In this guide
- Farmhouse ales: Lithuanian farmhouse ales (kaimiškas alus) are brewed with farm yeasts and sometimes baked malt (keptinis).
- Beer snack: Kepta duona, fried garlic rye bread served hot with a cheese sauce.
- Pubs: Šnekutis (country ales in Užupis and the Old Town) and Alaus Namai (20 farmhouse taps by the river).
- Mead: Honey mead (midus) is served in vaulted Old Town cellars.
- Or book a tasting tour: Vilnius: Beer Tasting Experience with Snack Platterad from €77 is a 2-hour craft beer tasting with a snack platter.
In the north of Lithuania, around Biržai, Pasvalys and Pakruojis in the region of Aukštaitija, farm brewers kept making their own ales while the industrial brewing of the nineteenth century spread elsewhere. Vilnius pubs now pour those farmhouse ales next to modern craft beer, in cellars and courtyards across the Old Town.
A traditional craft beer pub interior in Vilnius. Photo: calflier001, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Lithuanian Farmhouse Beer Styles
Look for these styles on tap lists in Vilnius:
1. Kaimiškas Alus (Country / Farmhouse Ale)
Brewed on small family farms in northern Lithuania, kaimiškas ales are typically unpasteurised, unfiltered and naturally carbonated. They are fermented with farm yeast cultures passed down within a family, which give notes of wild honey, straw, earth and ripe stone fruit, with a soft body.
2. Keptinis (Baked Malt Ale)
The brewer forms the wet malt mash into dense loaves and bakes them in a wood-fired oven until the crust browns. The loaves are then broken up, mashed a second time with hot water, and fermented with farmhouse yeast. The beer is reddish-brown and silky, tasting of toasted crust, malted biscuits and dark treacle.
3. Raw Ale (Žalias Alus)
Conventional beer boils the wort with hops. Raw ale is mashed and fermented without boiling, and the hops are steeped in hot water like tea. The result is a hazy, bready beer that is best drunk fresh from the cellar.
| Beer Style | Appearance | Tasting Profile |
|---|---|---|
| Kaimiškas Šviesusis | Hazy golden-amber | Wild honey, straw, soft malt sweetness |
| Keptinis | Opaque dark brown | Toasted rye bread, molasses, roasted biscuits |
| Raw Ale (Žalias alus) | Pale hazy straw | Doughy, fresh grain, herbal, low carbonation |
| Baltic porter | Black | Dark chocolate, dried prunes, roasted coffee |
| Midus (honey mead) | Clear amber | Floral honey, wildflowers, herbs |
Kepta Duona and other beer snacks
Beer in Lithuania comes with snacks (užkandžiai prie alaus). The standard order is kepta duona (literally “fried bread”).
It is made from dark Lithuanian rye bread (juoda duona), cut into thick finger-length batons, shallow-fried in sunflower oil until crisp outside and tender within, then rubbed with crushed garlic.
It arrives hot with a ramekin of warm cheese sauce, made with mayonnaise, sour cream and grated hard Lithuanian cheese (Džiugas).
Other snacks to look for on pub menus:
- Rūkytos kiaulės ausys: Smoked pig ears sliced into thin, crunchy strips, served with brown mustard and grated horseradish.
- Vytintos dešrelės and jautiena: Air-dried sausages and dried beef slices seasoned with cumin, garlic and coriander seed.
- Žirniai su spirgučiais: Boiled grey field peas tossed with crispy pork crackling.
- Džiugas cheese platter: Lithuania’s aged hard cheese, served at 12, 18, 24 and 36 months of maturity with honey, grapes and walnuts.
A traditional beer pub in Vilnius Old Town. Photo: Bernt Rostad from Oslo, Norway, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
Top Pubs and Craft Beer Bars in Vilnius
1. Šnekutis
Šnekutis is a craft brewery and pub founded by the brewer Valentinas Vaškevičius, with branches in Užupis (Polocko g. 7) and the Old Town (Šv. Stepono g. 8). It has rough-hewn timber tables, antique farm tools, and unpasteurised northern country ales poured from unmarked taps. The food is rustic: potato zeppelins (cepelinai), potato pancakes and platters of kepta duona.
2. Alaus Namai (A. Goštauto g. 8)
Alaus Namai (“Beer House”) is a vaulted stone basement on the bank of the Neris, devoted to the independent breweries of northern Lithuania. Eighteen to twenty taps rotate farmhouse ales, unboiled beers and dark lagers from Biržai, Pasvalys and Kupiškis, with pub food to go with them.
