Hiernagla Brenneri: Experience happiness in a bottle with Hiernagla Brenneri

With whisky, gin, aquavit and rum to make your spirits rise, Hiernagla Brenneri is an award-winning brewery and distillery based in Sveio, Norway. The Norwegian creators of its bottled magic wish to showcase the best of Nordic flavours, surroundings and history through world-class drinks.

Hiernagla’s journey did not start at home but across the sea, where four friends found themselves crossing Scottish waters. Surrounded by Scotland’s beautiful lochs and land, they were reminded of the Western part of Norway, where they’re from. The only difference was that every headland had a castle, and each town had its distillery.

“It made us wonder why we don’t have the same distillery tradition in Norway. After all, we have the same environment and access to raw materials, so, surely, we could produce as good, if not even better whisky at home,” says Reidar Horneland, manager and distiller at Hiernagla Brenneri.

In their twenties, Horneland and his friend Magne Bratseth had developed an interest in whisky and were brewing beer at home. Rekindling their love for whisky, the trip to Scotland spurred the idea of establishing their own, Norwegian distillery. Soon after, along with Kristine Omvik, Ragnhild Omvik Bratseth, and Geir Ivar Seime, Horneland and Braseth established Hiernagla Brenneri.

“Hiernagla is the old way of writing Tjernagel, the name of a historical location near the brewery which looks out on the beautiful Hardangerfjord. Our logo is inspired by a 3000-year-old golden bracelet found in a ditch near our brewery,” says Horneland.

As an ode to their local area and history, the founders of Hiernagla Brenneri have dedicated their efforts to showcasing the best of Norwegian quality.

“Our goal is to make world-class whisky, as well as gin, aquavit and rum,” Horneland says, adding: “Our first gin, Værbitt Skogsbær (wild berries) Gin was awarded double gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in 2022, meaning that all judges awarded it a gold medal during a blind tasting.”

As a company, Horneland explains that they’re driven by quality, allowing them to focus on sourcing the best raw materials and developing good processes. Further, the Hiernagla team do their best to ensure that production is as eco-friendly as it can be. Half of the brewery’s production is powered by solar cells, and materials and energy are recycled.

“With our first whisky, we chose to skip the packaging and instead worked with a company called Trefadder to plant a tree for every litre sold,” says Horneland.

Going forward, Hiernagla Brenneri has planned a new, environmentally friendly whisky made from turf from local areas and is looking to launch two brand-new whiskies in 2024.

Web: www.hiernagla.no
Instagram: @hiernaglabrenneri
Facebook: Hiernagla