# Latvia

Country page of DA Caps, a collection of beer bottle caps. Web page: https://dacaps.imcoll.info/country/lv/info

- Official name: Republic of Latvia
- Local name: Latvijas Republika
- Caps in the collection: 246 (https://dacaps.imcoll.info/country_caps/28)
- Brands: 95

## Beer in Latvia

Beer was already well known to the Latvian tribes when the German crusaders came in the 13th century; it was a weak drink for feasts and for every day, next to mead (miestiņš). The newcomers' monastery and castle brewing mixed with the local home brewing, hops pushed out the old herbs, and in Riga the Large and Small Guilds quarrelled in the 14th century over the right to brew; a Beer Porters' Guild was set up there in 1396. A law of 1649 let only landed estates sell beer but left the peasants free to brew for themselves, so home brewing lasted longer than in much of Europe. In the late 17th century many estates turned to spirits, which paid better, yet in 1860 the province of Vidzeme still had 198 breweries. Beer stayed the drink of the Midsummer (Jāņi) feast.

Industry came in the 19th century. P. R. Kymmel opened the first industrial brewery in Riga in 1815, and his son built the steam brewery on Bruņinieku iela in 1850. Iļģuciems followed in 1863 and Waldschlößchen (Mežpils) in Sarkandaugava in 1865; there were at least 13 breweries in Riga by 1900, while the estate breweries of Courland fell from 147 in the 1860s to about 50. Riga beer was sold as far as Warsaw, Baku and Vladivostok. In the First World War the equipment of Kymmel, Iļģuciems and others was taken into Russia. In Cēsis brewing is first recorded in the castle audit of 1590, and local businessmen bought the manor brewery in 1922 as Augļu dārzs. In 1937 the state Credit Bank bought Waldschlößchen, Iļģuciems and Tanheizers and joined them as Aldaris, a name picked from 3,338 entries in a public contest.

After 1940 the breweries were nationalised. Aldaris brewed a quarter of the beer of the Latvian SSR in 1964, and in 1976 the industry was grouped into production associations: Aldaris with Vārpa and Iļģuciems, and Cēsu alus with the Naukšēni and Gulbene breweries. Small collective-farm breweries were built beside them, such as Tērvete (1971) and Bauska (1981), and the "Senču" (ancestors') beer was brewed almost everywhere. Aldaris joined Baltic Beverages Holding in 1992 and was privatised in 1995; Carlsberg has owned it fully since 2008. Cēsu alus was privatised in 1995, bought by A. Le Coq (Olvi) in 1999, moved into a new brewery at Aldaru laukums 1 in 2001 and was the largest brewer in Latvia from 2014, with 64% of the beer brewed in the country in 2018. Līvu alus, built in Liepāja in 2000, passed to Royal Unibrew in 2007 and to its Cido Grupa on 1 December 2008, which brewed there until June 2020; the building was sold in 2023.

Small breweries began with Užavas alus in 1994 and Valmiermuiža, founded in 2005, with its first beer in 2009. The craft wave came after 2013 with Labietis and Malduguns (started by home brewers) and Nurme in 2016. Aldaris moved its cheaper beers to other Carlsberg breweries in 2013 and sold the Tvaika iela territory to a developer in 2019, keeping the historic brewery on a long lease. Since 2016 imported beer has outsold the Latvian one, and in 2024 the independent brewers' association put the imported share at 60%. Latvian breweries made about 74 million litres in 2024, 14% less than ten years earlier, and 74 breweries were working in June 2025. In January 2026 the Competition Council approved the sale of Valmiermuižas alus to Cēsu alus. It is often said that Cēsu alus is the oldest brewery in the Baltic and Nordic countries, but no source confirms it; 1590 is only the first written mention of brewing in the castle.

