What makes Sori Brewing so great?

Your beer is amazing. What are you doing right?

Our team has done its homework. Our lead brewer (Heikki Uotila) is super talented and has a good understanding of all properties of the ingredients. Also, our team is full of academically-educated brewers putting their knowledge into use and sharing it with the rest of the team.

The main philosophy behind most of our beers is to make very balanced beers and yet to have some twist to make it a recognisable Sori beer.

What was the ethos behind the brewery when you started?
The idea behind Sori Brewing was to challenge the Finnish beer scene and its rigid regulation that was a troublesome environment for passionate brewers like us. We wanted to create world-class beers that people would want to drink across the world. Estonia provided us with a better overall environment to pursue that goal.

We see that people who enjoy our beer like playful beers that push limits, and not just executing basic styles made right. There were plenty of brewers already brewing superb Pils or Brown Ale, so our mission had to be something different. Based on that idea we came up with our slogan: Serious Beer for not so Serious People.

Pyry Hurula

You crowd-funded to get it started. As well as the money, were the other benefits?
Definitely one of the best aspects of gathering a lot of people around your thing is that you get motivated people to help you. We got a lot of good contacts through the crowdfunding investors that helped us, especially in the beginning. After that, they have been our family who faces our clientele as well. We are brewing for people, not for statistics or ratings.

What is the Estonian beer scene? What are its biggest influences?
The Estonian beer scene was pretty non-existent before the first wave of brewers started their operations. Now we have plenty of good brewers, but the home market is very small for everybody which is the main reason why Estonian craft beer is mainly an export product.

In Estonia, we would say that brewers are inspired by talented brewers around the world, as we need to look up to somewhere. If I had to raise three main points, it would be that in Estonia most brewers use American techniques in brewing, many are passionate about exotic ingredients, and overall people here enjoy dark beers.

Heikki Uotila

How have you managed to get a name for yourselves over in the UK? Was it always a plan to export?
Sori Brewing has been a couple of times in UK craft beer festivals such as London Craft Beer Festival and Bristol Craft Beer Festival. And for some reason, we meet a lot of our UK fans in the Netherlands and the Nordic countries as well. It seems that Sori Brewing has a lot of followers from the UK which makes us humble.

Our plan was to create interesting beers worth exporting from the beginning. It's a whole different game obviously, but it keeps it interesting for us.

You've started a barrel-ageing programme. What are your plans for this?
Our first barrels were freshly emptied Chianti Classico barrels from Candialle, Tuscany. We collaborated with a winery to create our Conca d'Oro barrel-aged Imperial Stout. After that thing escalated and we got hundreds of barrels more. Sori Brewing has released seven barrel-aged beers and planning to release five or six more this year.

Which one Sori beer should everyone try?
In addition to all our barrel-aged beers, everyone should try 'Dark Humor Club Bourbon Vanilla' Imperial Stout and of course everything from DHC series. It’s a multilayered stout with espresso, cacao and vanilla. Every sip reveals something new. Very balanced, nice big stout.

Any top tips for new breweries?
Stay brothers to fellow brewers, stay humble and never let success go to your head. Small brewers are always underdogs and there comes a day that you need all the friends possible. Most brewers came to this industry sharing the passion for brewing and craft, not just making money and brand. If you do things right, those two will follow.

How will Sori develop over the next five years?
Sori will release more and more barrel-aged beers, but also developing our range further. Becoming more accessible to people all over the world and hopefully, we can open some more restaurants. Steady growth with our eye on the product. Keeping on brewing serious beers for not so serious people.

A microbrewery boom is sweeping over Estonia. Over the past 12 months, half a dozen microbreweries have popped up, craft brews have appeared on the menus of restaurants and a new beer house has been established in Tallinn's Old Town.

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"At the turn of the year, restaurants started to suddenly offer the brews of Estonian microbreweries," says Miikka Kulmala, a game programmer based in Tallinn. Mass-produced beers taste like bad water, he characterises, while sipping a pint of Aotearoa Sauvin, an amber ale brewed by the local microbrewery Hopster, in a pub in the Old Town.

The share of microbreweries of the Estonian beer market remains below one per cent, but the demand is surging. "We have no time for marketing, only for fulfilling orders. Rimi [a major Baltic retailer] is interested in our beers, [and] Finnish retailers have made enquiries. My head is spinning," describes Enn Parel, a co-founder of Põhjala Brewery.

The next competitor to venture into the budding craft beer market in Estonia will be Finland's Sori Brewing. "When we started to plan setting up a microbrewery two years ago, there was not a single similar [brewery] in Estonia. All of the sudden, we're in the middle of a boom," says Heikki Uotila of Sori Brewing.

Co-founded by Uotila, Pyry Hurula and Samu Heino, the microbrewery raised a total of 450,000 euros in seed capital from 225 investors with a three-month crowd-funding campaign before Uotila and Hurula on 1 August moved to Tallinn to set up the brewery. "We wanted to chide the Finnish alcohol policy. We got a flat in Tallinn today," the men rejoiced.

"We can't set up an online shop in Finland due to the monopoly. We want to internationalise and pour over borders," they explained.

A political statement

Uotila and Hurula are standing inside an empty industrial hall covering over 700 square metres, which used to house a weapons factory. Here, Sori Brewing plans to welcome weekly visitors in a similar fashion to their American competitors.

The facility is located no more than a ten-minute bus ride away from downtown Tallinn, near the busy shopping centre Ülemiste Keskus.

As soon as the brewery is up and running and the permit documents are in order, sales abroad can begin. "Finnish microbreweries can send bottles for us to sell through the online shop to Finland," says Uotila.

