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Saku to brew an historical beer in recognition of the founder of Estonian beer culture

Saku Brewery will today launch a pale lager with a historic taste, Karl Friedrich, which has been brewed in recognition of the founder of Estonian beer culture and Saku Brewery. The new brew represents an attempt to recreate the taste of the first Saku beers.

“Saku Brewery supports long-term traditions and historic values; therefore, we have added knowledge that has been attained over many centuries into the new Karl Beer,” said Kadri Ärm, Marketing Director of Saku Brewery.

“Karl is a simple light beer – a good solid beer brewed in Estonia for centuries. There is no luxurious bouquet of aromas, fine species of hops, trendy freshness, etc. The new beer embodies the best selection of barley malt, water, hops, brewer’s yeast and the experiences of the Saku brew masters,” Ärm explained.

A recognisable, sweet “bread-like” undertone makes Karl special. A special mashing regime, characterised by low fermentation level, was used to achieve this flavour; the regime maintains more sugars than usual in the beer. While most of the sugars are fermented into alcohol with regular beer, Karl contains a much higher sugar level, which one can recognise in its flavour.

According to Ärm, the “bread-like” note, featured by Karl, is one of the characteristics of a traditional beer and no attempts have been made to employ modern tricks to either remove or conceal this flavour. “By adding the right quantity of hops and the experiences of the Saku brew masters to this special flavour, we have created a rustic and unique taste of a traditional flavour. It feels real good to offer our consumers the opportunity to share in something authentic,” said Ärm.

Karl does not make a distinction between beer friends, based on the size of their wallet, life style or any other beliefs. While most beer brands have selected a specific target group and strive to appeal to this specific group, Karl is happy to embrace as its friends all smart and busy people who are capable of appreciating the charm of simplicity.

The birthday of Saku Brewery is considered to be 1820, when the owner of Saku manor, German earl Karl Friedrich Rehbinder, also decided to establish a brewery at his manor. It has been proven with documentary evidence that the first production period at the Saku beer house was in October 1820. Although only limited written materials are available on the different recipes of Saku beers, it’s highly likely that the beer, brewed to the very same recipe that was developed at the beginning of the 19th century and which has been improved over times, has been sold over different regimes since the birth of Saku Brewery.

Karl will reach stores this week; the product will be available in 0.5L bottles, 0.5L cans and 0.33L cans as an 8-pack. The price of Karl will be similar to the price of other popular Saku brands – Saku Originaal and Rock. 

Kadri Ärm
Marketing Director of Saku Brewery
T. 50 10 550
E-mail: kadri.arm@saku.ee