Beer Museum Alivaria, Minsk

The Beer Museum Alivaria is the first beer museum in Belarus, situated within the country's oldest operating brewery, which has been in existence since 1864. The museum was established in 2012. It all began when Rohlya Frumkinova from Minsk founded her wooden brewery in 1864. Later, in the 1890s, Count Jan Karol Chapski, a significant mayor of Minsk, transformed it into a modern brick brewery named Bohemia, equipped with advanced brewing technology.

In 1899, the Lekkert family acquired Bohemia and aimed to build a beer empire in Belarus. However, their plans were interrupted by the 1918 revolution and the subsequent nationalization of the brewery. From then until 1991, the brewery was restricted to producing only five types of beer under Soviet standards. The brewery was privatized in 1994 by Tamara Dudko, who renamed it Alivaria, introduced new yeast strains, experimented with new beer types, and upgraded the equipment.

The museum tour lasts about two hours and is divided into three sections: history, modern production, and tasting. The historical section showcases the brewery's development in the 19th century with replicas of old brewing equipment, historical documents, and Soviet-era beer advertisements. The modern production segment explains the contemporary brewing process using electronic displays and includes visits to the malt milling and hot brewing areas. The tour concludes with a beer tasting session, where participants sample two types of beer.