Carlsberg Group and Brooklyn Brewery to Establish New Brewery in Lithuania
The Carlsberg Group and Brooklyn Brewery are collaborating to establish a new brewery in Klaipėda, Lithuania, following recently announced joint ventures in Hong Kong and London. The new brewery will be installed at the site of Švyturys Brewery, part of the Carlsberg Group, and will see its brewers collaborate with those from Brooklyn Brewery to create a range of small-batch classic and experimental beers.
The new range is scheduled to launch at the end of this year, following completion of the construction of the new Švyturys Brewery building.
Rolandas Viršilas, chief executive of Švyturys-Utenos Alus, says: “Brooklyn Brewery has become a synonym for high quality craft beer, and the fact that they are coming to work in Lithuania is evidence of our robust beer market and our passionate consumers. We have noticed that our consumers’ habits have been changing – the beer-drinking culture and the level of knowledge about beer is rising; and the demand is growing for diverse flavours and new, versatile beers. The partnership with Brooklyn Brewery will allow us to satisfy this growing demand by offering numerous new, exclusive and experimental beers.”
Eric Ottaway, chief executive of Brooklyn Brewery, says: “By investing in Klaipėda, we are expanding our collaboration with the Carlsberg Group in Europe, and we believe that our work with the Lithuanian brewers will help both parties to grow. We are equally excited to work closely with the great local beer enthusiast community, and look forward to exploring all kinds of new flavours together with them.”
This is the first investment by Brooklyn Brewery in Eastern Europe and represents its latest collaboration with the Carlsberg Group. In June, HK YAU – a new beer brand exclusive to Hong Kong was launched, while it was announced recently that Carlsberg UK has acquired London Fields Brewery, and will operate the business in a joint venture with Brooklyn Brewery.
Carlsberg and Brooklyn Brewery have also operated the EC Dahls brewery in Trondheim, Norway since 2016 and the New Carnegie Brewery in Stockholm, Sweden since 2012. The Carlsberg Group also distributes Brooklyn Brewery’s products in many of the markets in which it operates.
