Will Lon­gye­ar­by­en get the nor­t­hern­most bre­wery in the world?

On Sval­bard, sale and pro­duc­tion of alco­ho­lic drinks are curr­ent­ly regu­la­ted more strict­ly than in main­land Nor­way. Apart from bars and restau­rants, alco­ho­lic drinks are only sold by the govern­men­tal mono­po­list “Nord­po­let” in Sval­bard­bu­tik­ken in Lon­gye­ar­by­en and the­re the allo­wan­ce is limi­t­ed for ever­yo­ne. Locals have a card and tou­rists use their flight ticket to docu­ment purcha­ses. Pro­duc­tion of alco­ho­lic drinks is com­ple­te­ly pro­hi­bi­ted, both for com­mer­cial pur­po­ses and for pri­va­te con­sump­ti­on.

The­se regu­la­ti­ons are now under recon­side­ra­ti­on and it seems they might soon be histo­ry. It is four years ago that Robert Johan­sen cont­ac­ted the Nor­we­gi­an Health Depart­ment to app­ly for the con­ces­si­on for a bre­wery in Lon­gye­ar­by­en. This was not pos­si­ble under given legis­la­ti­on, but for once, aut­ho­ri­ties were wel­ling (after all, it was about beer!) so this tur­ned out to start the pro­cess for a legis­la­ti­ve amend­ment.

Curr­ent­ly the Nor­we­gi­an aut­ho­ri­ties deci­de on the sus­pen­si­on of the regu­la­ti­ons, which date part­ly back as far as 1929. The Depart­ments of Health and Agri­cul­tu­re did alre­a­dy signal that a chan­ge of regu­la­ti­ons is wel­co­me and that no reasons are seen against it. If the legis­la­ti­ve amend­ment comes, the pro­duc­tion of alco­ho­lic drinks will be made pos­si­ble as a start. Later the quan­ti­ta­ti­ve limi­ta­ti­on for the sale of alco­hol may be abo­lished.

If ever­y­thing pro­ceeds as expec­ted, Robert Johan­sen wants to offer beer “made in Lon­gye­ar­by­en” as soon as sum­mer 2014. His bre­wery will be cal­led Sval­bard Bryg­ge­ri AS and will start with a pro­duc­tion of ca. 100.000 liters per year. Sale of rela­ted sou­ve­nirs is also plan­ned. The­re are reac­tions on the expec­ted amend­ment in Barents­burg as well. The­re the Rus­si­an mining com­pa­ny Trust Ark­ti­ku­gol alre­a­dy appli­ed for the con­ces­si­on for a bre­wery – which alre­a­dy exists sin­ce 2013 as part of the mining com­pa­ny.

When the bre­wing in Lon­gye­ar­by­en real­ly starts, Sval­bard Bryg­ge­ri will be the nor­t­hern­most bre­wery in the world. Curr­ent­ly Mack Bre­wery in Trom­sø claims this title and it might keep it offi­ci­al­ly as with an annu­al pro­duc­tion of 100.000 liters Sval­bard Bryg­ge­ri would be a microb­re­wery accor­ding to Nor­we­gi­an law. This term descri­bes small bre­we­ries with an annu­al pro­duc­tion lower than 600.000 liters. Seve­ral mcrob­re­we­ries are curr­ent­ly plan­ned in Nor­way, north of Trom­sø, for exam­p­le in Ham­mer­fest and in the muni­ci­pa­li­ty of Gam­vik.

The Mack Bre­wery faces the ari­sing com­pe­ti­ti­on posi­tively but as a big bre­wery it clas­si­fies its­elf in ano­ther cate­go­ry. Some years ago for finan­cial reasons the Mack Bre­wery moved its beer pro­duc­tion to Nordk­jos­botn wich is loca­ted south of Trom­sø. Mack nevert­hel­ess claims the title “the world´s nor­t­hern­most bre­wery” becau­se the company´s head­quar­ter is still in Trom­sø.

Source: Sval­bard­pos­ten

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