On our first full day in Riga we headed out for a morning of sightseeing and an afternoon mission to find our way to the Labientis brewery tap.
The tap itself is a couple of miles into the suburbs to the west of the old town, but Labientis also have two central venues.
Including one in the foody section of the market hall which, as their own website says, is a "convenient location" and "the destination of the gourmand".
The tap itself is a couple of miles into the suburbs to the west of the old town, but Labientis also have two central venues.
Including one in the foody section of the market hall which, as their own website says, is a "convenient location" and "the destination of the gourmand".
Labientis Centralmarket (Gastronomijas paviljons,Centrāltirgus iela 3 k-2 Rīga - web)
The central market was constructed between 1924 and 1930, utlisiing relocated WW1 German zeppelin hangers from the Latvian Vaiņode Air Base. There are only nine zeppelin hangers remaining worldwide, and five of them are here housing Riga's market.
The Labientis bar is great for folk who want to have a beer in a UNESCO-listed building. Not so good for anyone who covets the comfort and warmth of a cosy bar.
This is all about drinking beer with your coat on whilst sitting on precarious stools and watching the comings and goings at the food stalls. The member of staff was super-friendly, describing the four beers on tap (lots more in bottles if the tap lines don't take your fancy) and offering us tasters.
I picked the 'Ferdinand Chestnut Bock', a 6.5% brew which was okay, but very light in body and - the folly of craft beer in chilly venues - served too cold for me to really enjoy.
After leaving the market we had to visit the shopping mall to go shoe shopping.
I know how to enjoy myself on holiday.
Replacement for my rapidly disintegrating boots procured, we headed out on the walk to the Labientis tap.
Everyone will quite rightly tell you to visit Elizabetes iela to get carried away taking pictures of the stunning colourful Art Nouveau buildings. But I'm gonna be different and bring you pictures of the lesser heralded suburban Riga architecture that we passed on our walk.
The central market was constructed between 1924 and 1930, utlisiing relocated WW1 German zeppelin hangers from the Latvian Vaiņode Air Base. There are only nine zeppelin hangers remaining worldwide, and five of them are here housing Riga's market.
The Labientis bar is great for folk who want to have a beer in a UNESCO-listed building. Not so good for anyone who covets the comfort and warmth of a cosy bar.
This is all about drinking beer with your coat on whilst sitting on precarious stools and watching the comings and goings at the food stalls. The member of staff was super-friendly, describing the four beers on tap (lots more in bottles if the tap lines don't take your fancy) and offering us tasters.
After leaving the market we had to visit the shopping mall to go shoe shopping.
I know how to enjoy myself on holiday.
Replacement for my rapidly disintegrating boots procured, we headed out on the walk to the Labientis tap.
Everyone will quite rightly tell you to visit Elizabetes iela to get carried away taking pictures of the stunning colourful Art Nouveau buildings. But I'm gonna be different and bring you pictures of the lesser heralded suburban Riga architecture that we passed on our walk.
And the street art...
Our destination was located off Aristida Briāna, through the archway with statues of Hermes and Dionysus on top of it.
This whole block was once occupied by Štricka Brewery, producing 12 different types of beer, porter and malt liquor from the 1880's until the First World War, when the brewing kit was taken to Russia.
The mansions either side of the gate in the picture above were once the administrative buildings of the brewery. Nowadays they house a nightclub and music venue.
A little further into the complex is Labientis...
The mansions either side of the gate in the picture above were once the administrative buildings of the brewery. Nowadays they house a nightclub and music venue.
A little further into the complex is Labientis...
This isn't your average brewery. On their website they've colour-coded their beers into 'families' and quickly manage to confuse me with brewing alchemy.
They like their herbal and spiced beers, and recipes from hundreds of years ago.
Here's the taproom beer list..
Just like at the market, the staff member here was brimming with enthusiasm about the beers, explaining how stuff was brewed and all about the foraged ingredients that went into some of them.
After imparting so much information about their experimental beer styles, he was probably quite disappointed that I just picked the Imperial IPA.
I popped back to the bar for another beer and was given a (very generous) taster of the 15.6% bronze age braggot. A really interesting and unusual brew, although the sample measure was all I needed.
Great soundtrack - Mahavishnu Orchestra and Black Country New Road entertained us whilst we sat in the corner, trying to work out how to get to our next destination.
Valmiermuiža Beer Embassy was puzzling us, as it had exactly the same address as where we were sat, and Google refused to accept that it existed.
It does - and it looks like this...
Valmiermuižas Beer Embassy (A. Briāna iela 9a, Rīga)
This is actually located pretty much back-to-back with Labientis, in the same building with a frontage overlooking the Rimi supermarket.
There's a beer kitchen and a beer boutique here - we sat in the plush surroundings of the boutique where there was a beer wall with 17 taps, plus shelves of local bottles and cans.
On the walk back we popped into Taka (Miera iela 10, Centra rajons, Rīga, LV-1001), which gave us a bit of shelter from a brief flurry of snow.
Six beers on tap, from which I picked a sensible and easy-going IPA, 'Arhiteks' by the Manufaktura brewery.
This part of town has been marketed as the Riga Beer District, something we only scratched the surface of, but worth further exploration to find the other breweries and Pagan heavy metal bar.
Labientis also have a smart craft bar at the southern edge of Riga Old Town, Miezis + Kompanija, which we visited on the last day of our trip.
Sensible prices and an extensive beer list of their own creations alongside other Latvian craft breweries - this is somewhere I wouldn't hesitate to recommend.
Just one more Baltic post to go, in which I discover the best pub toilets in Riga, a couple of superb small craft bars, more weird herbal brews, and unwisely end up on the cherry liquor.
Madon. !=}
ReplyDeleteI am glad you at least had a taste of the #12 Tumsas Ragana [15.6% abv braggot. A braggot is a mead - of which the history of it in the U.K. goes back centuries.
Meads were the original cellared brews. They were specified to only be consumed for select ceremonies, which for 20th-21st Century U.K., I would designate as your team winning the Cup, or being promoted.