How a serf became the main brewer of the Russian Empire

Could a serf from the village of Shestikhino in Yaroslavl Province have dreamed that he would one day open a huge brewery in St. Petersburg and that his grandchildren would build several more and end up supplying beer to the entire empire? Unlikely…

How was it possible?

From the early 19th century, Russian serfs gained the right to buy their freedom. And before the abolition of serfdom in 1861, more than 150,000 people had exercised this right. But, of course, earning enough for the buyout required a lot of work and effort. So, those who gained their freedom were often the most talented and enterprising people, as was a certain Ivan Durdin (1795-1878).

Due to a crop failure, Durdin's landowner sent his 20-year-old serf to Moscow to earn money. There, he got a job in a beer store and performed so well that the owner offered him to become the manager of a new brewery in St. Petersburg. In doing so, Ivan earned a good amount of money and eventually bought freedom for himself and his entire family.

Then, in the mid-1830s, Durdin bought the very brewery where he worked and built another one, having become the largest brewer and beer merchant in St. Petersburg.

Made all of Russia drink beer

An entrepreneurial streak helped Durdin become wealthy and famous. A former serf, now a merchant of the 1st guild and a "Hereditary Honorable Citizen", he didn't just brew beer; he made it attractive to a wide audience.

In the 19th century, beer was considered a drink for the poor. It was, indeed, actively consumed by people of various low ranks. But, thanks to Durdin's marketing techniques, colorful posters and elegant names, beer suddenly became fashionable and literally everyone in the capital began to drink it.

‘Pilsner’, ‘Swedish’, ‘Cabinet’, ‘Bavarian’, ‘Bohemian’… St. Petersburg had never seen such a variety of beer before. They were appealing even to the capital's nobility, who had previously only acknowledged wine. Durdin also capitalized on the fashion for all things English and decided to also brew porter beer and, according to rumors, even Emperor Alexander II enjoyed it.

The brewery produced about a million barrels of beer per year, as well as ‘medovukha’ (a honey-based alcoholic drink), ‘kvass’ (a bread-based low alcohol drink) and lemonades. In St. Petersburg, Durdin had 12 stores and over 100 warehouses, while his products were supplied to almost all of the capital’s restaurants and hotels.

In 1857, an imperial decree recognized the quality of Durdin's products and his merits, allowing him to depict the heraldic double-headed eagle on his bottles. So now, the entire Russian Empire knew about the brewer. A distinctive bottle design in the shape of an elongated pyramid became the brand's recognizable silhouette.

A dynasty of brewers

Durdin sent his sons to study brewing in Europe: They visited Dresden and Czech Bohemia, particularly Plzeň (after which they began brewing ‘Pilsner’ and ‘Bohemian’ beer). And, after his death, they carried on his business.

Ivan and Alexey headed and managed Ivan Durdin's beer partnership. They also owned rental apartment buildings in St. Petersburg and, later, even opened a restaurant and a jewelry store.

In 1878, Durdin's grandson (also named Ivan), meanwhile, opened the ‘Bohemia’ brewery in Rybinsk, the city not far from Durdin’s native village of Shestikhino. And the enterprise became the largest in the city.

Andrey, another grandson of Durdin, opened the ‘New Bavaria’ brewery in Nizhny Novgorod in 1894, which also became a supplier to the Imperial Court.

World War I and Nicholas II's alcohol prohibition law of 1914 seriously damaged the Durdin breweries. After the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, all enterprises were nationalized, but many continue to operate to this day.