Brewery Tour in Reykjavik

After my first trip to Iceland, I knew two things about Icelandic beer: it's good, and for most of the 20th century you couldn't legally drink it. Prohibition started in 1915. Wine came back in 1922, after Spain threatened to stop buying Icelandic fish unless Iceland bought Spanish wine. Spirits came back in 1935. Beer stronger than 2.25% stayed illegal until 1 March 1989.

On my second trip I wanted to know more, so I booked the "Taste the Saga" evening at Ölgerðin, Iceland's oldest brewery. That tour no longer runs. Ölgerðin's own website offers no visitor tours as of 2026, the Gray Line page that sold the evening is gone, and the website of its beer school, Bjórskólinn, no longer exists. So below you'll find what I learned that night, then the places where you can still watch Icelandic beer being made.

My night at Ölgerðin

Ölgerðin Egill Skallagrímsson was founded in Reykjavik on 17 April 1913 by Tómas Tómasson, who started out in two basement rooms with a 65-litre brewing kettle. Today it makes Egils Gull, the Appelsín orange soda and Malt, and it owns the craft label Borg.

When we arrived, 50 or 60 people were already working through pints of Egils Gull that the staff kept pouring. The tour was in English, but we were in the minority: four other Americans, a few Germans and Danes, and everyone else Icelandic.

Our host, Husky, mixed history with his own opinions and kept the room laughing. The best story was about the beer ban. Bars got around it by mixing legal low-alcohol beer with legal spirits like brennivín or gin. It tasted foul, and in 1985 selling it was banned. That backfired, and the push to legalize real beer picked up speed in parliament. Husky also told us that Ölgerðin kept brewing full-strength beer for export during the ban, so foreigners drank the good stuff while Icelanders choked down the substitute.

Then came hair nets and a short walk through the brewing floor, and back to the bar for tasting: mead, the old beer-and-spirits mix, a shot of brennivín, and the non-alcoholic Malt and Appelsín. Icelanders mix those two into a Christmas drink, and if you're in Iceland in December you'll see it everywhere (more on that in Christmas in Iceland).

By the end of the 90 minutes I'd had three pints and a shot, which in a Reykjavik bar would have cost more than the €23.50 ticket. Tours like this are the cheapest way I know to drink well in an expensive country.

Beer Day: 1 March

Icelanders mark the end of the beer ban every year on 1 March. Beer Day often turns into a runtur, the weekend bar crawl, and some bars stay open until 4am. If your trip lands on that date, go out.

Where to see Icelandic beer being made now

Craft breweries started opening in the mid-2000s (Kaldi in 2006, Ölvisholt in 2007), and several now take visitors. Most tours are built for groups, so email ahead even if you're only two people. You need to be 20 to join any of them.

Ölverk, Hveragerði

Ölverk is a wood-fired pizza place with its own brewery, powered by geothermal energy from the Hengill area. The brewery tour runs about 45 minutes, includes four Ölverk beers, and costs 4,600 ISK per person, or 7,600 ISK with a pizza feast afterward (as of 2026). The listed minimum is 20 people, though they say it varies by time of day and season. The restaurant is open daily from 11:30 to 22:00, and the kitchen closes at 21:00. Their annual beer festival is on 2 and 3 October 2026. The town sits at the edge of the Hengill hiking area, which makes for a good pairing: walk first, beer after.

Ölvisholt, Hafnarfjörður

Ölvisholt has brewed since 2007 and is now based at Grandatröð 4 in Hafnarfjörður, just south of Reykjavik. Its two-hour beer tour costs 5,500 ISK per person and includes a card for four beers plus tasters straight from the fermentation tanks. For now tours are only for groups of 15 or more; book through salur@olvisholt.is.

Malbygg, Reykjavik

Malbygg is a craft brewery in Skútuvogur, a short bus ride east of downtown. No tour needed: the taproom is open Thursday to Saturday from 16:00 to 23:00, and they take group bookings.

Kaldi, Árskógssandur (North Iceland)

Bruggsmiðjan Kaldi opened in 2006 and calls itself Iceland's first craft brewery. It sits on the Eyjafjörður fjord north of Akureyri, with the Kaldi beer baths and Hótel Kaldi on the same site. Group visits last about 60 minutes and include unfiltered beer straight from the tap; book at bruggsmidjan@bruggsmidjan.is.

Borg Brugghús

Borg is Ölgerðin's craft brewery and doesn't advertise tours, but its numbered beers are easy to find in Reykjavik bars. Recent releases include Nr. 117 Ástríkur, a pale ale made for Reykjavik Pride.

Tasting beer downtown without a tour

• Kaldi Bar, Laugavegur 20b: 12 beers on tap and 93 gins. Happy hour runs 16:00 to 19:00, and the bar is open from noon to 1am, until 3am on Fridays and Saturdays.
• Skúli Craft Bar, Aðalstræti 9, in the old center.

To buy beer to take home, you'll need the state liquor stores or the airport duty-free shop. Drinking in Iceland covers both, and What to Drink in Iceland covers what to order.

FAQ

Can I still take the Ölgerðin brewery tour?

No. The "Taste the Saga" tour has ended, and Ölgerðin doesn't run any other visitor tours as of 2026. Ölverk and Ölvisholt are the closest things to it near Reykjavik, and Kaldi is the one to plan for in the north.

How old do you have to be?

The drinking age in Iceland is 20, and brewery tours hold to it.

Can I visit a brewery on my own, not with a group?

Your best bet is a taproom like Malbygg or a brewery restaurant like Ölverk. The formal tours at Ölverk, Ölvisholt and Kaldi are sold to groups, but it doesn't hurt to email and ask whether you can join one.