Quinno in Riga

 

A guest post by Quinten Taylor, Pub data and Beer scores coordinator for Reading & Mid Berks CAMRA (2023) who is on Twitter as @SirQuinno. [Photos by Quinten Taylor & Tanya Kynaston]

Baltic beers – Latvia

A couple of months ago I was fortunate to take a break away to two of three Baltic states, Latvia and Lithuania, in order to finally complete the set.

Whilst it feels like Estonia tends to be the more dominant of the three Baltics - with its big tech sector, UNESCO-listed capital city and connections with its Scandinavian neighbours - the two L’s have plenty to offer and are different both to Estonia and each other. They are certainly not just different flavours of the same thing!

Time constraints meant that bar-hopping and boozing was restricted to the two capital cities (that’s Riga for Latvia and Vilnius for Lithuania) but both have plenty of options for the thirsty traveller. Let’s dive in…this will be over two posts, with Riga as our starting point.

Background

There’s plenty to see and do in Riga aside from drinking. 

Of particular interest to me was the huge indoor market housed in the old Zeppelin hangars. 

We booked a food tour here which really helped get in with the local offerings (book here) and was excellent value in retrospect. 

Nearby is the Latvian Academy of Sciences, known locally as Stalin’s Birthday Cake, a really striking building that’s best seen up-close. As it’s just behind the food market, it’s easy to combine the two. 

Take a trip over the jet black Daugava River to see the new National Library which is a magnificent piece of modern architecture; an insider tip is that you can access the top floor if you blag a visitor’s pass which affords a superb panoramic view of the city. 

Also make sure to explore the stunning Art Nouveau buildings in Alberta iela and Elizabetes iela and visit the Paul Stradins Museum of the History of Medicine which houses the taxidermied remains of Vladimir Demikhov's famous two-headed dog experiment.

Beer and bars

Perhaps due to the volume of young western European tourists, Riga has a thriving craft beer and bar scene and it certainly presented me with plenty to have a go at, with lots of variety if you go hunting for oddities. The stag and hen party types are pretty much confined to a small area and most of the bars listed below are not in that zone. Prices are pretty reasonable, usually coming in a quid of two below British prices for the more exotic beers, so it’s worth going high-end. Most places are bar service – those which are table are mentioned as such. 

We ticked-off a fair few places, so I’ve added a rating to guide you to what I think are the ‘must-do’ places if time is tight. Most Latvians under the age of 40 speak very good English, though it tapers off fairly swiftly above that. Usual rules apply – learn a few key words in advance and you’ll often get a smile and a bit of chat.

Alus Celle - Baznīcas iela 35 Rīga

My pidgin Latvian worked out the name of this one pretty quickly – ‘beer cellar’. Which indeed it is, a basic place tucked away on an otherwise fairly unremarkable street. 

This is without doubt the ticker’s bar in Riga (just look at Untappd’s loyal patrons list for the venue for the astronomical amount of check-ins) and the owner takes pride in sourcing some truly weird and wonderful beers from around the world. There’s a small array of draft but the main action lies on the shelves, which are laden with all sorts of stuff. The owner seemed intently fastidious, though perhaps that was because we occasionally lost things in translation – he was a few years older than us and that’s where the divide seems to be locally between those who can easily understand English and those who weren’t brought up with it being ubiquitous. Everything we tried here was fab. 

The standout beer was possibly my favourite of the whole Riga jaunt - Ārpus x Bereta Peach x Apricot x Mango x Strawberry x Lemon x Maple x Smoothie Sour. Ārpus became a bit of a go-to over the course of three days, make sure you have at least one of theirs. Rated 9

Alus Muiža - 45 Ģertrūdes iela Rīga

I’ll have to hold my hands-up here and admit that by the time we did one at the end of the night, my memory had started to go a bit goldfish at points. I can say for sure that I didn’t find this one as immediate as its nearby peers and the range over the ten taps was fairly samey, albeit with a Latvian bent. Neither of our choices set the world alight - we might have got unlucky. You’ll want to take a look though if you’re after local beer. Rated 6

Banshee - Skarnu iela 11 Riga

A new craft bar, all moodily lit and aimed squarely at the Bright Young Things of Riga though most of the crowd on my visit were middle aged guys (rather like me…). A sizeable line-up of 24 taps, with around a 50/50 mix of Baltic and world brews. Ārpus Brewing seems to be a regular and we dallied with their dangerously drinkable 12%er Peanut Butter x Vanilla x Coffee Imperial Stout. Maybe a bit less personable in here than some other nearby bars, but well-worth dropping in. Rated 7.5

BEERA Bar - Ģertrūdes iela 39 Riga

Another cellar bar which also has a huge range of beers to try and makes for a great double-header with Alus Celle as they are only a couple of minutes apart. 12 taps with around 40% Baltic-dedicated alongside plenty of bottles and cans, with a good Latvian focus. We broke our ‘drink local’ rule to try a super Canadian Imperial Stout courtesy of Willibald Farm Brewery. Sorry Latvia, but it was lovely and were addicted to high abv after our stint at Alus Celle! Rated 8

