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It’s them BrewDog guys in the middle of the fight again

Posted: February 1st, 2012, 4:18pm CET by knutalbert

If you thought the British beer scene was all quiet pints and cobwebbed pubs, you obviously do not follow Melissa Cole’s blog. She did not like what BrewDog has to say about other british brewers in a recently published book, feeling that BrewDog owes the industry as a whole a bloody enormous apologyy. It wasn’t exactly [...]

Tradition or innovation?

Posted: January 31st, 2012, 10:08pm CET by knutalbert

The Norwegian breweries used to have a very lucrative market. The mediums sized ones gobbled up the smaller ones, and we ended up with half a dozen regional breweries in the Seventies. They whimpered a bit about the ban on strong beers, the phasing out of ads for alcohol and other government regulations, but at [...]

Thoughts at 1000

Posted: January 27th, 2012, 6:08pm CET by knutalbert

It’s been quite a ride. My WordPress blogging interface tells me this is blog post no 1000. One thousand. Add to that the hundreds of posts at my old blog now disappeared into the graveyard of cyberspace, it is quite a figure. But does it matter? Looking back, the first couple of years were spent [...]

Rumours from the Norwegian beer scene

Posted: January 25th, 2012, 10:20pm CET by knutalbert

A new proper blog post sooon. For now: Samples of a Nøgne Ø Imperial Stout aged in Cognac barrels are reported. I don’t know anything about a release date. A new cranberry IPA, Zombie IPA on tap at Schouskjelleren in Oslo tonight. Their import list is as strong as ever. Lots of good stuff at [...]

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Christmas wasn’t over

Posted: January 9th, 2012, 5:47am CET by knutalbert

Well. I had paid for it. I had bought the beer, paid the postage, forked out the Norwegian duties. But it’s nive to receive a package anyway. When it is filled with beer from Marble, Hardknott and others. From myBrewerytap.com.

A German beer Wiki

Posted: January 7th, 2012, 10:36am CET by knutalbert

Still in its infancy, but all such initiatives are to be applauded: A Wiki for the German family owned breweries – Private Brauereien. There are a thousand of them, and, while there are some good regional sites, a comprehensive site for Germany would be very welcome.

Yet another Oslo micro

Posted: January 6th, 2012, 5:05pm CET by knutalbert

I have mentioned the two food emporia in Oslo taking shape. Mathallen at Vulkan, on the rapidly gentrifying East end of town, has just announced that Ølakademiet will have a beer shop and what they call a small micro brewery. Ølakademiet is what I would call a beer event company, conveniently located across the road from Vulkan. [...]

How I would run the Haandbryggeriet festival

Posted: January 3rd, 2012, 5:31pm CET by knutalbert

As I’ve told you, Haandbryggeriet will organise their own festival in Drammen, Norway in May this year. Lots of guest breweries from near and far,and they have asked on Facebook for suggestions on how to proceed with the plans. I’ve never organised something on this scale, but I have attended enough festivals to know what [...]

Resolutions be damned!

Posted: January 1st, 2012, 4:09pm CET by knutalbert

Adnams Tally-ho and some cheese. Port-like flavour, dark cherries. Bitter almonds in the finish. Should have had some Stilton……

A pardon for everyone?

Posted: January 1st, 2012, 12:23pm CET by knutalbert

Some Germans are working on the rehabilitation of people who were burned as witches between 1500 and 1800, according to Der Spiegel. Sounds fine. But, on the other hand, some of them were convicted for spoling beer….

I have seen the future, and it is barrel aged

Posted: December 31st, 2011, 12:46pm CET by knutalbert

At least I know something about 2012. It will be the year of the barrel aging. There will be barrel aged barley wines. There will be barrel aged blondes. Norwegian brewers will be barrel aging everything-but-the kitchen-sink. I have visited both Sundbytunet and Haandbryggeriet during december, and they both have bought plenty of oak barrels. I assume Nøgne Ø and Ægir [...]

Looking back

Posted: December 30th, 2011, 5:39pm CET by knutalbert

Not the most active year of blogging, though I feel quite pleased about the number of Berlin pubs I have been able to cover during three short visits. I have really come to appreciate this city, which encapsulates the best and the worst of our common European identity. Some excursions to London and Copenhagen, too, [...]

A new home for Haandbryggeriet

Posted: December 29th, 2011, 4:34pm CET by knutalbert

Norwegian craft beer has been succesful in the American market. Nøgne Ø has, of course, been the door opener, but Haandbryggeriet has also been exporting as much as they have been able to brew for some time. Their old facilities did not allow for any expansion, so they decided to move across the Drammen river to the [...]

A beer for when the sun turns

Posted: December 24th, 2011, 2:04pm CET by knutalbert

Merry Christmas!

