Egill Skallagrímsson Brewery

Ölgerðin Egils Skallagrímssonar

The Egill Skallagrímsson Brewery Logo
Type Beer; Beverage
Country of origin Iceland
Introduced 1913
Website http://www.olgerdin.is

The Egill Skallagrímsson Brewery (Icelandic: Ölgerðin Egils Skallagrímssonar) is an Icelandic brewery and beverage company that is based in Reykjavík. Established in 17 April 1913, it is one of the oldest and largest companies in Iceland. Annually, it produces 20 million liters of beverages.

History

Tómas Tómasson

Ölgerðin Egils Skallagrímssonar was founded by Tómas Tómasson in 1913 where it started in two rented basement rooms in downtown Reykjavik.[1] As the name “Ölgerðin” suggests, brewing was the company’s core business from the beginning. In 1917, he built a new brewery in a building that he bought in uptown Reykjavik. The brewery was then named after the Viking poet and adventurer, Egill Skallagrímsson. Work started in the brewery and yeast room during 1924-1928. In 1930, he expanded the company where he bought two soft drinks company, Síríus and Kaldá. In 1932, Ölgerðin became a public limited liability company after its merger with Ölgerðin Þór hf.

Until 1978, Tómas still remained as the company's CEO, chairman of the board and the biggest shareholder in Ölgerðin.

Jóhannes & Tómas Agnar

In 1978, after Tómas' death, his two sons took over the company and ran for almost 25 years. In 2000, they sold the family's share to an investment company, Íslandsbanki-FBA and Gilding.[2]

Present

In April 2002, Lind LLC, a subsidiary of the wholesaler company Danól, acquired Ölgerðin. These two companies subsequently merged which increased the product range. In 2008, the company merged with Danól and they became one of the largest companies in Iceland.[3] The name of Ölgerðin Egils Skallagrímssonar was retained. Today, Ölgerðin imports, markets and distributes food and beverages apart from its own products. These include Brennivín, Pepsi, 7-Up, Tuborg, Egils Maltextrakt, Egils Appelsín (Orange Soda), Egils Pilsner and grapefruit soda.

Products

The company’s first product was Egils Maltextrakt, a traditional Icelandic non-alcoholic beverage that tastes like sweetened Guinness. In 1917, it started producing Egils Pilsner, a lager. Despite the prohibition in Iceland where it was illegal to brew and sell beer in Iceland, Ölgerðin obtained a special license to brew and sell beer to the American and British soldiers.[4] In 1930, it began to produce a variety of soft drinks. One of the best selling soft drinks will be Egils Appelsín, an orange soda that was introduced in 1955.

Today, its product range includes soft drinks, spirits and beer. Below shows some of its products.

Brand Type Ingredients Alcohol Content By Volume (If Applicable)
Egils Premium Lager Icelandic water, malt, hops, yeast and antioxidant (E222) 5.7%
Egils Pilsner Lager Icelandic water, hops, malted barley and yeast 2.25%
Egils Sterkur Icelandic water, hops, malted barley and yeast 6.2%
Egils Gull Lager Icelandic water, hops, malted barley and yeast 5.0%
Egils Jólabjór (Egils Christmas beer) Lager Icelandic water, malted barley, hops, licorice, yeast 4.8%
Jóla Gull (Christmas beer) Lager Icelandic water, malted barley, hops, yeast and orange peel 5.4%
Polar Beer Lager Icelandic water, barley malt, corn, hops and yeast 4.7%
Brennivín Spirit Fermented grain, caraway, cumin, angelica and other botanical ingredients 37.5%
Egils Maltextrakt Traditional Ale Icelandic water, malt and liquorice -
Egils Appelsín Orange Soda Carbonated water and orange -

Business Partners

Ölgerðin is in partnership with a number of leading global suppliers in the world. This is essential for the company as it serves as a sales and marketing organization.[5] They are:

Awards

Egils Gull earned the “World’s Best Standard Lager” at the World Beer Awards 2011[6] and Bríó won the best German-style Pilsner at the 2012 World Beer Cup.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ölgerdin. "History". http://www.olgerdin.is/en/about-us/history''.
  2. ↑ http://www.olgerdin.is/en/about-us/history
  3. ↑ Ölgerdin. "History". http://www.olgerdin.is/en/about-us/history''.
  4. ↑ Dudley, Karla. "Iceland". TAPS The Beer Magazine. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  5. ↑ Ölgerdin. "Our Partners". http://www.olgerdin.is/en/#partners''.
  6. ↑ Ölgerdin. "Our Export". http://www.olgerdin.is/en/our-export''.
  7. ↑ Ölgerdin. "Our Export". http://www.olgerdin.is/en/our-export''.

External links

Coordinates: 64°07′25″N 21°48′06″W / 64.12361°N 21.80167°W