# Finland

Country page of DA Caps, a collection of beer bottle caps. Web page: https://dacaps.imcoll.com/country/fi/info

- Official name: Republic of Finland
- Local name: Suomen tasavalta
- Caps in the collection: 851 (https://dacaps.imcoll.com/country_caps/17)
- Brands: 188

## Beer in Finland

Beer in Finland is older than any brewery. Sahti, the farmhouse ale of malted barley and rye brewed with baker's yeast and filtered through juniper, was made at home for centuries and is still brewed for weddings and other family feasts, mostly in Häme, Pirkanmaa, northern Satakunta and parts of Uusimaa and Central Finland. The national epic, the Kalevala, tells how Osmotar the beer-smith first made beer, and Finnish beer was sold to Stockholm, the royal court included, from the 16th century. In 2002 sahti got the EU status of Traditional Speciality Guaranteed.

Industrial brewing began in the 19th century. Sinebrychoff in Helsinki dates from 1819, when the Russian-born merchant Nikolai Sinebrychoff won the auction for the rights to build a brewery at Hietalahti; it is the oldest brewery still working in the Nordic countries, and Finnish Beer Day on 13 October is kept in its memory. Hartwall, a beverage company, dates from 1836, and Olvi was founded in 1878 by the brewer Williams Gideon Åberg and his wife Onni. Before Prohibition about 90 large and medium-sized breweries were working.

Prohibition ran from 1 June 1919 to 5 April 1932, when the state-owned Alko shops opened; for those years alcohol was allowed only for medical, scientific and technical use. It ruined Finnish brewing for a long time, and only a few large breweries were left for the second half of the century. In 1969 medium-strength beer was allowed in grocery shops. Sinebrychoff, once at Hietalahti, now brews only at Kerava, and by the end of 1999 it belonged wholly to Carlsberg. Hartwall went to Scottish & Newcastle in 2002, to Heineken in 2008 and to Royal Unibrew of Denmark in 2013.

Small breweries came in the 1980s and 1990s. Lammin Sahti, founded in 1985, is the oldest small brewery in Finland still working without a break; Nokian Panimo, founded in 1991, grew into the second-largest craft brewery of the country, and both Teerenpeli of Lahti and the brewery restaurant Plevna of Tampere date from 1994. Until 1995 the state had a large say in what a brewery made; when Finland joined the EU that year the tax classes gave way to a tax on alcohol content and brewpubs were allowed. With 6-10 new microbreweries a year after 2014 their number passed 120 by 2022, as many as before Prohibition.

The big three today are Sinebrychoff (Koff, Karhu), Hartwall (Lapin Kulta, Karjala; a separate brewery for special beers, Mattsson, was built at its Lahti plant in 2017) and the Finnish-owned Olvi, which in December 2025 announced the purchase of a majority of the Brewery International Group of Sweden and Norway. Since June 2024 grocery shops may sell beer of up to 8%; before that, beer stronger than 5.5% was left to Alko and licensed bars. In 2025 the members of the brewing industry association sold 846.1 million litres of drinks; alcoholic beer fell from 322.8 to 313.4 million litres and alcohol-free beer rose by 10%. Nokian Panimo was listed on the First North exchange in April 2025, and the Oma Panimo of Espoo and Hyvinkää, brewing since summer 2016, was declared bankrupt on 19 February 2026.

Sources:
- [Wikipedia: Beer in Finland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_in_Finland)
- [Wikipedia: Sahti](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahti)
- [Elavan perinnon wikiluettelo: Beer culture (2022)](https://wiki.aineetonkulttuuriperinto.fi/wiki/Beer_culture)
- [All About Beer: Foam in the Far North (2002)](https://allaboutbeer.com/article/fantastic-finland)
- [Wikipedia: Sinebrychoff](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinebrychoff)
- [Sinebrychoff: A Passion for Beer](https://www.sinebrychoff.fi/newsroom/a-passion-for-beer/)
- [City of Helsinki: The Sinebrychoff Park (2013)](https://www.hel.fi/static/liitteet/kanslia/helsinki-info/arkisto/2013/Supplement/3_13/sinebrychoff.html)
- [Wikipedia: Hartwall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartwall)
- [Wikipedia: Olvi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olvi)
- [Wikipedia: Nokian Panimo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokian_Panimo)
- [Lammin Sahti: Panimo](https://www.sahti.fi/)
- [Teerenpeli: Brewery and distillery](https://www.teerenpeli.com/)
- [Panimoravintola Plevna ja Koskipanimo](https://plevna.fi/)
- [Yle: Parliament votes on the alcohol law (2024)](https://yle.fi/a/74-20092110)
- [Panimoliitto: newsroom, the year 2025 (2026)](https://www.sttinfo.fi/uutishuone/69817389/panimo--ja-virvoitusjuomateollisuusliitto-ry/r)
- [Juomien Suomi: Oma Panimo Oy konkurssiin (2026)](https://olutverkko.wordpress.com/2026/02/19/oma-panimo-oy-konkurssiin/)
- [Wikipedia: Flag of Finland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Finland)
- [Archontology: Finland, Polity Style 1808-2026](https://archontology.org/nations/finland/01_polity.php)

