Photo: Kalle Kaltio
Brewery of the Month, Finland
Stirring up the beer scene Craft beer is now everywhere, but not many breweries can boast of the world’s purest water and Arctic rarities as their raw materials. Even fewer manage to maintain a garage-like edge while delivering double-digit growth, award-winning products and even an IPO. Pyynikin Brewing Company delivers on all fronts – with a pinch of distinctively Finnish madness thrown in for good measure. By Jo Iivonen | Photos: Pyynikin Brewing Company
Growing consumer thirst for all things artisan has fuelled-up demand for an alternative to the names that dominate the banners at football stadiums, but what exactly is the recipe for success in craft beer? “We’ve always focused on innovation, quality and top-notch ingredients,” says Tuomas Pere, head brewer and co-founder of Pyynikin Brewing Company, an award-winning brewery 102 | Issue 130 | November 2019
quirky type of creative drive,” Pere offers by way of explanation as to how the company has become a serious contender for the spot of Finland’s fifth- or sixth-largest beer label without becoming too corporate-like. Nowhere is the drive more apparent than at the brewery’s own venue in Tampere. In fact, this is where the whole story began in 2012, when Pere, together
based in Tampere. “But we want to do so without being too serious.” Maintaining a tongue-in-cheek attitude through the thick and thin of a company’s formative years is one thing. Doing so while simultaneously securing doubledigit growth in a saturated marketplace is an altogether different beast. “There’s this thing about Finnish madness, a
Veikko Sorvaniemi (community manager) and Tuomas Pere (founder). Photo: Ronja Honko