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Knut Albert's beer blog (29 unread)

Beer on the other side

Posted: December 31st, 2009, 11:12am CET by knutalbert

When we complain about the quality of our lagers, other have to make do with less. I stumbled across this when looking for info on some strange beverages I found in a London supermarket: Consuming rate of the non-alcoholic beer bottles has been increased since new non-alcoholic breweries have entered the market. In the recent years, [...]
English pubs do well in France

Posted: December 30th, 2009, 5:49pm CET by knutalbert

The Financial Times has an article today about the success of the Charles Wells owned John Bull Pub Company in France. It initially ran two pubs to promote the beers it sold wholesale, but has now increased to five with plans to grow to 13 pubs by 2013. While there are lots of fake British pubs [...]
Hygiene problems in brewpubs

Posted: December 30th, 2009, 4:05pm CET by knutalbert

While we all like to quote historical anecdotes about beer being safer to drink than water, there are critical factors in brewing as well. I have joked about the big lager breweries who seem obsessed about the technical side of beer, but, on the other hand, if you don’t have the necessary knowledge and focus [...]
Merry Christmas!

Posted: December 24th, 2009, 12:28pm CET by knutalbert

2o cm of fresh snow this morning. All the shopping done, now for some serious cooking. Merry Christmas to all of you, thanks for making 2009 such a great beer year. Nice to meet so many in person, hope to see even more next year.
No liquids in hand luggage until 2013

Posted: December 22nd, 2009, 4:23pm CET by knutalbert

According to the Norwegian delegation to the European Union, who refers to the subscription web site Europolitics, the ban on bottles containing more than 100 ml of liquids will be prolonged. Current legislation has a ban until 29 April next year, but, according to a draft presented by the Commission to the Council earlier this month, [...]
A perfect gift for a young drinker

Posted: December 21st, 2009, 4:26pm CET by knutalbert

Once, back in my student days, I worked the whole month of December at a bookshop in my old home town Trondheim. It was a busy period,at the time I think almost half their yearly turnover of general books was sold in December. Christmas eve is the big day for family celebrations here in Scandinavia with most people [...]
Swedish Christmas – a better list

Posted: December 19th, 2009, 7:06am CET by knutalbert

I wrote recently about the ranking of Swedish Christmas beers done by one of the country’s major dailies, and I was a bit puzzled that the standard industrial brews were rated very highly. A good alternative, at least one that corresponds far better with my taste, is the beer test by Svenska Ölfrämjandet (sure, I’ll buy you a [...]
Beer Blogger Awards 2009

Posted: December 18th, 2009, 6:25pm CET by knutalbert

A challenge from Mark at Pencil and Spoon, which really ended up as a personal year end review of sorts. I’ve decided to focus on interesting new beers and breweries. Sure, there was amazing stuff from BrewDog, Mikkeller and Nøgne ø this year as well, but the beer scene is far more complex: Best UK Draught Beer Acorn Lubeski IPA. Never [...]
A penguin for Christmas?

Posted: December 17th, 2009, 3:39pm CET by knutalbert

If BrewDog have sold out, at the time of writing this, you can still get it at a very decent price from beermerchants. No Utopias style inflation driving prices here. Tell them I sent you. Update: It seems like they are sold out as well.
The beer bloggers hit town

Posted: December 16th, 2009, 5:21pm CET by knutalbert

I’m lagging behind a bit on the cronicles of my days in London, so I won’t go into details about my return to the Pig’s Ear festival and the liquids consumed there. English licencing laws (and probably also the practicalities of organising festivals with volunteers) made sure we all had a fairly early evening, which [...]
Pigs might fly

Posted: December 15th, 2009, 4:44pm CET by knutalbert

.. and Norway might liberalize its alcohol legislation. But, bit by bit, things are changing. Yes, there are actually some changes ahead for local brewers. There is draft legislation now out on an open hearing, proposing that those who have the permission to brew and sell beer to their customers also can be sold for consumption off [...]
The world’s strongest beer

Posted: December 14th, 2009, 4:21pm CET by knutalbert

I had no plans to go out drinking last night. There are domestic things to do before Christmas, and there are events coming up over the next days as well. But when I saw the invite posted on one of the beer forums, I knew I had to go. Lars Marius and Geir Ove had [...]
Alcohol free

Posted: December 13th, 2009, 3:16am CET by knutalbert

If your German is up to it, BASF has a podcast on brewing alcohol free beer.
Feeding the troll

Posted: December 12th, 2009, 12:53pm CET by knutalbert

I’ve told you about the beer drinking troll in the Post Office. The one that has a box of Williams Brothers’ ales and also a bottle from Cornwall. The beers never appeared, but I am kindly invited to fill in a number of forms. Let’s hope he is too busy making other types of mischief so [...]
More beers than you can drink?

