Põhjala Brewery Review: Estonia’s Alcohol-Free Beers
Published May 2026, updated October 2026 · 7-minute read · by Rich, founder of Unhopped
Põhjala is the brewery from Tallinn that put Estonian craft brewing on the global map — Baltic-style stouts, Nordic-leaning experimentation, and a strong commitment to alcohol-free as a serious part of their range, not an afterthought.
Who are Põhjala?
Põhjala (Põhjala in Estonian, meaning “the North”) was founded at the end of 2011 by four Estonian home brewers and beer enthusiasts. By their own account, the project began partly because the Estonian beer scene at the time didn’t offer much that worked alongside the dinners and travels they were planning around food. They started as a gypsy brewer — using rented production facilities — and were soon joined by Chris Pilkington, a brewer they’d met during a short internship at BrewDog’s original Fraserburgh brewery.
The first Põhjala beer, Öö (an Imperial Baltic Porter), was released in early 2013, brewed in rented facilities. In April 2014, Põhjala opened its first own brewery in Tallinn’s Nõmme district. In 2018, after nearly €4.9 million of investment, the company moved to its current state-of-the-art facility in the Noblessner area — with a restaurant, a shop, brewery tours and a sauna.
Wikipedia, citing Good Beer Hunting in 2019, calls Põhjala the largest craft brewery in the Baltic states and the only one to have appeared on RateBeer’s top-100 breweries list. Its best-selling beer is Virmalised, an India pale ale that accounts for over a quarter of total production. The company turns over more than €5 million annually and runs Tallinn Craft Beer Weekend, an annual festival it founded in 2015.
What Põhjala is known for
Porters, barrel ageing, forest ingredients
Põhjala’s reputation rests on three particular strengths: Baltic-style and imperial porters (the legendary Öö that launched the brewery is still in the range); the Cellar Series of dark, barrel-aged beers; and the Forest Series, which uses rare botanicals and foraged ingredients from the Estonian forest. They’ve collaborated with To Øl, Lervig, De Struise, Jester King, and Jing-A Brewing across the years.
Alcohol-free as a serious lane, not a token product
Where many craft brewers add an alcohol-free SKU as a single product, Põhjala has built out a deliberate AF lane. It makes five: two Treeninglaager lagers, plain and Tsitrus, with lemon; Laager 0, a crisp lager; Prenzlauer 0, a raspberry sour; and Virmalised 0, an IPA with spruce tips. The breadth signals AF as a genuine creative interest for the brewery, not a category-extension box-tick.
A genuine destination brewery
Põhjala’s Tallinn home is one of the more visit-worthy breweries in Europe. The Noblessner facility includes the tap room, a beer-focused restaurant, brewery tours, the sauna, and a separate Estonian beer bar, Põhja Konn. If you ever find yourself in Tallinn, it’s the brewery to plan a half-day around.
The Põhjala alcohol-free range
Treeninglaager (alcohol-free)
An alcohol-free lager hopped with Tettnang, Hallertau Mittelfrüh and Magnum, and brewed with lactose. Pours golden with a white head; Põhjala describes a zesty, herbal nose with notes of lime, lemongrass and spruce, then malty sweetness and refreshing minerality, finishing with a lingering bitterness. It was sold out in the UK when we checked.
Treeninglaager Tsitrus (alcohol-free)
Treeninglaager with lemon juice, citric acid and natural lemon flavours: “the lemony acidity nicely balances the malty sweetness”, Põhjala says, with fresh, sweet-and-sour lemon peel notes. It was sold out in the UK when we checked too.
Põhjala also makes Laager 0, a crisp, hoppy lager on much the same recipe as Treeninglaager, and Prenzlauer 0, a creamy raspberry sour with oats and lactose, the alcohol-free sibling of its Prenzlauer Berg; both were in stock at The Alcohol Free Co. Virmalised 0, an IPA with Citra and Yellow Sub hops and spruce tips, we haven’t found in the UK. All four in our directory are brewed with lactose, so none is vegan.
How Põhjala compares
Põhjala sits in a small group of European craft brewers who treat alcohol-free as a deliberate creative lane — alongside Mikkeller (Denmark), Big Drop (UK) and Jump Ship (Scotland). Within that group, Põhjala covers a lot of ground for a small range: two lagers and a lemon lager, a creamy raspberry sour and an IPA.
Is Põhjala alcohol-free worth buying?
For drinkers interested in the more intentional end of the AF category — brewers thinking carefully about why and how, not just adding a box-tick SKU — Treeninglaager is one of the more interesting AF beers sold in the UK, with a flavour that’s balanced rather than over-sweetened. It was sold out when we checked, so start with Laager 0 or Prenzlauer 0, which The Alcohol Free Co had in stock.
For drinkers wanting full-on hop expression or a more mainstream lager flavour profile, Põhjala isn’t where to start. The Treeninglaager range is distinctive rather than familiar — and that’s the point. Try it for what it is.
Beers to buy
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