beer guide latvia - Labs alus

60
Gaujas iela 2
Jaunpiebalga
piebalgas
2 600
thousand litres
brewed annually
piebalgasalus.lv
@piebalgasalus
production stats of the brewery in 2010
1.8 %
of total
Latvian beer volume
Piebalgas Alus was started in 1989 in one of the most picturesque Latvian regions that is
very well-known for its open minded residents that once constituted a significant part of
Latvian intelligentsia during the last part of the 19th century when the first ideas about
Latvian independence from the Russian empire started to emerge. Piebalgas Alus, very
soon after it was established gained a reputation of a solid brewer and steadily increased
its market share. A few years ago additional investments were brought to brewery and it
was modernised and expanded in 2003.
Contrary to many other Latvian breweries founded around the nineties, all recipes of
Piebalgas were developed by its brewers, the brewery also used to produce their own
malt for a couple of years until it was deemed to be too expensive. It also had its own hop
plantations that were abandoned to too.
It is interesting that one of Piebalgas founders and shareholders is the current Latvian
minister of agriculture Jānis Dūklavs. It is thought that he was invited to become the
minister because he was good with managing the brewery.
However, although beers of Piebalgas are still decent, they are sadly somewhat slowly
losing popularity and the image of traditional good quality brewer it once had. I can
only hope it improves in the near future.
piebalgas beers
lux 5.8% (dark lager)
jubilejas 5.2% (pale lager)
mednieku 4.7% (pale lager)
piebalgas 5.6% (pale lager)
senču 4.0% (german pils)
Piebalgas Tumšais Lux
ABV 5.8%, Dark Lager
It is interesting that a throughout Latvian brewery could not resist using Lux that is
clearly a non-Latvian word. Actually the brewery is not as Latvian
as it might appear on the surface - almost 50% of its shares belong
to an investment company with roots in Moscow.
Lux is a weaker version of once very famous beer - Sātans that was
discountinued almost a decade ago due to its high ABV and blasphemous
nature. But most of its good flavour has been succesfully
transferred to its lower ABV successor.
Lux pours clear dark copper with large off-white head that fades
relatively quickly. Aroma is sweet malt, but in contrast to many
other Latvian dark lagers the sweetness is not overwhelming.
Taste is much less sweet with noticeable bitterness that almost
provides good balance to lightly sweet malt, some hints of liquorice
can be felt. The beer does not feel as thick as it looks and it has quite
lively carbonation.
Piebalgas Tumšais Lux could be considered as one of the best Latvian
beers and certainly should be included in the shopping list. It
is sold in supermarkets all over Latvia, so it would not be a problem
to find it.
sights and attractions around the brewery
Jaunpiebalga is a village of slightly more than one thousand people with the brewery
as one of the main industrial enterprises. Not much to do in the village itself, but a few
museums, holiday houses at lake and riversides. • www.jaunpiebalga.lv
61