"We'll pay the excise duties and value-added tax immediately."

Tuomas Pere, the head brewer at Pyynikki Craft Brewery, was driven by similar frustration when he participated in founding Papabeers, an online shop for craft beers, in Estonia earlier this year. "This is a political statement," he confirms.

Vahvaportteri, a porter created by the Tampere-based brewery, was awarded the gold medal at the 2014 Global Craft Beer Awards in Berlin in late July.

"The only way to get the beer to our [900] shareholders was to set up an online shop in Estonia. Even if the shareholder lived next to the brewery, we would first have to send the bottle to Estonia and then back [to Finland] by mail. Finnish laws are so silly," Pere slams.

"Most of online shops don't pay excise duties. While Estonia is close, it's impossible to keep track of online shops based in Germany or the United Kingdom from Finland," he highlights.

Papabeers will pay excise duties and alcohol tax on beers ordered to Finland.

Kaja Kunnas – HS
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
© HELSINGIN SANOMAT
Image: Marko Mumm

Kolm Soome ettevõtjat plaanivad rajada Eestisse õlletehase. Eestisse rajatava väiketootmise taga seisavad Pyry Hurula, Heikki Uotila ja Samu Heino ning ettevõtjate endi kinnitusel ei sündinud tootmise Eestisse kolimise otsus kergelt, vahendas Tööstusuudiste teemaveeb Soome majandusuudiste portaali Kauppalehti.fi.

Kogemustega mehed. Sori Brewing Finland Oy nimelise ettevõtte taga seisavad kolm alla 30aastast ettevõtjat, kellel on turunduse, ettevõtte finantsjuhtimise ja mikrobioloogia taust. Samuti on mehed tegutsenud aastaid õlleentusiastide ning -valmistajatena.
Kauppalehti andmetel seisab kolme noore ettevõtja Eestisse kolimine ees juba lähitulevikus ning õpivad mehed eesti keelt ja püüavad siinsel turul kontakte luua.
Sori Brewing Finland Oy teatas õlletehase rajamiseks kavandatud aktsiaemissioonist jaanuari keskel. Ühe nädalaga märgiti uue õlletootja aktsiaid enam kui 68 000 euro väärtuses, eesmärgiks on investeeringuid kaasata 600 000 euro ulatuses.
Ahvatlus õllesõpradele. Ettevõtte eestvedajate hinnangul meelitab tootmise avamine Soomest Eestisse ka kvaliteeti hindavaid õllegurmaane. Ettevõtte teatel on Eestiski viimase aasta jooksul sündinud mitu väiketootjat, mistõttu on aeg oma tootmise avamiseks soodne.
Soome ettevõtjate sõnul on nende eelistus, et tootmine asuks Tallinna kesklinna läheduses hea transpordiühendusega asukohas. “Koha puhul mängib veel rolli ruumide sobivus ja nende vastavus õlletootmise tehnilistele nõuetele, kuid me ise oleme armunud Põhja-Tallinna,” ütles üks ettevõtjatest.
Töödega on kavas alustada hiljemalt pärast suve ja õlletootmine peaks valmis olema kas selle aasta lõpus või 2015. aasta alguses, sõltudes litsentside saamise kiirusest. Ühe tootmispartii mahuks tuleb 2000 liitrit ning aastane tootmismaht peaks ulatuma 2 miljoni liitrini.
“Meie eesmärk on kiirelt kasvada. Näiteks Šoti väikeõlletootja BrewDog kasvas kuue aastaga kahe mehe firmast enam kui 200 töötajaga ettevõtteks. Seetõttu ootame huviga, milliseks kasvukeskkonnaks on Eesti meie pruulikojale. Kohe alustab meie tootmises tööd lisaks meile kolmele veel 2–3 eestlast,” rääkisid soomlased.
Elav ja iseloomuga õlu rikastab õllekultuuri. Saku õlletehase juht Margus Kastein tervitab Soome ettevõtjate plaani rajada Eestisse uus õlletehas.
“Saku õlletehas tervitab kõiki õllekultuuri elavdajaid ja ettevõtteid, kes õpetavad ja räägivad õllest kui heast tootest ja heast lahendusest ja heast joogist,” kommenteeris Kastein.
Kastein lisas, et Saku õlletehas ootab põnevusega, mida Sori Brewing Finland Oy õlleturule pakub. Kastein peab õlleturgu atraktiivseks kõigile tulijatele ja märkis, et eestlased armastavad õlut.
Käsitööõlle aktiivne turule tulek on tema sõnul üldine globaalne trend, mis on otsapidi jõudnud ka Eestisse.

Kommentaar
Väiketootjad teevad revolutsiooni
Enn Parel, Õllekunsti OÜ juht
Eestis on hoogu sisse saamas mitmed väikeõlletootjad, mis tähistab omamoodi õllerevolutsiooni algust.
Meie pruulikoda loodab oma uhiuue tootmise avada juba lähiajal. Jaanuari alguses saabusid USAst meie pruuliseadmed ning praegu ootame veel pudelite villimisliini ja etiketimasinat – siis on kogu sisseseade olemas.
Sori poistega oleme kohtunud, nad on täitsa tublid noored mehed ja ajavad õiget asja.
Mida rohkem väiketootjaid on, seda põnevam on õllemaastik ja seda enam avastavad inimesed, et õlu on midagi totaalselt erinevat sellest maitsetust masstoodangust, millega suurtootjad on turu üle ujutanud.
Autor: Raigo Neudorf, Marta Jaakson