Finland is a republic in northern Europe with a population of 5.3 million. Yearly beer production is approximately 110 million gallons (416 million liters) and beer consumption, as of 2010, approximately 23 gallons (87 liters) per capita.

In all probability beer has been made in Finland since primitive agriculture reached its then scarcely populated southern shore at about 2000–1500 bce. Some scholars maintain that agriculture in Finland started because the migrating tribes had accustomed themselves to beer and needed cultivated grain to produce the drink.

Positive evidence of brewing exists from the first centuries ce. The craft was evidently influenced by German tribes; the Finnish word for beer, olut, is Germanic in origin, as are many other words related to brewing, even though the Finnish language has no Germanic roots. An often cited example of the status of beer in ancient Finland concerns the national epic poem Kalevala, a collection of orally preserved folkloristic poems, the oldest poems pre-dating the arrival of Christianity to Finland. Kalevala describes the birth of the world in 200 lines. The birth of beer, on the other hand, takes 400 lines. In the rustic Finland of Kalevala beer is a communal drink, served at special occasions. The God of Beer was called Pekko. See beer gods.

During the Middle Ages the coastal trade centers grew to towns, drawing resident traders from the southern parts of the Baltic. These merchants brought along their own art of making beer, and the brewing soon followed the Central European mode. However, no professional class of brewers as such developed. Generally people brewed for their own household.

The new mode promoted the use of hops instead of bog myrtle, juniper, spruce cones, or natural herbs. Hops had been growing naturally in Finland since the end of the last Ice Age. Some academics have speculated that Finns used hops in their beer before the Middle Ages, but there is no concrete proof of this. In any case, the laws of 1347 and 1442 had austere orders about hop-growing: Every farm had to have a hop garden or pay a heavy fine. Beer and hops were also legal tender for payment of taxes.

At this time (13th to 15th centuries) the art of brewing the Finnish beer style sahti took shape. See sahti. The farmhouse-brewers adapted the methods and the equipment of the town brewers to their own ancient brewing tradition. Remarkably, the sahti tradition has survived all twists of history and is still very much alive.

The first attempts to brew beer on an industrial scale took place in the 1750s, but these early ventures failed, as the towns of that time were still too small to support them. The oldest company still brewing, Sinebrychoff, opened in Helsinki in 1819. See sinebrychoff brewery. After the breakthrough of bottom fermentation in the 1850s, industrial-scale brewing took off. In 1907 Finland had 90 active industrial breweries.

The temperance movement in 19th-century Finland was at first directed mainly against distilled spirits, but by the start of the 20th century it opposed beer as well. Political pressure led to the Prohibition Act, which came into effect in June 1919. Some breweries tried to survive Prohibition by making soft drinks and mild malt beverages, but most dissolved or went bankrupt. Illicit distilling and smuggling prospered, and alcohol consumption grew during the late 1920s to a level that was not reached again until 1961. Prohibition was repealed after a referendum was held in 1931.

In spite of the repeal there was no return to free trade in beer. The state took strict control by establishing a monopoly over all alcoholic beverages. The monopoly granted licenses for production of beer to private enterprises. Forty-four breweries got a license to produce beer in 1932.

Nearly all licensed beer was of the continental bottom fermented type, pale lagers. The only still-existing notable exception is Sinebrychoff porter, a world-class imperial stout launched in 1957.

Finland’s entry in the European Union in 1995 forced the end of the all-embracing monopoly. However, the state has maintained the monopoly in the consumer retail sales of products over 4.7% ABV. Furthermore, the beer tax in Finland is the highest of all EU countries. In 2010 one liter (2.11 US pints) of 5% ABV beer had a tax of 1.30 euros ($1.75 in Feb 2010). See taxes.

During the years of strict state control, the brewing industry began to consolidate until three large brewers were left. Only one, Olvi, remains in Finnish hands. The two others are owned by large global brewers: Sinebrychoff by Carlsberg and Hartwall by Heineken. Together this trio has cornered over 90% of the domestic market.

The first Finnish commercial microbreweries were sahti brewers who received their licenses from the government in 1987. During the 1990s microbreweries flourished, totalling over 40 before a recession struck. At the end of 2009 Finland had 30 working breweries.

The existing microbreweries brew ambitiously and produce high-quality beers. The best opportunities to sample their multitude of brews, in addition to the brewpubs themselves, are the Helsinki Beer Festival in spring and the “Suuret oluet–Pienet panimot” (Big beers–Small brewers) festival held in Helsinki during the last weekend of July. A handful of specialist pubs also have microbrews on tap.

As a result of the relaxation of the import regulations in 1995, the variety and quality of the imported beers has expanded. The volume of quality imports is negligible compared to the pale lager business, but the best Finnish pubs have a large variety of beers from all over the world.