978 and first started beer production) * Segull 67 in Siglufjörður (founded 2015) * Smiðjan Brugghús in Vík (established 2018) * Steðji Brugghús in Borgarfjörður (founded 2012) * The Brothers Brewery in the Westman Islands (founded in 2013 as a home brewer in the basement, received a production license at the beginning of 2016) * Vífilfell in Reykjavík (founded in 1942, Sól-Víking merged under the Vífilfell brand and first started beer production) * Víking hf in Akureyri (founded in 1939 as Efnagerð Siglufjörður, became Efnagerð Akureyrar in 1962 and started beer production as Sana hf in 1966, merged with Sanitas under its brand in 1978, became Víking hf in 1994, merged with Sól hf in 1997 and became Sól-Víking, merged with Vífilfell under its brand). * Ægir Brewery in Reykjavík (founded in 2015) * Ölgerðarhús Reykjavíkur (1912-1915) * Ölgerðin Egil Skallagrímsson in Reykjavík (founded 1913) * Ölgerðin Óðinn in Reykjavík (founded 1944) * Ölgerðin Þór in Reykjavík (founded 1930, merged with Egil 1932) * Ölverk Pizza and brewery (founded in Hveragerði 2017) * Ölvisholt brewery in Flóahreppur (founded 2007)


Gallery

File:VikingBeer.jpg File:ThuleBeer.jpg


See also

* Beer and breweries by region * Beer Day (Iceland)


References


External links


RateBeer

Coca-Cola European Partners
Iceland (formerly Vifilfell Brewery)
Ölgerðin
(the Egill Skallagrímsson Brewery)
The Ölvisholt Brewery

Reykjavik Brewing Company

Gæðingur Brugghús
{{Beers of the world