Põhjala Brewery Review: Estonia’s NA Hypotonic Lager
Published May 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 — a 50-hectolitre Rolec brewhouse with a tap room, Texas-style barbecue kitchen, brewery tours, and a sauna for hire.
Today Põhjala is 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. Treeninglaager (the hypotonic lager) and Treeninglaager Tsitrus form the core; Tundra (IPA) and Prenzlauer 0 (raspberry sour) extend the range into hop-forward and fruit territory. 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 bar in the Telliskivi creative district (Põhja Konn) that serves only Estonian craft beer. 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)
A hypotonic alcohol-free lager — brewed deliberately to help restore fluid and mineral balance after exercise. Developed in collaboration with Estonian 400m hurdler Rasmus Mägi. Pours golden with a white head; the aroma is zesty, herbal, and invigorating, with notes of lime, lemongrass, and spruce. On the palate, a delightful balance of malty sweetness and refreshing minerality, finishing with a lingering bitterness. A genuine sports-and-recovery angle that few other AF brewers attempt.
Treeninglaager Tsitrus (alcohol-free)
A citrus-flavoured version of Treeninglaager — same hypotonic positioning, with explicit citrus character layered on top of the lemongrass-and-spruce base. Brighter, fresher, more obviously thirst-quenching. If Treeninglaager is post-training recovery, Tsitrus is mid-training pick-me-up.
Põhjala also makes Tundra (a non-alcoholic IPA with citrus and pine character) and Prenzlauer 0 (a non-alcoholic Berliner Weisse raspberry sour), neither of which is currently in our directory. If you’ve tried them, rate them in the Unhopped app and we’ll add them to the listings.
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 is the most distinctively positioned: hypotonic AF for the sports-and-recovery use case is a concept few other brewers have explored. The execution — flavour balance, brand coherence, athlete partnership — is serious.
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 most genuinely interesting AF beers in the UK. The hypotonic positioning is real (helping replenish fluid and minerals), the flavour is balanced rather than over-sweetened, and the collaboration with Rasmus Mägi gives the product narrative a level of seriousness most AF beers can’t match.
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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