Beer Bites

The earliest known references to beer date back some 5,000 years. The Chinese brewed beer called "Kuli" and in Egypt beer was an important part of people's daily diet.

The Saku brewery is the oldest in Estonia. It was established in1820 by Count Karl Friedrich von Rehbinder following the abolition of serfdom.

In Lithuania beer production started in Birzai in the 16th century. Klaipeda's Svyturys brewery opened in 1784.

In Latvia the earliest known reference to beer dates from 1226, when there was a dispute between the authorities of Riga and Daugavgriva cloisters, which was forbidden to buy hops in other areas.

At one point in the 19th century there was a law that every Lithuanian village had to have a vodka distillery which seriously undermined Lithuanian beer consumption (and inebriated the population).

There are 70 brands of bottled Estonian beer on sale in shops

In 2002 Lithuanians consumed 78 liters of beer per capita, Estonians 69 and Latvians 57 liters per capita.

In 1998 Riga City Council passed a law making it illegal to consume spirits and beer "in the attics, cellars and on the stairwells of apartment blocks and other dwelling houses." To do so carries a fine of 10 lats. A new law has just been passed making it illegal to drink beer in "open places," except where it is officially sold. To get around this, people can cover up the bottle with a plastic bag.

In all three Baltic countries, the most common beer snack is fried garlic bread.