Alcohol regulations in Finland about to change?

In the midst of distilling we had a look at the news and in the midst of all of the horrible things that are happening in the world, we saw many good things too. Especially the Finnish alcohol law reform.

The spirits business is challenging here in Finland, not because of lack of customers, but because of legislation that’s inspired from the prohibition that ended in 1932. Ever since that year, our alcohol legislation has been quite conservative compared to the rest of Europe. However there’s an ongoing reform that, if it becomes reality, we’re going to expect this, among other things:

• Today all restaurants in Finland has to stop selling alcohol at 01:30 and close at 02:00, (unless they have a special permission to sell until 04:00). After the reform all restaurants may be open 24/7, as long as they stop selling alcohol at 04:00.
• The maximum ABV in beverages sold in grocery stores, petrol stations and kiosks has been 4,7%. Alongside the new legislation the maximum will be 5,5% and furthermore the beverages may also contain products produced through distilling.
• A possibility that very small craft breweries with a production of less than 500 000 litres per year can sell their own products straight from the brewery (max 12% ABV).

In case the law gets approved, we’re going to be in for a thrill. While we can not be sure what is going to become reality and what isn’t, we sincerely think that the government is finally steering the boat in the right direction regarding alcohol legislation.

Ah well, this was interesting news, now back to distilling. That, my friends is going forward like a charm. You’ll hear from us soon again!