Finnish brewery launches Nato beer with ‘taste of security’

19 May 2022, 16:54

Beer cans inspired by the Nato logo by Olaf Brewing Company are displayed in Savonlinna, eastern Finland
Finland Sweden NATO. Picture: PA

The beer’s name is a play on the Finnish expression ‘Otan olutta’, which means ‘I’ll have a beer, and the French abbreviation for Nato, which is Otan.

A small brewery in Finland has launched a Nato-themed beer to mark the Nordic country’s bid to join the western military alliance.

Olaf Brewing’s Otan lager features a blue label with a cartoon version of a beer-drinking medieval knight in metal armour emblazoned with Nato’s compass symbol.

The beer’s name is a play on the Finnish expression “Otan olutta”, which means “I’ll have a beer”, and the French abbreviation for Nato, which is Otan.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation has two official languages, English and French.

Beer cans with writing OTAN inspired by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) logo by Olaf Brewing are displayed in Savonlinna, eastern Finland
Beer cans inspired by the Nato logo by Olaf Brewing are displayed in Savonlinna, eastern Finland (Soila Puurtinen/Lehtikuva via AP)

Chief executive Petteri Vanttinen told the Associated Press that the craft brewery’s ad hoc decision last weekend to start producing the beer was motivated by “worries over the war in Ukraine” and its consequences for Finland.

He described the new lager as having “a taste of security, with a hint of freedom”.

Finland and Sweden on Wednesday submitted an application to join Nato at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels.

Olaf Brewing said its new beer also honours the eastern Finnish town of Savonlinna, the brewery’s base located a few dozen kilometres from Finland’s border with Russia.

Savonlinna is known for St Olaf’s Castle, a medieval structure from 1475 that serves as a venue for an annual international opera festival.

“Our small hometown Savonlinna has always lied in the borderlands between East and West. Many battles have been fought in the town area and at St. Olafs Castle,” the brewery said in a Twitter post.

Finland shares a 1,340-kilometre (830-mile) border with Russia, the longest of any European Union member.

By Press Association

Latest World News

See more Latest World News

South Africa Bus Crash

Girl, 8, the sole survivor as 45 die in bus crash off South Africa bridge

A spokesman has denied reports the sausage dog could be banned.

The wurst news is over: Germany denies claims of sausage dog ban

Israel Palestinians Britain Aid

UN top court orders Israel to open more land crossings into Gaza

Greece Confidence Vote

Greece’s government survives no-confidence motion called over rail disaster

Israel Palestinians UN Security Council

Russia ‘abolishes’ monitoring of sanctions on North Korea with UN veto

Firefighters at the scene of a bus crash in Limpopo

Bus falls from bridge in South Africa and erupts into flames, killing at least 45 and leaving child, 8, as lone survivor

Music-Green Day UN

Green Day to headline UN-backed global climate concert

Sam Bankman-Fried

FTX founder Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison for crypto fraud

France Valentino

Former Gucci designer Alessandro Michele named Valentino creative director

Russia Shooting

Russia arrests another suspect in concert hall attack that killed 143

American Easter egg

White House’s annual Easter egg roll to be attended by 40,000 people

Barbers in Paris

Proposal to ban discrimination over a person’s hair passes first legal hurdle

Mahmoud Abbas

Palestinian Authority names new government following pressure to reform

Arvind Kejriwal

Opposition leader Kejriwal locked up for further four days, court rules

Resident clears rubble from home

Russia wears down Ukrainian defences with missile and drone attacks

Pope Francis

Pope urges priests to avoid ‘clerical hypocrisy’ in Maundy Thursday speech