Czech Republic There has been a boom of craft beer breweries. Despite strong tradition of drinking
Czech beer there is a growing craft beer scene in the Czech Republic focused on non-traditional beer styles. Notable breweries include Matuška, Clock and Zichovec. What makes Czech craft beer unique is the common use of
decoction instead of just
infusion even for top fermented beers.
Denmark In Denmark microbreweries have occurred throughout the country in increasing numbers. Small microbreweries often relate to restaurants and pubs, but local microbrewed craft beers are also sold in stores.
Estonia , Estonia Estonia has a tradition of home-brewed farm beers which are often flavoured with juniper. Craft beer came late to Estonia, but that began to change in 2012 when
Mikkeller brewed a custom beer for the Estonian market, called Baltic Frontier. Then one local brewer in particular,
Põhjala, led the way for other Estonian microbrewers such as Lehe, Koeru and Õllenaut. By 2017 there were nearly 30 microbreweries on the Estonian market, in a country with a population of only 1.2 million. Since 2015 Põhjala Brewery has organised an annual craft beer festival called "Tallinn Craft Beer Weekend".
Finland The legislation in Finland allows craft breweries to sell their products directly to consumers.
France France may be more commonly associated with wine, but its craft beer scene is also popular, ranging from classic farmhouse ales to experimental styles infused with local ingredients like lavender or foie gras. Today, there are hundreds of craft breweries across France. Many draw inspiration from traditional European styles like Belgian saisons and German pilsners, while others experiment with unique ingredients like chestnuts or wildflowers.
Germany beers from the communal brewhouses of
Oberpfalz in Germany Some microbreweries, such as those in Germany, have been brewing traditionally for hundreds of years. In Germany, there were 901 small breweries in 2010. The
Federal Statistical Office defines a small brewery as a brewery with a production of less than 5,000 hectoliters (132,086 US gallons) beer p.a. Small breweries pay a reduced
beer tax. The total market share of the small breweries is less than 1%. 638 of them have a production even less than 1,000 hl (26,417.2 US gal.) p.a. and can be considered as microbreweries in a narrow sense. The figures apply to commercial breweries only and do not include hobby brewing. About one third of the small breweries have a tradition going back up to 500 years, most of them in
Franconia. About two thirds were founded in the last 25 years. The vast majority of small breweries operate in combination with a brewpub. Whereas in other countries, microbreweries and brewpubs have risen in reaction to the mass production and marketing of beer, in Germany, the traditional brewpub or Brauhaus remains a major source of beer. This is mainly true for the South of Germany, especially the state of Bavaria.
Upper Franconia, a district in the Region Franconia in the north of Bavaria, has the highest density of breweries in the world. Upper Franconia has about one million inhabitants and about 200 breweries. Many of them are microbreweries or brewpubs.
Ireland Ireland has a long history of brewing and in the past two decades, there has been a resurgence in craft breweries. Although the Irish market remains dominated by three multinational brewing concerns (Diageo, Heineken and C&C), there have been four so-called waves of growth in the Irish craft beer market. The number of microbreweries in Ireland had risen from 15 in 2012 to over 72 by 2017. Macro breweries have pursued a policy of forcing craft taps out of pubs, through the use of incentives such as free or discounted kegs offered to publicans to replace craft brewery taps with their own.
Italy In recent years, many microbreweries have opened in Italy, due to increasing beer popularity among young people. According to Coldiretti, microbreweries have grown in ten years by 1900%. There are more than 900 microbreweries active in Italy.
Norway After Oslo Microbrewery was established in 1989, the number of microbreweries in Norway has expanded rapidly and sharply in the recent decades. Interest and expertise among Norwegians about craft brewed beer has risen sharply in a short time, and the old brewery traditions of this country are revived and the traditional
brewing yeast kveik rediscovered. However, most craft beers are brewed by imported recipes. Local microbreweries are scattered across Norway, from
Lindesnes in the very south, and to the northernmost microbrewery in the world,
Svalbard Bryggeri at
Svalbard.
Russia Craft brewing gained popularity in Russia in the mid-2010s. Local craft brews typically sell for between 200 and 300
roubles ($3–4) a pint. At least two dozen craft bars have opened in Moscow since the summer of 2014, serving Russian and foreign microbrews. As of 2021 there are about 250 independent craft breweries in Russia, but the share of craft beer in sales was only 1.5%.
