Menu Close

Beer tasting at the 'School' in Turku

Advertisement

When we were in Turku we visited Koulu, or "Skolan" as it is called in Swedish. It doesn't sound like much fun, but the old girls' school now houses a brewery and a restaurant, and here we got to take part in a beer tasting!

Tweet
Share
Share
Pin
Share
Share

School is in the walls

When the building was completed in 1889, the "Fruntimmersskolan" moved in. The school then changed its name an awful lot, from "Svenska flickskolan i Åbo" to "Åbo svenska flicklyceum" and to "Cygnaeusskolan".

The last student left the school in 1997 and the following year the brewery and restaurant opened with the name Koulu, "The School". Today, the Koulu, "The School", Finland's largest restaurant brewery with an annual beer production of 150,000 litres and 800 seats on two floors, for lunch, dinner and parties.

Even though these are new times, the history is in the walls. The first thing you see when you enter is a school carpet, and in the various rooms, which have obviously been classrooms, there are chalkboards, rules of order and world maps... as if the students were here just a short time ago.

Vi fastnade en stund vid Asien-kartan i ett av klassrummen
We took a moment to look at the Asia map in one of the classrooms.

Beer tasting in the "School"

The beer tasting started with a guided tour of the premises where the beer is produced and the whole process was described to us. I wasn't a very good "student" in school, so I can't reproduce it all, but it was at least interesting to follow around and see what it looks like in a restaurant brewery. In addition to the beer production, we got to see a lot of other rooms, such as the Bellman party room and the Vinstugan - yep, there's even wine here!

After the tour, it was time for tasting! We got to try four different types of beer, which were all very good and flavourful. I have been to many different wine tastings in my life, but never actually been to a beer tasting before, so it was a bit interesting. Do you like beer and if so, have you ever been to a beer tasting?

Öltillverkningen beskrivs för oss
Beer production is described to us
Ölprovning
Beer tasting with four different beers in the "School".

More to see and do in the neighbourhood

There is much to see and do in and around Turku. For example, we can advise on Turku Castle, Turku market hall, if good restaurants around Turku and if Turku archipelago in winter splendour. In addition, there is of course much to see and what to do in Helsinki. Even more tips about Finland can be found below.

All our top tips about Finland. Click on the image!

Subscribe to our newsletter