The new Alcohol Act, the renaissance in the craft beer industry, and the revolution in beer culture have led to a rapid increase in the number of craft beers and craft breweries. This study was commissioned by Linden Brewery Oy, a microbrewery from Rauma which started operations in 2016. Its goal of increasing its annual production made it essential to discover the legal distribution channels for artisan beer, and to compare the structures of those channels. In order to be able to compare them, the logistics of the distribution and delivery of beer products were also reviewed.

The thesis was carried out through so-called armchair research. In its theoretical part, the current state of the Finnish craft beer industry and the development of domestic and global beer culture were studied. The revised Finnish Alcohol Act was thoroughly reviewed, and an attempt was made to determine its effects on the craft beer industry. Most of the material dealt with the legal distribution channels of a domestic craft brewery and its special features.

The study provided insight into the current situation of the domestic craft brewing industry. The results include a compilation of the distribution channels of Finnish craft beer. To facilitate their detection, a schema of possible brewery-to-consumer distribution routes for artisan beer was created. After mapping and analysing the various distribution channels, the researcher could compare them in a very general way, with the help of a few important determining variables.

The results of this study show that the number of craft breweries in Finland has at least tripled in just over a decade. Increased competition may cause financial problems for some microbreweries. The latest Finnish Alcohol Act provided some benefits to microbreweries, such as a licensing arrangement to sell craft beer at the brewery. However, the allowance for distance selling, which has often been featured in the media and is often sought after by the craft beer industry, was not fully addressed in the latest Alcohol Act. A change in beer culture is also indicated by the fact that most beer distribution channels have clearly detected the craft beer movement and have also invested in the sale of artisan beers. Some major Finnish micro-breweries have already exported some of their beers. However, according to some estimates, craft breweries’ efforts to sell their beers abroad have only just begun.