Steðji Brewery: Tasting Beer at Borgarfjörður’s Family Microbrewery

Of all the day trips you can string together on the West Iceland circuit, a stop at Steðji is the shortest and the most local. The brewery sits on a working farm just off Road 50 in Borgarfjörður, roughly 10 minutes from The Hvítá Inn, which makes it the rare producer visit where one person can stay sober-driver for a very short hop and everyone else can taste.

A Family Brewery on the Farm

Steðji (Brugghús Steðja) is a family-run microbrewery founded in 2012 at the Steðji farm, in the 311 Borgarnes postal area of Borgarfjörður. It is a genuine farm operation rather than a slick visitor centre, and part of the appeal is watching how a small-batch Icelandic beer is actually made. Visitors have reported tasting flights and chatting directly with the brewer, which is the kind of thing that only happens at this scale.

Operating hours have historically run in the afternoons, roughly 13:00 to 17:00, and Sundays have been closed. Hours and current visitor availability shift, so confirm before you set out by checking stedji.com or calling +354 896-5001.

The Beers to Try

The core of the range is a straightforward Icelandic lager, and that is the sensible place to start. Where Steðji gets interesting is its seasonal and experimental brews, which rotate through the year: an Easter beer made with cocoa and Icelandic seaweed, a summer beer built on citrusy New Zealand hops, an October beer with pumpkin seeds, a Christmas brew, fruit beers including strawberry, and a Northern Lights beer.

The brewery also became internationally famous for the wrong reasons. In 2014 and 2015 it released Hvalur, a beer brewed with fin-whale ingredients, which drew sharp criticism from conservation groups and made news well beyond Iceland. It is part of the brewery’s story rather than something on the everyday tasting list, but it is why many travellers have heard the name Steðji at all.

Icelandic alcohol rules treat brewery sales differently from the state Vínbúðin shops, so what you can buy to take away on site may be limited. Ask at the counter rather than assuming.

Planning the Visit

• Getting there: About a 10-minute drive from The Hvítá Inn, heading onto Road 50 in Borgarfjörður; the brewery is signposted off the road at Steðji farm.
• How long to allow: Roughly 45 minutes to an hour for a tasting flight and a look around; longer if you talk beer with the brewer.
• Timing: Go in the afternoon, and check hours the same day — the tasting room has kept limited afternoon hours and closed Sundays.
• What to bring: Cash or card, a designated driver, and a cool bag if you plan to carry any bottles onward.

Where to Stay

Base yourself at The Hvítá Inn, on the bank of the Hvítá river at Hvítárbakki. Its position in the heart of Borgarfjörður puts Steðji only about 10 minutes down Road 50, so the brewery works as an easy pre-dinner errand rather than a whole excursion — and you are back at the inn before the light changes. Book direct on Ourhotels.is for the best rate.

Photo: Akigka via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. (Viking Brugghús, Akureyri — representative Icelandic brewery.)