Helka brewery
Craft beers all around Lake Balaton!
Our Beers
Our history / The brewery
Helka's main goal as a brewery on the shores of Lake Balaton is to supply the lake area with quality craft beers. The brewery started its operations in the summer of 2021, directly on the shore of Balatonföldvár.
The garden will soon be replaced by the brewery, which will move into the former MÁV building opposite, with its gleaming cauldrons ready to be filled with beer. A permanent bar will also be opened on the brewery's premises, where all our beers can be tasted freshly draughted while enjoying the view of Lake Balaton.
The founders of Helka (Fülöp Tihanyi and Alex Kun) have previously worked at Hedon, Pannonhalmi Abbey Brewery and Hübris, among others, and have created our basic range, which includes a bite-sized Bavarian wheat beer, a drinkable Kölsch and an unadulterated IPA, which will soon be joined by other exciting batches.
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Helka Pub & Terrace
From the summer of 2021 we sold our beers mainly in our own beer garden to the great delight of our guests, followed by the brewery in the former MÁV building from April 2024, which can be visited by appointment in the framework of guided brewery tours.
The brewery also has a continuously operating bar, where, among other refreshing drinks, all our beers can be tasted freshly draughted while enjoying the view of Lake Balaton.
Follow the Hopfish on Facebook and instagram
https://www.facebook.com/helkasorfozde
UPCOMING EVENTS
Be our partner
Join our team as a resale partner!
If you’d like to expand your menu with beer from the Balaton area, you have found the perfect partner!
Please don’t hesitate to contact us for more information:
- 06-70-546-7344
- laknerdori@helkasor.hu
OUR TEAM:
FÜLÖP TIHANYI
I graduated from the Food Science program at Szent Istvan University in 2016 and I became a food engineer in the field of Beer and Liquor-making. I spent my internship at Hedon and Monyo breweries…
For my thesis I experimented with developing a method of growing yeast in-house that is applicable for small-scale breweries. In these experiments I conducted tests with a yeast family that is normally used for making kölsch-style beers. Once I was able to make a substantial amount, we hastily started making Kolsch at Monyo Brewery, since the guys there were also big fans of the style. The first 1000 liters (264 gallons) were gone in almost an instant, so, soon we were making 2000-liter batches and it became a regular supply. For a short period, I returned to my university to work as a faculty engineer, where I participated in developing new products for small breweries and a large beer factory as well, in the university’s own lab. After this I joined in starting up the brewery of the Pannonhalma Abbey and helped create the first recipes as manager and brewer. While working at home I had the opportunity to visit a couple Trappist breweries where I caught a glimpse of secrets of traditional brewing techniques. Creating Helka was a long-time dream of mine coming true, for the three of us to start a brewery in the Balaton region, making the local gastronomy more colorful with our beers.
KUN Alex
I was infected with the love of beer on a trip to Belgium, and I have been “suffering” from it ever since. I decided in 2011 that I will also pursue this career, so I began to brew at home with the help of a jam-maker machine…
I experimented a lot with wheat and of course Belgian beers. My love for the craft has led me to audition the then newly opened Monyo Brewery, where I became a member for a short time. Then I was delegated to Hedon that also had just opened, in Balatonvilágos. My love for the lake originates from this time, and it is when I decided to live and create by lake Balaton. I lived in England for a year where I also traveled the county of Devon, visiting tiny breweries and learning all the tricks from local brewers. I was called home by Hedon at this time to become the operations manager, which was my position up until the company was bought. After that I worked as operations manager at Fehér Nyúl (White Bunny) for a short period, then also as operations manager and technician at Hübris in Székesfehérvár. I have been to many breweries in the past 10 years to expand my knowledge and technical skills. Dóri Lakner It all started with an old, childhood friendship…After quite a few years of working in sales and even more years of event planning and operations, an evening phone call turned my peaceful little life upside down. I had only ever been the consumer of craft beer up to that point, to be exact, I had been taste-testing Alex’s beers since his jam-maker era, but I never thought I would one day work with him as well. My experience working in the cultural-event planning sphere prepared me very well for working with the guys in this very colorful job.
DÓRI LAKNER
It all started with an old, childhood friendship… :) After quite a few years of working in sales and even more years of event planning and operations, an evening phone call turned my peaceful little life upside down. I had only ever been the consumer of craft beer up to that point, to be exact, I had been taste-testing Alex’s beers since his jam-maker era, but I never thought I would one day work with him as well.
My experience working in the cultural-event planning sphere prepared me very well for working with the guys in this very colorful job.
SÁNDOR DÁVID
Within a year I was working for the same brewery first as a sales manager and shortly as the company manager, while I was finishing my second diploma in Corvinus University’s program of food industry, of course my focus being on beer. My world was turned upside down and this journey is still ongoing. I got my colleagues to get on this rollercoaster with me with the idea of creating our own brewery. They of course did not hesitate to say yes. Then we began the work and the years went by fast, so fast I soon just ended this short introduction.
Contact
HELKA BREWERY
Helka Pub & Terrace
- 8623 Balatonföldvár, Rákóczi Ferenc utca 2.
