- Place
- Biržai District Municipality
- Region
- Biržai
- Type
- historic brewery with an educational beer tour
- Address
- 22 Rotušės St., LT-41137 Biržai
- Coordinates
- 56.20009, 24.75359
- Visit duration
- 1-2 hours, depending on the tour selected and museum visit
- Best time
- after booking a tour in advance and checking the current price and group time
Biržai brewery, Biržų alus tour
Biržų alus on Rotušės Street
The Biržų alus visitor destination is at 22 Rotušės St., LT-41137 Biržai. Coordinates 56.20009, 24.75359 mark the entrance to the brewery and tour venue rather than Biržai town as a whole. This is the Biržų alus site, separate from Rinkuškiai brewery and from Biržai Castle.
Production, history, and education come together here. Arrive expecting a pre-arranged tour in which brewery equipment is explained as part of Biržai's brewing heritage, rather than a bar that is necessarily open for walk-ins at any time.
The visit starts with the building and entrance setting, but the strongest impression comes from the industrial character inside. Metal vessels, pipework, old masonry details, and the museum story connect one brand with the history of Biržai.
The Radvilaitė brewery tradition from 1686
The Biržų brewing tradition traces back to 1686, when Duchess Liudvika Karolina Radvilaitė founded a brewery in Biržai. This marks the beginning of the local story, not a claim that the present building has survived unchanged since the seventeenth century.
Biržai and the brewery were destroyed during the Northern War in 1704. Later stages include Alfred Tiškevičius, an 1811 beer label, and Petras Variakojis buying the brewery from Tiškevičius in 1923. These dates show changes in ownership as well as brewing.
The heritage route inside the brewery is therefore not a decorative reconstruction of the seventeenth century. It tells a story of repeated rebuilding and adaptation through which brewing responded to Biržai's political and economic history.
Twentieth-century restructuring and the name's return
The brewery's twentieth-century history changed with Lithuania's economic system: it was nationalised in 1940 and joined Panevėžys brewery in 1973. That sequence explains why the old local brand did not always operate as an independent company.
The Biržų alus name returned in 1996, and equipment renewal began in 2004. In the current tour, modern vessels are not the opposite of heritage: they show how the bravoras connects living production with the account of earlier periods.
When following the history, notice not only the famous dates but their material traces. Kettles, pipes, cellar masonry, and museum objects connect the chronology with what a visitor can actually see at the Rotušės Street venue.
What the Biržų alus beer tour includes
The Biržų alus beer tour includes the brewery spaces, boiling kettles, fermentation and maturation tanks, a nineteenth-century cellar wall, the Brewing Museum, and the shop. This is a clear route, although the production areas or equipment visible on the day can depend on work under way.
The basic tour is described as an approximately one-hour educational programme for groups of 10-50. It is listed at about 12 euros per person, while the longer Apynio barzda and Radvilaitės kaprizai programmes are listed at about 30 and 45 euros respectively; confirm the current price when booking.
Tasting is part of particular longer programmes rather than every visit. Beer and snack elements belong to those options, so confirm what is included, which age rules apply, and whether the price has changed when choosing a tour.
Booking and responsible visiting
The tour is arranged in advance, so check the latest Biržų alus information and contact the venue about the date, group size, language, and programme. Confirm the current price, duration and visiting conditions when booking.
Allow comfortable shoes for a one- or two-hour visit because the route passes industrial equipment and cellar masonry. If you choose a tasting programme, plan a responsible journey home and do not drive after drinking.
Tasting depends on the chosen programme, so arrange it and the applicable age rules with the organisers in advance.
