Craft beer in Finland:
Salama, Etko and Factory in Kerava
Craft beer in Finland: Salama. Etko and Factory in Kerava
The Klondyke House in Kerava is a historic former rubber factory, that after a huge renovation project has a fully new life. This handsome red brick building was turned into a that has a new life as a business and event center. This a unique complex is also a fantastic destination for craft beer lovers, as it’s home to two excellent, international microbreweries! In this post we introduce Salama Brewing Company and ETKO Brewery, that is also behind the internationally popular Factory Brewing brand.
Salama Brewing Co. blows minds with both beer and designs
Salama Brewing is was founded in Espoo by four friends with a shared passion for beer, bad jokes, and life, and the first beers were launched in February 2019. The craft beer enthusiasts in Finland loved them, and Salama quickly started to gather name and reputation both in Finland and abroad. In fact Salama is a true pioneer in increasing the awareness of Finnish beer abroad and exporting it to different corners of the world, and has led the way to the international market for several other Finnish artisan breweries.
“Our brewery is driven by friendship, a shared passion for creativity and love for the communal ethos of the craft beer culture. We want to turn strangers into friends, friends into lovers and lovers into a family that cherishes megalomanic visions, strange stories and bad jokes that always seem to cross at least our minds after a few great brewskies.”
“We intend to push the boundaries, blending traditional techniques with daring new flavours for something extraordinary. We juggle hops and flavours to create high-quality modern craft beer that will drive the electrical impulses in your brain wild and make you want to share your excitement with the world.”
Besides excellent, daring craft beers, Salama’s strengths also include distinctiveness. The striking label art, inspired by pop and horror culture, makes Salama cans easy to recognize on the shelves of beer stores. The work salama translated to a lightning, a theme visible also in the logo. Most of the stunning label art is work of one of the co-founders of the brewery, architect Ville Saarikoski.
From Fallåker in Espoo to Klondyke House in Kerava
For the first years, all Salama beers were brewed in their small brewery in Fallåker area in Espoo. The first factory still exists, and for example part of the special releases and collaborations are brewed there. In addition, there still is a small taproom pub with a summer terrace, and a brewery shop.
The new Kerava brewery is impressive, to say the least. It’s large (for a Finnish microbrewery), modern, automatized and effective, but there still is the certain, distinctive Salama-feel in it, starting from the bright pink malt milling system. The German-made 2000-liter brew-house can be programmed to produce three batches per day in stages, which increases the brewing capacity remarkably.
During our visit the first row of fermenting tanks of 2000, 4000 and 6000 liters was already installed, and there is enough space reserved for another row, making it easy to increase the capacity step by step as needed. When it comes to packaging, there is a fancy, Wild Goose 24-can canning machine, and roughly half of the production is packed in kegs.
To mention some of our favorites of the Salama beers that we have tried so far, we have loved for example the Fruited Berliner Weisse called Bloody Geezer, and its berry-infused cousin Nordic Geezer, the Death of Barbie American IPA, the Circle of Fist Double NEIPA and the Follow The Pink Rabbit DIPA.
While opening a new taproom in Kerava is still underway, Salama beers can be tasted super fresh from tap at the brewery’s first location in Espoo and in the SalamaNation taproom bar in Helsinki city center. Furthermore, you can find them in several other restaurants, pubs and bars all around Finland, and in bottle shops and craft beer pubs all over Europe and beyond.
ETKO Brewery and Factory Brewing
In Klondyke House it’s possible to hit two birds (or actually three) with one stone, as there is another excellent brewery right next to Salama, literally behind a wall! ETKO Brewery is known for their crushable craft beers and neighborhood brewery attitude. In plural the name Etko(t) translates to a pre-party, a get-together before some event or celebration.
“Established in the industrial region of Herttoniemi in Helsinki, ETKO has grown to be known as the urban neighborhood brewery with a modern take on craft beer. We will always stay true to our joyful ethos as a craft brewery and want to share the good beer and the good vibes with the community we love.”
For the first years, ETKO was focused on domestic market, but after the covid years the small crew started started thinking about breaking into the international market. In 2023 they launched first beers under a new brand, Factory Brewing, with the aim of bringing Finnish beer better into the international spotlight. Factory was mostly just an experiment at first, but the new beers quickly gained great popularity both in Finland and abroad.
Two craft beer brands, two different markets
As explained in the beginning, ETKO Brewery has two different craft beer brands. Under the ETKO brand, the crew brews quality craft beers in a great variety of styles mostly for domestic market. The beer selection ranges from crispy Pilsners to IPAs in different styles and from Wheat Beers to Fruited Sours. Furthermore, there are also some darker beers available more seasonally. When visiting the brewery in late August 2025, we tasted the freshly canned Mango Magic, and this thick sour with mango and coconut was super delicious!
The new(ish) Factory Brewing brand focuses especially on juicy New England style IPAs and intense, barrel-aged Imperial Stouts and Imperial Pastry Stouts. Factory craft beers have become popular among beer enthusiasts all across Europe and beyond, and roughly half of the production of them is exported. Also Finns love Factory, and the beers sell super well in the brewery taproom as well as in bottle shops and pubs around the country.
Our of the Factory craft beers that we tasted during the autumn 2025 we loved for example the My Favorite Things NEIPA, The Executioner 2025 TIPA, the Barista Series #2 (Brazilian Coffee & Cinnamon) Imperial Pastry Stout and the Lady Cupcake #7 (Rocky Road) Imperial Pastry Stout.
Klondyke Taproom and Beer Shop
About Craft Beer Nomads
Craft Beer Nomads is a blog about artisan beer, microbreweries and craft beer culture in Europe and beyond. The blog is written by FinnsAway, a nomad couple who has been on the road since 2017, and enjoys tasting new craft beers all around the world.
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