Latvia brews far above its size. Six rooms where that is obvious, starting with the one that started it.
6 places
The brewery that made Latvian craft beer a thing people travel for. Everything is brewed with herbs — juniper, meadowsweet, linden — and the names are all Baltic mythology, so ask them to translate one. The courtyard in July is the best table in Rīga.
Aristīda Briāna iela 9a
Twenty-eight Latvian beers on tap in a cellar under the old town, and a folk band that starts around ten and gets the room dancing whether it wanted to or not. Touristy on paper, entirely local in practice.
Peldu iela 19
Half bar, half bottle shop, and the staff will talk you through the board properly if you let them. Come here first to work out what you like, then go drink it somewhere else.
Ģertrūdes iela 39
The "beer embassy" of a farm brewery two hours up the road. Unfiltered, poured cold, with rye bread and cheese on the side. Cross the river for it — Āgenskalns is worth the walk anyway.
Nometņu iela 64
Eight taps, steampunk pipework, rock on the speakers, room for maybe twenty people. Two minutes from the Three Brothers and nothing like the streets around it.
Mazā Pils iela 15
The taproom of a brewery that changes the board weekly and does not do a flagship. Order a flight, decide, order a full one. The sours are the reason to be here.
Dzirnavu iela 66
Sign in to keep it too.
Latvia brews far above its size. Six rooms where that is obvious, starting with the one that started it.