Siberian Soul Beer From The Gelios Brewery

When asked what makes Gelios Brewery beers special, Sales Manager Anna Barannikova does not hesitate to answer: “We put our soul into them,” she says with an easy smile.

Standing in front of a trophy case packed with international beer awards, Barannikova describes employee pride in Gelios beers and their admiration for General Director Vladimir Smirnov, who has managed the brewery for more than 45 years. Since founding the brewery in 1968, Smirnov successfully steered it through the changing times of Soviet communism, market capitalism and current international competition to consistently produce quality beers. Today, the family-owned Gelios in Bratsk, Russia serves up high caliber brews to grateful beer drinkers across Siberia. 

Making good beer never hurts, but Smirnov offers another perspective on Gelios’ success. “It’s our people,” he writes on the company website. “They were there for me when it was tough. And I will be there for them now.”

Today the brewery employs about 500 people from this industrial town north of the Irkutsk, most of them women. Among those people, Olga (last name unknown) serves as the brewmaster. With 19 years of brewing experience, Olga runs the tidy, well-managed factory from a high-tech office where she commands ingredients, temperatures, times, and people to hit the brewer’s mark every time.