A drive of 100km got us from the Hill of Crosses to the town of Biržų and the Rinkuškiai brewery. Here we first had a guided tour through the brewery – all the way from mashing to bottling – with a quick introduction of the brewing process on the way. After the tour – of course – there had to be a tasting of the signature beers of the brewery. The tasting covered five beers, including a triple-bock with an alcohol content of 15%. The winner to me was a black ale with just about 4% alcohol and nice strong bitterness.

It took us an hour from the brewery to get to the next and final stop of the day – Pakruojis Manor, our stay for the night – with both the manor house itself, as well as the miller’s house being converted into boutique hotels with a historic setup (the first and last photo below are showing my room).

After a tour of the manor house by the baron himself, it was time for dinner in a nearby restaurant (also part of the manor complex). To get there we had to cross the park full of installations somehow related to a Midsummer night’s dream … I’d describe them anywhere between weird, odd and disturbing – to me clearly the historic surrounds and buildings actually were more interesting and made more sense.