A new beer that tastes just as good at the seafood buffet as on the sun deck – a lager has now been added to Viking Line's assortment of own-brand beverages

Viking Line is now launching a second private label beer on its vessels. Viking Line Lager is an aromatic, refreshing craft beer that is related to the company's own IPA, which was launched in 2022. Both beers were developed in partnership with the award-winning microbrewery Rock Paper Scissors Brewing in Kuopio, Finland.

Viking Line's first beer based on its own recipe - Viking Line IPA, with a taste of sea salt - was launched in late 2022. The company is now expanding its assortment with a refreshing lager.

"It was a positive surprise that our first beer became so popular. So we decided to develop another beer in the same vein, Viking Line Lager, which tastes just as good at the vessel's seafood buffet as on the sun deck. As our partner, we again chose the multi-award-winning microbrewery RPS Brewing, which is known for its high quality," says Ossi Ruusunen, who is Beverages Manager at Viking Line.

Viking Line wanted an aromatic, refreshing beer with a mineral profile that is easily identifiable as being related to its Viking Line IPA. The Kuopio-based brewery took note of this in its development work, which was carried out together with Viking Line's restaurant and marketing department.

"In purely concrete terms, the relationship is apparent from the ingredients. The aromatic hops in Viking Line IPA come from Nya Zeeland, and the Riwaka hops from the same area also give the new lager a fresh, fruity tone with a hint of grapefruit. The fresh aroma works perfectly with the crisp, malty, slightly nutty  base malt,” says Heikki Pelkonen, product developer at Rock Paper Scissors Brewing.

Viking Line Lager will be part of the company’s own-brand assortment, which along with Viking Line IPA also includes wines and a house champagne. The new beer will be sold in all restaurants and tax-free shops on Viking Line’s vessels.

Link to the original press release of Viking Line.

Text & Pictures ©: Viking Line