In 1906, a family by the name of Madsen founded Ørbæk Brewery in Ørbæk in East Funen. The Madsen family owned Ørbæk Brewery for three generations before selling it. The brewery was constructed to produce light ale and had its own malthouse. It was particularly famous on Funen for its stakitøl, brewed using their own smoked malt, and where the bottle of ale is packaged in a fence-like container, with reference to the Danish word “stakit”.

Following the Madsen family, the brewery had a succession of owners. By the time Niels and Nicolai took it over in 1996, it was shut down and dilapidated, though the brewhouse, fermentation tanks and bottlery were intact. Although in the early years, the old brewery was only used for the production of organic soft drinks, in 2001 Niels and Nicolai began to produce beer again – organic, of course. The first brew, a Brown Ale, hit the market in 2002, winning an organic gold medal that selfsame year. Since then, Ørbæk Brewery has won many awards and accolades both in Denmark and abroad.

Even though Ørbæk Brewery has been modernised and expanded with the likes of large-scale, automated tank facilities, the old brewing equipment and malthouse are exactly the same as when the brewery was first built. Not only does this add a sense of history; it also gives them the option of producing small ranges of flavourful and interesting beers.