Hartwall to establish a specialty beer brewery in Lahti

The reason behind this significant investment is the change in Finnish beer culture. The Finnish beer market has changed, the demand for specialty beers continues to grow and consumers want to make more individual choices. The investment helps Hartwall respond to consumers’ needs even better than before. It also adds agility to the beer production: the brewery develops new beverages without preconceptions, manufactures different batch sizes and different beer styles diversely. The brewery also co-operates with international brew masters.

‘The specialty beer brewery is a large investment for us, and it marks the beginning of a new era in Hartwall’s beer production. It increases our flexibility and agility, which is essential in succeeding in the current fragmented market. We are proud to do something that other large breweries have not yet done. This an investment of millions of euros and Hartwall’s largest investment in more than ten years together with other renovations of the Lahti brewery,’ says Kalle Järvinen, CEO at Hartwall.

The specialty beer brewery established by Hartwall is built on the expertise accumulated during the company’s 50 years of developing and producing high-quality beers. The specialty beer brewery will be constructed in connection with the Lahti production facility. Completed in 2003, the state-of-the-art Hartwall Lahti brewery and carbonated soft drink factory has been built for large production volumes.

‘The specialty beer market and beer culture in Finland keeps on growing. We offer our customers a wider range of beer styles and new interesting flavours. We are familiar with the latest beer trends, and all kinds of novelties will bubble in the kettles of our specialty brewery. The most important factor is, and will always be, flavour and quality,’ says Hannele Alakarhu, Hartwall’s Brew Master.

First caps to be opened in August

The first beers produced in the new brewery will be ready for tasting in August.

‘It has been an exciting and inspiring journey to establish this specialty beer brewery. We have been developing our range of beers continuously, but this new brewery allows us to let loose and experiment more bravely with new beer that will tingle your taste buds,” rejoices Brew Master Hannele Alakarhu.

There will also be co-operation with international celebrities of the field, such as the Danish beer artist and leading figure in Nordic beer culture, Anders Kissmeyer.