Why Iceland Banned Beer For More Than 70 Years

Beer is the drink of choice in Iceland these days but, just 35 years ago, it was banned in the country. Iceland went through a period of prohibition where the manufacture and sale of alcohol was made illegal. In 1915, 60% of Iceland's population supported the total ban — but in the 20 years that followed, wine and spirits were made legal again. But not beer. For a long 74 years, beer above 2.25% was banned in Iceland until 1989.

The prohibitions experienced by many countries in the 1900's were motivated by religious, political, and safety reasons, with the primary desire to control the issues in society that stemmed from drunkenness. Although beer has a lower alcohol content than wine and spirits, in Icelandic society, it was thought of as a cheap gateway alcohol that would lead young people to drink more. Plus, at the same time as Iceland's prohibition, it was becoming independent from Denmark, a country that drank beer heavily. Therefore, beer was viewed as an unpatriotic beverage. There was always a sneaky way to get around prohibition laws, and true beer-lovers in Iceland chose to buy a low-percentage beer and mix in a shot of brennivín, aka black death, a harsh vodka-like liquor flavored with caraway.

If you visit Iceland today, you can now cheers by saying skál with an ice-cold bjor (the Icelandic word for beer) in hand. The country has now happily incorporated beer into its culture, with more craft and microbreweries popping up in recent years. The country's first microbrewery, Kaldi, opened in 2006, and this brand is now internationally known. You can certainly find a standard ale or lager in Iceland, but many breweries proudly add local ingredients to beer, like berries, algae, herbs, and of course, glacier water. 

Beer is perfectly legal in the country, but it's important to note that Iceland still has some restrictions on alcohol. The country's drinking age is 20 for all types of alcohol, and the only places alcohol can be purchased by individuals are government-operated stores or duty-free stores in the airport. If you're a zythophile visiting Iceland, try to plan your visit to the country around March 1st; this is the day that beer was made legal again and it is celebrated as B-Day, or Bjor Day. If you plan on checking out Iceland's famous lagoons, some of them, like the Blue Lagoon and Secret Lagoon, have bars where you can snag a local brew and sip on it in the water!