Despite the referendum lifting prohibition, beer was still prohibited from containing more than 2.25% alcohol by volume (well below the 4–5% of an average beer). Some full-strength beer was smuggled into the country or produced by homebrewers. Icelanders also worked around the restriction by adding strong alcohol such as Brennivin to their beers which, while effective, was described by historian Unnar Ingvarsson as tasting "interesting and totally disgusting."
