6 reasons why
you should add Tallinn to your craft beer travel bucket list
Estonia is know for many things Skype, beautiful women and as it turns out craft beer. The love of beer has been rooted into our souls for decades and everyone over the age of 25 either remembers how they’r grandfathers home brew tasted or has at least tried one from someone else’s batch. It was strong, it was sweet and it got you a whole different kind of drunk, for way longer than expected.
When the craft beer boom exploded in Estonia around 2014/15 all of a sudden everyone thought they can make awesome beers. Needless to say, that was not the case. I remember working at a restaurant back then and if I wanted to, I could have scheduled weeks in a row to meet and sample all of the home brews people wished to sell. I’m sorry to say, but most of them were just downright awful, but there were pearls in the mix. No wonder these have become some of the biggest and best craft breweries here in Estonia.
By now the scene has settled down. Resulting in great quality craft beers and a whole new generation of beer lovers. It’s not about getting shit-faced anymore, it’s about the taste experience. And breweries aren’t slow to come up with new stuff to offer enthusiastic beer lovers.
Estonian Small Brewers Association lists 44 craft beverage brewers in Estonia. Most of them brew beer. So yeah, for a country that has a population of 1,2 million people, we have quite a selection of craft.
Anyway, reasons you should put Tallinn on your craft beer travel bucket list:
1) You have probably not been to Estonia and the craft beer scene is awesome
Estonia, the country of green forests, dark seas, cold people and awesome beer.
2) Multiple brewery tours in one day
There’s loads to see and taste, and people to meet. Due to most breweries being located in or near Tallinn, it’s a perfect way to see as much as possible in one day. You could do 5 without much hassle.
3) Loads of tap rooms
Most of the bigger craft breweries have a tap room or occupy a portion of a bar. So if you don’t want to or can’t do a brewery tour day, you can always go tap room crawling. In Tallinn you have 3 within walking distance from one another. Põhjala, Uba & Humal, Rebane. So no need to worry about transportation. Tho uber and taxify both operate without problems if you feel the need to get off your feet.
4) Craft beer bars - no I do not mean tap rooms
If 3 is a bit too small number of bars to crawl then Tallinn will help you out. We have some legendary craft beer bars like Koht, Pudel, Brewdog, Tavren of 100 beers, Tuba, St Vitus, etc. You’ll get a selection of local and foreign craft with the chance to widen your understanding of bar styles.
5) Awesome people to meet
Let’s be honest. You’ll probably end up drinking in company of staff from the breweries you visited, while out on your bar crawl. Estonian craft beer people are a different breed. The cold and quiet person that a classical Estonian tends to be got lost in these folks. Plus, it’s mostly guys so all you fellow female craft beer lovers will love it here.
6) Craft Beer festivals
We don’t have many, but we still have a few and Tallinn Craft Beer Weekend is the biggest one in the Baltics. Tho I must warn you, tickets get sold out within days so better plan your trip way in advance.
7) Personal tour guide
I’d be more than happy to help you out with planning your trip to Tallinn. Get the breweries on board as well as figure out a tasting rout through the bar scene.
So next stop Tallinn?