Norwegian brewery founded in 1875 by the brothers Amund and Ellef Ringnes from the Ringes farm in
Hallingdal. The financial support came from a
venture capitalist called Axel Heiberg.
The first product was bayer beer, since bayer was the best selling beer type of the turn of the century. Ringe started production of pilsner quite early and in 1892 decided to make pilsner their primary product.
Ringnes was the first norwegian brewery that grew their unique yeast strain. This strain of yeast gave the Ringes pilsner a taste that differentiated it from the rest of the beers. The strain was developed by dr. Olav Johan Olsen.
The company was dominant in the market and bought the two second largest brewries (Schou's and Frydenlund) under it's Nora Industries umbrella in the late seventies. Later they also bought family-owned traditional brands as E.C. Dahls (1987), Arendals (1980) and Tou (1990).
Ringnes is the most exported beer in Norway, and USA is one of the main markets. The Ringnes brothers were interested in science and supported the Fram-expeditions of Fridtjof Nansen and Otto Sverdrup. These were polar expeditions, and as a token of gratitude, Nansen named three islands in Canada after Axel, Amund and Ellef. These islands are located in the northenmost territories of Canada, west of Greenland.
Personal opinion of the beer: Cheap shitty beer. See Mack Beer for a good taste of Norway.
Ringnes produces these brands (A brand with an (L) is produced on licence):
Beer and alcoholic products:
Ringnes
Carlsberg (L)
Lysholmer
Frydenlund
E.C.Dahls Pils
Tou Pils
Nordlandspils
Arendalspils
1856
Tou Blå
Guinness (L)
Kilkenny (L)
Lapin Kulta (L)
Eagle (L)
Munkholm
Teezer (L)
Sodapop products:
Pepsi (L)
Solo (L)
Farris (L)
Imsdal (Water)