Posted: December 23rd, 2011, 12:49pm CET by knutalbert

Best wishes to both all of my readers. Now for some days of skiing, food and beer in the mountains.

Special Holiday

Posted: December 22nd, 2011, 10:48pm CET by knutalbert

So. The family is already installed in the mountains, I have my last day of work tomorrow before the holidays. I’ve cleaned the floors. I’ve done the laundry. It’s past ten and I put on a dvd with Elvis Costello’s talk and music show featuring lots of musical goodness. There is nothing on the news [...]

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Sundbytunet – cheers to the lucky commuters

Posted: December 15th, 2011, 6:23pm CET by knutalbert

It was one of those December days when dawn is just the dark night sliding into grey – gray clouds and steel gray ice. Lucky then that some of us had decided to brighten up the evening through an excursion to the newest brew pub in the Oslo area, Sundbytunet. Sundbytunet is located in Jessheim, [...]

Alternative reading

Posted: December 8th, 2011, 6:07pm CET by knutalbert

I should post more. But while you wait, there are other beer blogs to go to. Like The Pour Curator. A very good concept that makes it stick out among the thousand other beer blogs out there. The motto says a lot about the idea: There is art. There is beer. This is where they meet.

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Brew your own Nøgne Ø beers

Posted: December 6th, 2011, 8:32pm CET by knutalbert

The pioneers of the Norwegian craft beer movement have cooperated with home brewers for a long time, and the tickets for their next meetup at the brewery sold out fast. That includes not only a visit to the brewery, you get to take some prime ingredients home to make your own version of one of [...]

Cheers from Vienna, or, from England

Posted: December 6th, 2011, 6:39pm CET by knutalbert

If Austrian beers (or, more likely, brandy, wine or chocolate), Austian Airlines have teamed up with AustrianGrocery.com, delivering to your door if it’s not prohibited. A shame this seems to be aimed more at the homesick Austrian expat. I’m afraid that the beer selection is not up to the same standards as the fruit brandies, [...]

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2012 Festivals II – Haandbryggeriet opens its doors

Posted: December 4th, 2011, 3:41pm CET by knutalbert

There are more beery pleasures next year than the Mikkeller event in Copenhagen. I have complained about the quality of some festivals here in Norway recently, but I am happy to tell you there are others more concerned about quality. Haandbryggeriet have just finished moving to new and bigger premises in Drammen, half an hour [...]

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2012 Festivals I – The one for the geeks

Posted: December 1st, 2011, 4:36pm CET by knutalbert

May next year will be a busy period for those of us in Northern Europe who take our beer drinking seriously. I’m not referring to the opportunity to drink beer Al fresco after hibernating through a long winter, but to the fact that there will be more beer festivals than most of us will have [...]

A friendly store in Frederikshavn

Posted: November 17th, 2011, 5:33pm CET by knutalbert

The border trade in Scandinavia has changed a lot over the last decade. Huge shopping malls are being built along the Swedish side of the border with Norway, giving the consumers easy access to the European Union price level for food. Oslo is just ninety minutes away from the border, so this is ideal for [...]

Norwegian beer for everyone

Posted: November 4th, 2011, 5:07pm CET by knutalbert

One phenomenon has caught my eye recently, and that is the increased availability of Norwegian beer in various European markets. And by this I mean Norwegian craft beer from small breweries – the major players seem very content with getting their slice of the pale lager market, possibly with some alcopops thrown in. Brasserie 4:20 [...]

Back shortly

Posted: November 4th, 2011, 1:12pm CET by knutalbert

I’ve not been ill, just a new day job and other commitments keeping me busy. I’ll try to blog more regularly, but in the short run I think it will be a bit irregular.

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Berlin XXVII – Zillemarkt

Posted: October 20th, 2011, 6:29pm CEST by knutalbert

Despite several visits over the last few years, there are large areas of Berlin I cannot claim to know. And those include areas just off the main tourist avenues. A guide book and a good map comes in useful, and in this case Peter Sutcliffe’s Around Berlin in 80 Beers book showed me where to [...]

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Berlin XXVI – A beer embassy

Posted: October 18th, 2011, 6:49pm CEST by knutalbert

Seen from the outside, Germany might seem big and monolithic. When you spend some time there, you get more of a feeling of the regional differences, from Schleswig-Holstein on the Danish border to the Bavarian south. Germany as a nation state is not very old, and the federal structure set up after WWII means that [...]

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Berlin XXV – Tram 27 to Köpenick

Posted: October 11th, 2011, 7:52pm CEST by knutalbert

Berlin is a green city, with large areas of parkland and broad avenues. Most of the houses are low. This means that you have a sprawling city,and getting from one end to another might take some time. Luckily there is an excellent public transport system. 20 minutes from downtown Potzdamer Platz I was ready for [...]