Posted: December 12th, 2009, 7:10am CET by knutalbert

beerticker.dk is doing his annual count of new Danish beers. The final list is not ready yet, but it is fascinating to see how the beer revolution in Denmark has developed. This is the number of new beers: 2009: over 560 2008: 647 2007: 556 2006: 506 2005: 234 2004: [...]
What happened in the Hock Cellar

Posted: December 11th, 2009, 4:36pm CET by knutalbert

I was early for the event at Fuller’s, so I went straight to the Brewery Shop, which was splendidly refurbished since my last visit. Lots of souvenirs and gifts. Beers in bottles and mini-kegs, a fine range of wines, and, as a highlight, most of the versions of Fuller’s Vintage Ale, going back to 2000. I [...]
Swedish Christmas beers

Posted: December 10th, 2009, 11:45pm CET by knutalbert

Stockholm daily Dagens Nyheter has picked what, in their view, are the best 18 Christmas beers of the 39 available in Systembolaget. Carlsberg’s Golden Naked Christmas get the best grade, 5 out of 6, while the beer I raved about from Sigtuna only get 3. The Norwegian beers at Systembolaget are not mentioned, I find it [...]
On British beers

Posted: December 10th, 2009, 9:39pm CET by knutalbert

Tandleman has a good blog post about the state of British brewing with a long line of intelligent comments. Have a look!
On my way to the brewery

Posted: December 10th, 2009, 5:43pm CET by knutalbert

It was a dark and rainy night in London. All the bus windows were steamed up, and the neon lights of King Street, Hammersmith were struggling to cut through the rain. Your hero, equipped with a sturdy brolly, decided to walk along the Thames to his destination. Luckily the clouds parted, as if by magic, when [...]
London day 2 – Pig’s Ear beer festival

Posted: December 9th, 2009, 8:41pm CET by knutalbert

After having finished my business in the afternoon, it was time to get on the London Overground, a rather pretentious name for railway tracks running in an arch west-north-east where the commuters are tightly packed. I got on at one of the first stations, meaning I got a seat, but most of my fellow passengers were [...]
Beer festival not welcome

Posted: December 9th, 2009, 5:38pm CET by knutalbert

The Beer and Food festival in Oslo last summer had a broad range of beers, and while the weather gods were extremely uncooperative, the arrangers have had the ambition of making this a yearly event. The culture committee of the local council has turned down the application for using the same public park in june [...]
Pleasant company

Posted: December 8th, 2009, 6:15pm CET by knutalbert

For an oldtimer like me, the friends and acquaintances you get through the social web is still a source for wonder. It used to be that hobbies and interests like beer was something you pursued with a few like-minded friends. In bigger cities, there would be clubs and associations, in smaller town nothing. In the global village, this is [...]
Time Out on brewing in London

Posted: December 8th, 2009, 4:54pm CET by knutalbert

Yes, yes, I’ll get around to blogging about my days in London. Real soon. Meanwhile, here is a report from the London blog of Time Out, The Big Smoke, Loving London Beer from their visit to Sambrooks combined with a beer tasting. Definitely something for next year.
At last something nice to say about Stella

Posted: December 7th, 2009, 6:05pm CET by knutalbert
New beers in town

Posted: December 7th, 2009, 5:56pm CET by knutalbert

Most of my readers are not remotely near Oslo, and my readers in Oslo are most likely on their way to a screening of Beer Wars. (No, I’m at home following up on the homework of the kds after a week in London!) But anyway. Oslo Mikrobryggeri, the only brew pub in town, has their strong [...]
London Beer week – The social media get even more social

Posted: December 6th, 2009, 10:10pm CET by knutalbert

The best thing about my week in London was being able to meet up with so many beer bloggers, some for the first time. Boakandbailey The Beer Nut Pete Brown Ron Pattison Jeff Melissa Cole Pencil and Spoon Impy Malting The real ale reviews Woolpack Dave Zak Avery Apologies to those not mentioned, it’s hard to connect blogs to nicknames to real names to faces. And I’ll [...]
The haul

Posted: December 6th, 2009, 9:34am CET by knutalbert

Back from London. A very active week, I’ll get back to the details over the next days and weeks. Bought a few beers too many as usual, but I somehow managed to fit them into my suitcase. Including the tea mug. Three main sources for these beers: The Fuller’s Brewery Shop, The Pig’s Ear Festival and my [...]
Behind the Elephants

Posted: December 2nd, 2009, 10:15am CET by knutalbert

A new part of Copenhagen is being shaped, so far mostly on the computer screens of the architects. The old Carlsberg brewery is history, and, as in any old industrial area centrally located, plans are being made for apartments, for shops and for leisure activities. While the Carlsberg of today is not too warmly embraced by beer [...]
A beer for days as dark as nights

Posted: December 1st, 2009, 7:29pm CET by knutalbert

One of my finds at the Systembolaget store in Charlottenberg was Midvinternattens Mörker. A lovely name, meaning the Darkness of Midwinter Night. This is a beer from Sigtuna Brygghus, a micro brewery in the Stockholm area. At a pinch it could be included in the list of breweries at airports, it is just a few minutes away from Arlanda airport. As the [...]