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Beer in Palestine
Beer in Palestine is manufactured in Palestinian microbreweries by members of the local Palestinian Christian community – most traditionally Taybeh Brewery, established in 1994, and Birzeit Brewery, since 2015. Several beer festivals are held annually in Palestine, including an Oktoberfest-style event hosted by the Taybeh Brewery.
The oldest brewery in the State of Palestine is the Taybeh Brewery, which was opened by Palestinian Christians in the town village of Taybeh, near Ramallah, in 1994, and produced its first beer in 1995. It is considered the first microbrewery in the Middle East.
The idea of a Palestinian brewery was controversial in 1994, as Palestine is majority Muslim, and many Palestinian Muslims disapprove of alcohol consumption. The Palestinian President Yasser Arafat was nevertheless an early supporter of the Taybeh Brewery, according to its founder, on the grounds that it would help break Palestine's dependence on alcohol imported from Israel. Taybeh beer was also certified as kosher shortly after its founding, and 70% of its sales prior to the Second Intifada in 2000 were to Israelis. Taybeh also depended on imports that passed through Israel for its equipment and ingredients.
Following the Second Intifada, the establishment of Israeli checkpoints and the erection of the Israeli West Bank barrier made it significantly more difficult for the Taybeh Brewery to import brewing equipment and supplies from the port of Ashdod, and on one occasion, the brewery was charged $6,000 in costs for hold-ups at the port on a $20,000 shipment of bottles. The barriers also complicated shipping of beer to customers in Israel or abroad, cutting off exports to Jordan and lengthening the travel time from the brewery to Jerusalem from 20 minutes to several hours.
As a result, sales plunged and revenue fell by over 90% by 2002, and Khoury had to lay off all 12 of his employees. As a stopgap measure to keep the brewery in business, Taybeh sold olive oil produced by a local church in Taybeh village to a company in Belgium. Taybeh was dealt a further blow in 2007 when Islamist political party and militant group Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip and ended the sale of alcohol there.
Taybeh's first local Palestinian competition came in 2015 with the establishment, also by Palestinian Christians, of the Birzeit Brewery in the town of Birzeit near Ramallah. Although established in 2013, Birzeit Brewery only began sales of its signature "Shepherds Beer" in July 2015, due to the challenges associated with operating in the Israeli-occupied State of Palestine.
In 2016, a third microbrewery called Wise Men Choice, based in the Christian town of Beit Sahour, east of Bethlehem, entered the local market.
In 2022, a fourth microbrewery, Nativity Beer, also based in Beit Sahour, Bethlehem, entered the local market.
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Beer in Palestine
Beer in Palestine is manufactured in Palestinian microbreweries by members of the local Palestinian Christian community – most traditionally Taybeh Brewery, established in 1994, and Birzeit Brewery, since 2015. Several beer festivals are held annually in Palestine, including an Oktoberfest-style event hosted by the Taybeh Brewery.
The oldest brewery in the State of Palestine is the Taybeh Brewery, which was opened by Palestinian Christians in the town village of Taybeh, near Ramallah, in 1994, and produced its first beer in 1995. It is considered the first microbrewery in the Middle East.
The idea of a Palestinian brewery was controversial in 1994, as Palestine is majority Muslim, and many Palestinian Muslims disapprove of alcohol consumption. The Palestinian President Yasser Arafat was nevertheless an early supporter of the Taybeh Brewery, according to its founder, on the grounds that it would help break Palestine's dependence on alcohol imported from Israel. Taybeh beer was also certified as kosher shortly after its founding, and 70% of its sales prior to the Second Intifada in 2000 were to Israelis. Taybeh also depended on imports that passed through Israel for its equipment and ingredients.
Following the Second Intifada, the establishment of Israeli checkpoints and the erection of the Israeli West Bank barrier made it significantly more difficult for the Taybeh Brewery to import brewing equipment and supplies from the port of Ashdod, and on one occasion, the brewery was charged $6,000 in costs for hold-ups at the port on a $20,000 shipment of bottles. The barriers also complicated shipping of beer to customers in Israel or abroad, cutting off exports to Jordan and lengthening the travel time from the brewery to Jerusalem from 20 minutes to several hours.
As a result, sales plunged and revenue fell by over 90% by 2002, and Khoury had to lay off all 12 of his employees. As a stopgap measure to keep the brewery in business, Taybeh sold olive oil produced by a local church in Taybeh village to a company in Belgium. Taybeh was dealt a further blow in 2007 when Islamist political party and militant group Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip and ended the sale of alcohol there.
Taybeh's first local Palestinian competition came in 2015 with the establishment, also by Palestinian Christians, of the Birzeit Brewery in the town of Birzeit near Ramallah. Although established in 2013, Birzeit Brewery only began sales of its signature "Shepherds Beer" in July 2015, due to the challenges associated with operating in the Israeli-occupied State of Palestine.
In 2016, a third microbrewery called Wise Men Choice, based in the Christian town of Beit Sahour, east of Bethlehem, entered the local market.
In 2022, a fourth microbrewery, Nativity Beer, also based in Beit Sahour, Bethlehem, entered the local market.