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 bee ...

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. T ...

. 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 Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic countries and Kazakhstan, most notably holding a stake in

Baltika Breweries Baltika Brewery (russian: link=no, Пивоваренная компания "Балтика") is the second largest brewing company in Europe and the leader of the Russian beer market with over 38% market share. It is headquartered in St. Pet ...

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 (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

, 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 very pale-to-golden-colored lager beer with a well- attenuated body and a varying degree of noble hop bitterness. The brewing process for this beer developed in the mid-19th century, when Gabriel Sedlmayr took pale ale brewing ...

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

light beer Light beer is a beer, usually a pale lager, that is reduced in alcohol content or in calories compared to regular beers. The first use of the term in marketing was in the 1940s when the Coors Brewing Company sold Coors Light, for a short period ...

, ''Pilzenes''

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

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 The Utenos Alus Brewery is a Lithuanian brewery headquartered in Utena, Lithuania. The Brewery is based near the Aukštaitija National Park. It is currently considered one of the Carlsberg Group breweries in Europe. In addition to making beer ...

is a

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), 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. Lithuania ...

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 be ...

, 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 s ...

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 currently i ...

is a brewery in

Klaipėda Klaipėda (; ; german: Memel; pl, Kłajpeda; russian: Клайпеда; sgs, Klaipieda) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. The capital of the eponymous county, it is the third largest city and the only major seaport in Lithuan ...

. 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 L ...

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

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

. After the creation of the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

, 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 Klaipėda, Lithuania **Memelburg, ( Klaipėda Castle), the ''Ordensburg'' in Memel, a castle built in ...

was annexed by Lithuania in 1923. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the region was occupied by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

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

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. ...

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.

Baltika Brewery

Russian Baltika Brewery began production in 1990. The majority of the company's shares (85%) are owned by Baltic Beverages Holding (BBH).

Saku Brewery

Saku Brewery Saku Brewery is an Estonian brewery and soft drinks company based in Saku. It was founded in 1820 by the local Baltic German landlord Graf . Since 2008 Carlsberg Group has been the sole owner of Saku Brewery. History The history of Saku Brewer ...

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

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

. 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
Beer in Lithuania Beer in Russia Beer in Ukraine Beer in Estonia Breweries in Estonia