Skál (that’s cheers) for the beers!

The theme for SEPAC 2022 being Local Breweries, the new Faroe Islands’ stamp designed by Anker Eli Petersen celebrates the Föroya Bjór brewery which has supplied the Faroese with beer and soft drinks for almost 150 years.

The famous local brewery began in 1888, when baker Simun î Vági started brewing beer in his basement at home in Vági (now Klaksvig. It must have tasted good because the home brew shortly developed into the Föroya Bjór brewery! Simun’s original logo of the Faroese ram is included on the new stamp.

Föroya Bjór has weathered changes, including the postreferendum ruling in 1907 banning beer with an alcohol content over 2.7%, which meant Faroese breweries were only able to produce light lager beer and white beer – although stronger beers were allowed to be imported from Denmark!

Föroya Bjór began producing soft drinks in the 1930s, which enabled the company’s development from small brewer to modern industrial establishment. In the 1980s, the peculiar Faroese legislation surrounding the brewing of strong drink on the Islands came to an end, and Föroya Bjór was again able to brew strong beers and real lagers. The brewery is now responsible for 65% of Faroese beer sales and 45% of soft drink sales. A recent move has been the production of distilled alcohol products – initially Faroese specialities such as aquavit, vodka, gin, bitters and rhubarb liqueur. In November 2020, going from strength to strength, it launched its first Single Malt Whisky. Skál!

Issue date: 16 May 2022, en.stamps.fo