3. Būsi Trečias (Totorių g. 18)
The name means “You’ll Be the Third”. Būsi Trečias has brewed on site since 1993, and the copper fermentation tanks are visible behind the bar of its two-storey brick pub. It pours its own light, dark and caramel-malt beers and beer cocktails with cherry or ginger juice, and has a beer garden in summer.
4. Nisha Craft Beer Bar (L. Stuokos-Gucevičiaus g. 9)
Nisha is steps from Cathedral Square. It has eight taps and several hundred bottled and canned beers from Lithuanian microbreweries such as Dundulis, Genys, Sakiškių alus and Kuro Aparatūra, plus European lambics and imperial stouts. The bartenders will put together tasting flights.
5. Prohibicija (Arklių g. 6)
Prohibicija is a minimalist taproom in a courtyard near the Town Hall, pouring small-batch experimental beers, sour ales, hazy double IPAs and barrel-aged stouts, with sliders and cured snacks.
Outdoor cafe and bar terraces in Vilnius Old Town. Photo: Phillip Capper, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
Lithuanian Mead (Midus)
Midus (honey mead) was the ceremonial drink of the medieval Lithuanian nobility. Lithuanian mead is fermented from wildflower and linden honey, with juniper berries, thyme and linden flowers among the flavourings.
The tradition was revived in the twentieth century in the town of Stakliškės, whose meads hold EU Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status. Styles to look for:
- Trakai Midus: Flavoured with linden flowers, juniper berries and oak acorns; smooth and gently sweet.
- Bočių Midus: An amber mead fermented with juniper berries and hops.
- Žalgiris: Named after the Battle of Grunwald, a strong distilled mead aged in oak barrels.
- Where to taste mead: Restoranas Lokys (Stiklių g. 8) and Amatininkų Užeiga (Didžioji g. 19) serve it in historic cellars, and the Old Town vaults host mead tastings.
Guided Beer and Drink Tastings
| Tasting Experience | Price | Duration | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beer tasting and snack platter | From €77 | 2 hours | Craft beer tasting with a snack platter |
| Local wine and mead cellar tasting | From €59 | 1.5 hours | Mead and berry wines in a vaulted cellar |
Vilnius: Beer Tasting Experience with Snack Platter
From €77 · 5.0 stars from 1 review · 2 hours · craft beer tasting
Vilnius: Beer Tasting Experience with Snack Platterad: a guided craft beer tasting with a snack platter, on how to read flavour and aroma.
Practical Bar Advice
- Drinking age: The legal age to drink and buy alcohol in Lithuania is 20. Carry photo ID (passport or driving licence).
- Shop hours: Shops and supermarkets sell takeaway alcohol only Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 20:00 and Sunday 10:00 to 15:00. Bars, restaurants and pubs are not affected.
- Pub hours: Most central craft beer pubs open around 15:00 or 16:00 on weekdays, earlier at weekends, and stay open until midnight on weeknights and 02:00 or 03:00 on Friday and Saturday.
Common questions
What makes Lithuanian beer unique?
Lithuania has a farmhouse brewing tradition (kaimiškas alus) that survives in the north of the country. Farmhouse brewers use their own yeast cultures, brew without boiling the wort, and sometimes bake the malt (keptinis), producing cloudy, earthy ales with caramel and herbal flavours.
What is keptinis beer?
Keptinis is a traditional Lithuanian dark ale style where the moist malt mash is formed into loaves and baked in a wood-fired oven until a dark, caramelized crust forms. The baked loaves are then remashed and fermented, imparting distinctive aromas of toasted rye bread and molasses.
What are the usual beer snacks in Vilnius?
Kepta duona: fried dark rye bread fingers rubbed with garlic and served with a warm melted cheese dip. Other staples are smoked pig ears (kiaulės ausys), cured meats, smoked cheeses, and peas with bacon bits.
Where can you try traditional Lithuanian mead?
Mead (midus), fermented from honey, is served in Old Town cellar restaurants such as Lokys and Amatininkų Užeiga. Stakliškės mead has EU protected geographical indication status.
Which craft beer pubs should you visit in Vilnius?
Šnekutis (unpasteurised country ales), Alaus Namai (a basement tavern with about 20 taps of northern farmhouse ales), Būsi Trečias (a brewpub brewing on site since 1993), Nisha Craft Beer Bar and Prohibicija.