Sources:
- [Latvians Online: History of beer in Latvia spans centuries (2009)](https://latviansonline.com/history-of-beer-in-latvia-spans-centuries/)
- [Neighborhood.lv: Beer traditions in Latvia: history and modernity](https://neighborhood.lv/en/beer-traditions-in-latvia-history-and-modernity/)
- [Riga Sights: The history of beer in Riga](https://rigasights.com/riga-beer-history)
- [Wikipedia (lv): Aldaris (uzņēmums)](https://lv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldaris_(uz%C5%86%C4%93mums))
- [Wikipedia (lv): Cēsu alus](https://lv.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C4%93su_alus)
- [Wikipedia: Cēsu Alus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C4%93su_Alus)
- [Wikipedia (lv): Ķimeļa alus darītava](https://lv.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%B6ime%C4%BCa_alus_dar%C4%ABtava)
- [Wikipedia (lv): Valmiermuižas alus](https://lv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valmiermu%C5%BEas_alus)
- [Wikipedia: Baltic Beverages Holding](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltic_Beverages_Holding)
- [Carlsberg Group: Latvia](https://carlsberggroup.com/who-we-are/about-the-carlsberg-group/global-presence/latvia/)
- [TVNET: Aldaris pārdevis visu tā īpašumā esošo teritoriju Tvaika ielā (2019)](https://www.tvnet.lv/6650908/aldaris-pardevis-visu-ta-ipasuma-esoso-teritoriju-tvaika-iela-uznemumam-lv-property)
- [irLiepāja: Alus lielražošanai Liepājā pienācis gals (2023)](https://irliepaja.lv/bizness/alus-lielrazosanai-liepaja-pienacis-gals-cido-grup/)
- [Užavas alus: Latvia Travel (n.d.)](https://latvia.travel/en/sight/uzavas-beer-brewery)
- [Brewers Journal: Latvia, a love of beer (2023)](https://www.brewersjournal.info/latvia-a-love-of-beer/)
- [inside.beer: Latvian Beer Production Sees Historic Low (2024)](https://www.inside.beer/news/detail/latvian-beer-production-sees-historic-low)
- [LSM: Aldari cer uz labu sezonu (2025)](https://www.lsm.lv/raksts/zinas/ekonomika/22.06.2025-aldari-cer-uz-labu-sezonu-pedejos-gados-bijis-pardosanas-kritums.a604187/)
- [LSM: Konkurences padome apstiprina «Valmiermuižas alus» pārdošanu «Cēsu alum» (2026)](https://www.lsm.lv/raksts/zinas/ekonomika/20.01.2026-konkurences-padome-apstiprina-valmiermuizas-alus-pardosanu-cesu-alum.a630687/)
- [Archontology: Latvia, Polity Style 1918-1940](https://archontology.org/nations/latvia/01_polity1.php)
- [Archontology: Latvia, Polity Style 1990-2026](https://archontology.org/nations/latvia/01_polity4.php)
- [Wikipedia: Flag of Latvia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Latvia)

## Breweries (30)

- [Agrofirma Tērvete](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/632.md) — 8 caps, 1971–
- [A/S Aldaris](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/563.md) — 80 caps, 1865–
- [Alkimikis](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/4975.md) — 1 cap
- [Alus Darbnica Labietis](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/3575.md) — 1 cap, 2013–
- [SIA Alus Nams](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/658.md) — 2 caps, 2002–
- [SIA Brūveris](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/504.md) — 10 caps, 1995–
- [Домашняя пивоварня Celushkovska](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/5351.md) — 8 caps
- [Home Brew Celushkovska](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/6191.md) — 0 caps
- [A/S Cēsu alus](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/622.md) — 46 caps, 1590–
- [Eggtaunas Alus](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/4450.md) — 1 cap
- [Eridan Brewery](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/3182.md) — 1 cap
- [Gulbenes Alus Daritava](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/3572.md) — 1 cap, 1811–2009, closed
- [Kimmels Riga](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/623.md) — 2 caps, 1815–, closed
- [Kokmuizas Alus](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/4197.md) — 1 cap
- [Lāčplēša Alus (SIA Cido Grupa)](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/567.md) — 43 caps, 1948–
- [Latgales Alus](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/2881.md) — 3 caps, 1860–
- [Livu Alus Daritava Grigis & Co](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/625.md) — 3 caps, 2000–2008, closed
- [Madonas Alus](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/6192.md) — 2 caps
- [Malduguns Alus Daritava](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/5837.md) — 2 caps, 2013–
- [Piebalgas alus](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/469.md) — 6 caps, 1989–
- [Rezeknis Bryuvers SIA](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/7071.md) — 2 caps, 2020–
- [SIA Selekcionārs](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/7122.md) — 2 caps
- [SIA "ZE Enkurs"](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/4964.md) — 1 cap, 2017–
- [SIA Bauskas Alus](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/284.md) — 5 caps, 1981–
- [SIA Ilgezeem](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/3007.md) — 1 cap, 1863–
- [Uzavas Alus](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/1894.md) — 2 caps, 1994–
- [Brewery V1](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/6694.md) — 1 cap
- [SIA Valmiermuizas Alus](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/1723.md) — 6 caps, 2009–
- [Varpa Alus](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/1861.md) — 4 caps, 1945–
- [Brewery Wenden](https://dacaps.imcoll.info/brewery/6817.md) — 1 cap