## Breweries (46)

- [Alberga Brewing Co](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/4031.md) — 1 cap, 2016–
- [Bock's Corner Brewery Oy](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/4040.md) — 1 cap, 2014–
- [Fiskarsin Panimo](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/4063.md) — 2 caps, 2011–
- [Oy Hartwall Ab](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/743.md) — 81 caps, 1836–
- [Hartwall Lahden Panimo Oy](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/1316.md) — 63 caps, 1912–
- [Bryggeri Helsinki](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3152.md) — 1 cap, 2013–
- [Hopping Brewsters Beer Company Oy](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3522.md) — 1 cap, 2013–2021, closed
- [Iso-Kallan Panimo](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/4826.md) — 1 cap, 2013–
- [Jacobstads](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/4237.md) — 1 cap, 2015–2024, closed
- [Kakola Brewing Company](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/4234.md) — 1 cap, 2018–
- [Kanavan Panimo Oy](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/4239.md) — 1 cap, 2015–
- [Panimo Kilski Oy](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/4827.md) — 1 cap, 2016–2023, closed
- [Laitilan Wirvoitusjuomatehdas](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/677.md) — 1 cap, 1995–
- [Lammin Sahti Oy](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/857.md) — 1 cap, 1985–
- [Lapin Panimo](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3576.md) — 1 cap, 2015–
- [Lappeenrannen Panino](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3985.md) — 2 caps, 1993–1996, closed
- [Lidl Suomi Ky](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3228.md) — 1 cap
- [Maku Brewing](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3230.md) — 1 cap, 2014–
- [Mallaskoski Oy](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/2074.md) — 2 caps, 1921–
- [Mallaskuun Panimo Oy](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/4242.md) — 1 cap, 2015–
- [Malmgårdin Panimo Oy](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/1563.md) — 3 caps, 2009–
- [Nilkko Brewing Oy](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/6130.md) — 1 cap, 2017–
- [Nokian Panimo Oy](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/2076.md) — 2 caps, 1991–
- [Olvi Oyj](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/612.md) — 54 caps, 1878–
- [Panimo Oma](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/4828.md) — 1 cap, 2016–2026, closed
- [Brewery Open Water](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/6132.md) — 1 cap, Åland Islands, 2016–
- [Panimo & Tislaamo Teerenpeli](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/856.md) — 3 caps, 1995–
- [Panimo Hiisi](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3535.md) — 1 cap, 2013–
- [Panimo Honkavuori](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3620.md) — 1 cap, 2015–2022, closed
- [Panimoravintola Beer Hunter's](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/1565.md) — 1 cap, 1998–
- [Panimoravintola Plevna](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3232.md) — 1 cap, 1994–
- [Panimoyhtiö X Oy](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/6133.md) — 1 cap, 2018–
- [Pekkale Brewing](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/5772.md) — 502 caps, 2017–
- [Pyynikin Käsityöläispanimo](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3233.md) — 1 cap, 2012–2022, closed
- [Pyynikki Tampere Oy](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/1626.md) — 1 cap, 1897–1992, closed
- [Radbrew](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/4238.md) — 1 cap, 2014–2019, closed
- [RPS Brewing Oy](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/4241.md) — 3 caps, 2016–
- [Ruosniemen Panimo](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/3523.md) — 2 caps, 2011–2022, closed
- [Saimaa Brewing Company](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/4825.md) — 4 caps, 1995–
- [Sinebrychoff Brewery](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/279.md) — 93 caps, 1819–
- [Stadin Brewing Company](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/6131.md) — 1 cap, 1998–
- [Stallhagen AB](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/4855.md) — 2 caps, Åland Islands, 2004–
- [Takatolo & Tompuri Brewery](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/4243.md) — 1 cap, 2015–
- [Tornion Panimo Oy](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/4061.md) — 1 cap, 2016–
- [Vakka-Suomen Panimo Oy](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/184.md) — 3 caps, 2007–
- [Waahto Brewery](https://dacaps.imcoll.com/brewery/4235.md) — 1 cap, 2016–2023, closed