Taybeh Brewery is a Palestinian

Palestinian territories

The Palestinian territories comprise the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, the region is today recognized by three-quarters of the world's countries as the State of Palestine or simply Palestine, although this status is not recognized by the...

 brewery

Brewery

A brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company....

 founded in 1994. The brewery is located in the West Bank

West Bank

The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...

 village of Taybeh

Taybeh

Taybeh is a Palestinian village in the West Bank, 35 kilometers north of Jerusalem and 12 kilometers northeast of Ramallah in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate, 850 meters above sea level. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Taybeh had a population of 1,452 in 2007...

, 35 kilometers north of Jerusalem. It produced its first beer in 1995 and has since developed a global cult following.

Background

The Taybeh Brewery was co-founded in the mid-1990s, after the Oslo Accords

Oslo Accords

The Oslo Accords, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or Declaration of Principles , was an attempt to resolve the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict...

 were signed. It has been described as a pioneer microbrewery

Microbrewery

A microbrewery or craft brewer is a brewery which produces a limited amount of beer, and is associated by consumers with innovation and uniqueness....

 in the region, being that it predated the first Israeli microbrewery, The Dancing Camel, by about ten years.

As a college student in the 1980s, Nadim Khoury began making his own beer at the dorms where he lived. He subsequently took up formal studies in brewing

Brewing

Brewing is the production of beer through steeping a starch source in water and then fermenting with yeast. Brewing has taken place since around the 6th millennium BCE, and archeological evidence suggests that this technique was used in ancient Egypt...

 at UC Davis in California.

Milestones

By 2005 the company was only able to produce 300 cases a week locally due to conflict with Israel. Taybeh beer sold in Europe is brewed and bottled in Belgium with the licence held in Germany.

In 2005, an annual Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest, or Wiesn, is a 16–18 day beer festival held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, running from late September to the first weekend in October. It is one of the most famous events in Germany and is the world's largest fair, with more than 5 million people attending every year. The...

-style beer festival

Beer festival

A Beer Festival is an organised event during which a variety of beers are available for tasting and purchase. Beer festivals are held in a number of countries...

 was launched. Dubbed the Taybeh Beer Festival, it opens in the beginning of October.

In 1997, Taybeh beer became the first Palestinian product to be franchised in Germany, where it was brewed and bottled for sale in Europe. Taybeh beer is also exported directly from Taybeh to Sweden.

In 2008, an Australian named Lara van Raay produced a documentary called Palestine, Beer and Ocktoberfest Under Occupation, which focuses on the Taybeh Brewery and the Khoury family.

The Taybeh Brewing Company was highlighted in the January/February 2010 Issue of the fine beverage publication Mutineer Magazine.

Products

There are four varieties of Taybeh Beer: Golden, Light, Amber, and Dark. In 2007, a new non-alcoholic beer variety was to be launched specifically for the local Palestinian Muslim market. The original brand was Taybeh Beer Golden. The Taybeh Beer Dark and Taybeh Beer Light were introduced for the 2000 celebrations in the Holy Land. It follows a classic style of the way monks brewed beer in the Middle Ages in order to fortify themselves during their fasting.

External links

• Official Website
• Taybeh's Parish - Beer
• "Business caught in the crossfire" bbc
• "He's got some bottle" The Independent
• "Intifada turns a family business into small beer" The Telegraph
• "Palestinian drinkers can hold their own" The Guardian
• "Palestinian Beer Lifts Israeli Spirits" The Medialine"
• Mutineer Magazine Issue #9