Folkklubs Ala Pagrabs - Peldu iela 19 Rīga

Subterranean restaurant and bar housed in old vaults. The restaurant operation is 95% of the output, but just push your way through to get a seat at the bar along with half-a-dozen other locals – the staff are always busy prepping drinks for the diners, so you need to use your skills to catch them at the right time. There’s a fair beer list here with a more traditional outlook on life. The Madonas Alus Nefiltrēts by Madonas Alus was a farmhouse style beer, bready and chewy. Not an essential venue but I enjoyed it and the food looked hearty, so you might fancy scheduling grub here. Rated 6

Lido (Alus Sēta) - Krāmu iela 2 Rīga

Now, this isn’t a bar as such, it’s a handy grab-and-go canteen which charges low prices for hearty local-style comfort food. There are also four self-service taps dispensing three beers (from their own branded ‘brewery’ and the national Ventspilis) plus a perry. Located centrally, so be sure to eat here one evening in order to line your stomach and save a few Euros into the bargain. Rated 6 (4 for beer and 8 for food!)

Labietis - Aristida Briana 9A-2 Rīga

30 minutes on foot from the centre, though plenty of buses go this way and Googlemap is pretty good on the times and routes. Housed in a courtyard, The venue name is that of the brewery – Labietis (there’s also another bar of theirs in the Zeppelin market - plastic glasses though, which put me off trying anything there). We were really impressed by this one, from the friendly service through to the quality of their own beer. 16 taps of theirs plus a number of bottles. We decided to extend our stay and worked our way through five of their beers, with Ķiršu Mežonis 2022 (Cherry Wildling) being the stand-out; so good we got a couple of bottles of it to take out and bring home. Make sure you make the effort to get to this one if time allows. Rated 8

Miezis un kompānija. Vecrīga - 21 13. janvāra iela Rīga

I had high hopes for this one as others raved about it online. It’s a bit out of the way and isn’t at all obvious on approach, being housed at the base of a bland modern building. This is probably the most self-consciously ‘craft’ venue in Riga; super-modern and snazzy inside, with fairly uncomfortable high stools that are some weird triangular shape. 20 taps here almost all with Baltic beers to be had. Sea Goes Radical by Nurme was a horseradish gose, which did an admirable job. The Anticiklons by Alus darīšanas apvienība Prusaks was much less successful, described by as tasting like “a donkey blanket soaked in battery acid”. Very few people in on a grey Sunday afternoon and the barmaid was a classic craft beer stereotype, be-hatted and pretty uncommunicative (I might go as far as to say surly, but maybe that’s unfair given the potential language barrier). Rated 5

Ms&Mr BEER The Local Taphouse - 1 Maza Miesnieku Riga 1050

A new-opener with a lot of buzz around it. Steampunk stylings, and possibly the only pub I’ve been in which also has a whole car as well. Pretty limited selection, with all beers seemingly brewed by Lielvārdes, a contract brewery and neither were much to write home about. Felt more like they were after the party topers with the music turned up loud at 5pm on weekday afternoon - I was happy with the one. Worth a visit for the novelty value, but this’d be a place I’d skip next time. Rated 4

MyBeer / Mans Alus - 10/12 Alksnāja iela Rīga

Now, this was my pick of the bars in Riga. Up a fairly quiet street and down a few steps, is a modern and bijou bar, ram-packed with beers from all corners of the Baltics and beyond with every style imaginable. 

Pick of our pops was Atentāts by Alus darīšanas apvienība Prusaks, a tomato-infused beer with a bit of salt and chilli, much like a Bloody Mary. 

And Talka by MIGLA brewery which is a garlic beer -not a thin and reedy one like you may have tried as a novelty value as this one is big, deep and roasty and was a real treat. 

We were also extra lucky to have Nicola as our server for the evening who was an absolute joy to share beer and chat with – full of recommendations and really made a huge effort for us to get stuff we’d like. Stayed far longer than intended and even then it was a wrench to leave. Rated 10

Sidērija - Peldu iela 24 Rīga

The name should give you a clue – this is a cider bar! A neat place with few pretensions. They also own a cidery (Mūrbūdu Sidra Darītava) and most of the tap range is from there. Over two visits (we liked it!) we had two faves; Sidrons, which tasted like it was infused with thyme (Google Translate is still a bit haphazard with Latvian, we discovered) and Pussauss Apiņots Saison Sidrs, which is a cider infused with hops which gave it a grassy flavour. Something a bit different and should be towards the top of your visit list. Rated 9

Two More Beers - 9/11 Kalēju iela Rīga (table service)

Slightly confusing in here, as there’s a restaurant operation at the front and our request for ‘just beer’ was met by a blank stare; luckily another staff member realised we were after the rear bar and we were whisked there. A mid 80’s boys bedroom feel with red and black predominating. Table service here which worked fairly smoothly. 25 taps though the beer range is fairly mainstream for the seasoned Euro toper,with only three or four local beers. Some good bets in the fridge, though these are at a fair mark-up compared to the draft. Rated 6

Riga Coach Station

After three days in Riga, we headed-off to Vilnius, via a white knuckle coach drive via the ever-reliable FlixBus. If you’re thinking of doing the same, coaches leave from the station on the bank opposite to the Zeppelin market. It’s very easy to access and simple to navigate. I hope that’s whetted your appetite for a visit - Lithuanian adventures will follow in a later post!