Spain in
Extremadura, Spain In Spain in 2011, the newspaper
El País reported a "revolution is occurring in craft beer" (
cervezas artesanales) and more recently that by 2013 the trend had extended to the
autonomous communities of
Catalonia,
Valencia,
Basque Country,
Navarre and
Madrid.
Sweden In Sweden, microbreweries have existed since around 1995. Today, the market is flourishing with many of the nation's regions and cities having their own breweries, such as
Gotlands Bryggeri,
Jämtlands Bryggeri,
Helsingborgs Bryggeri and
Wermlands Brygghus.
Stefan Persson, the CEO of Swedish clothing chain
H&M, has his own microbrewery on his estate in England.
United Kingdom The term "microbrewery" originated in the UK in the late 1970s to describe the new generation of small breweries that focused on producing traditional
cask ale independently of major brewers or pub chains. In 1972, Martin Sykes established
Selby Brewery as the first new independent brewing company in 50 years. "I foresaw the revival in real ale, and got in early", he said. Another early example was the
Litchborough Brewery founded by Bill Urquhart in 1974. Alongside commercial brewing, training courses and apprenticeships were offered by Litchborough, with many of the UK movement's early pioneers passing through its courses prior to setting up their own breweries. Before the development of large commercial breweries in the UK, beer would have been brewed on the premises from which it was sold. Alewives would put out a sign—a hop pole or ale-wand—to show when their beer was ready. The medieval authorities were more interested in ensuring adequate quality and strength of the beer than discouraging drinking. Gradually men became involved in brewing and organized themselves into
guilds such as the Brewers Guild in London of 1342 and the Edinburgh Society of Brewers in 1598; as brewing became more organized and reliable many
inns and
taverns ceased brewing for themselves and bought beer from these early commercial breweries. from British microbreweries at a beer festival However, there were some brewpubs which continued to brew their own beer, such as the
Blue Anchor in
Helston,
Cornwall, which was established in 1400 and is regarded as the oldest brewpub in the UK. In the UK during the 20th century, most of the traditional pubs which brewed their own beer in the brewhouse round the back of the pub, were bought out by larger breweries and ceased brewing on the premises. By the mid-1970s, only four remained: All Nations (Madeley, Shropshire), The Old Swan (Netherton, West Midlands), the
Three Tuns (Bishop's Castle, Shropshire) and the Blue Anchor pub (Helston, Cornwall). The trend toward larger brewing companies started to change during the 1970s, when the popularity of the
Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA)'s campaign for traditional brewing methods, and the success of
Michael Jackson's World Guide to Beer encouraged brewers in the UK, such as
Peter Austin, to form their own small breweries or brewpubs. Austin, founder of
Ringwood Brewery, has been called "truly the godfather of the whole thing" by former mentee and co-founder of
Shipyard Brewery Alan Pugsley. In 1979, a chain of UK brewpubs, known as the "
Firkin" pubs, started with the help of Austin, running to over one hundred at the chain's peak; however, the chain was sold and eventually its pubs ceased brewing their own beer. Some British brewpubs specialize in ale, while others brew continental lagers and
wheat beers. The Ministry of Ales, Burnley; The Masons Arms in Headington, Oxford; The Brunswick Inn, Derby (in 2010, half of the beers sold by the establishment were brewed on-site); The Watermill pub, Ings Cumbria; and the Old Cannon Brewery, Bury St Edmunds are some examples of small independent brewpubs in the UK. The city of
Bristol was identified by
The Guardian in May 2014 as an area where the microbrewery industry had flourished. Ten brewpubs, such as Zerodegrees, The Tobacco Factory, Copper Jacks Crafthouse and The Urban Standard, were identified as thriving Bristol craft beer establishments. The East End of London has also been a place for speciality craft beers and unique independent pubs and breweries. Again
The Guardian has a list of Craft Beer pubs in East London with local East End tour companies also showing the distinct food and craft beer pubs to London visitors with Craft Beer Tours. In the UK there are no firm criteria for what defines a "craft beer". In 2019 CAMRA allowed craft keg beers to be sold at its
Great British Beer Festival for the first time. Festival organiser Catherine Tonry said: "People coming to the festival love beer in all forms and types of dispense." == Craft beer in the Middle East ==