15 - Sustainable brewing practices in Norway: using local ingredients and traditional brewing techniques

Abstract

The current chapter addresses the development of craft beer industry in Norway, with special focus on sustainable brewing practices. From being a niche industry with few players at the beginning of the 2000s, the craft beer industry in Norway has seen huge growth in recent years due to the major shifts in the preferences of the Norwegian beer consumers. Beer consumers are getting increasingly interested in exploring new flavors and new beer styles, and want their beers to be more sustainable and locally produced. However, the majority of breweries, including craft breweries, still use foreign ingredients and international beer recipes in their production. In the current chapter, we focus on one Norwegian craft brewery to illustrate how using local ingredients and traditional Norwegian brewing techniques leads to more sustainable brewing practices.