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Berlin XXVI – Brewbaker

Posted: October 10th, 2011, 6:39pm CEST by knutalbert

Once again a visit to Berlin, and the city was enjoying a glorious Indian summer. A fairly busy schedule, but careful planning and good infrastructure made it possible to visit a few beer places this time around as well. I have visited the brewpub Brewbaker in its previous incarnation, when it was located in the [...]

Quite recent history

Posted: September 28th, 2011, 4:52pm CEST by knutalbert

I don’t really go back reading my old blog posts, though the basic philosophy behind these scribblings will be evident for anyone reading over time. Sure, I know which countries I have covered, but when it comes to comments on the Norwegian beer scene, I know some of them are already snapshots of dark ages [...]

The bounty of the forest

Posted: September 26th, 2011, 11:27am CEST by knutalbert

This summer has been quite warm, but it has been pouring down most of the time here in Oslo. This has, however, a few advantages. Hydroelectric electricity will be cheaper the coming winter. And the forests are full of mushrooms. You don’t have to go far to fill you baskets. We have picked many kilos [...]

Jumping on the bandwagon

Posted: September 21st, 2011, 12:10pm CEST by knutalbert

I’ve told you before about my time in the Science Fiction fan community – fandom. You have mixed feelings when your subculture is enthusiastically embraced by the mainstream. While I have enjoyed the Harry Potter books and movies, and been thrilled by the movie adaptions of the LoTR, the feeling of exclusivity is long gone. [...]

Was this what we needed?

Posted: September 13th, 2011, 7:45pm CEST by knutalbert

The beer selection at my local ICA supermarket isn’t bad. At least not if you compare to just a few years ago. Two Scottish ales, several stouts, a few beers from Nøgne Ø and Haandbryggeriet. Lagers from Slovakia, Germany and the Czech republic. Even a few Goose Island brews. But I’m afraid a significant percentage [...]

Beery apps

Posted: September 12th, 2011, 7:02pm CEST by knutalbert

Alan has finally surrendered and bought an iPhone. He then, naturally, asks if there are any beery apps he could purchase. I have been thinking about this as well, and as I’ve played with my iPhone for some months I have looked at a few beer apps. The ones I have found most interesting are [...]

Books: Around Berlin in 80 Beers

Posted: August 26th, 2011, 8:48am CEST by knutalbert

As my regular readers know, I have a particular fascination for Berlin. A city for all seasons, a city for contemplation and for amusement. A city where I can get by with my rusty German. The beery delights may not be as evident to the casual observer as in other German cities, but they are [...]

Beer everywhere

Posted: August 20th, 2011, 3:02pm CEST by knutalbert

USA Today has asked restaruant guidebook publisher Zagat Survay about this year’s five hottest dining trends. Among them: •Beer, beer and more beer. An unusual amount of beer-centric eateries have opened thus far, leading Zagat Survey to dub this year “the year of the beer garden.” The article is about the US market, but I think [...]

Online distribution for Austrian beers

Posted: August 18th, 2011, 5:47pm CEST by knutalbert

In a typical Austrian supermarket, you’ll find about 30 beers from 10 breweries. On the other hand, in the country as a whole, there are 172 breweries producing 1000 beers. Two enthusiasts have decided to do something about that. They are launching myBier.at, offering the best beers from local breweries online. No list of beers [...]

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Local beer where it’s most appropriate

Posted: August 11th, 2011, 8:44am CEST by knutalbert

On our way north from Trondheim, we had planned a stop at Inderøy, a very scenic farming community. They have their own brewery, but it is not open on Sundays, so no opportunities for stocking up on their beers. We had booked room at Husfrua - a bed and breakfast located in a traditional farmhouse, [...]

Getting better, step by step

Posted: August 9th, 2011, 6:38pm CEST by knutalbert

The food festival in Trondheim two weeks ago seemed to be a success, an important factor was probably that people needed a positive event to attend. This was just a few tents when first arranged ten years ago or so, now it gathers lots of food producers from the Trøndelag region. They are still not [...]

Solid from the Norwegian Southwest

Posted: July 30th, 2011, 11:28am CEST by knutalbert

Boxes of beer from breweries are always welcome, and when they are domestic, it means I don’t have to fork out any money for duties and VAT. The package I got the other day was from Lervig Aktiebryggeri in Stavanger. When Ringnes/Carlsberg closed down their brewery in Stavanger in 2003, this led to lots of local protests – [...]

Light a candle

Posted: July 24th, 2011, 7:47pm CEST by knutalbert

No way we will let one madman destroy the qualities we have in the Norwegian society. But this week is a time for mourning and contemplation. In a small socity most of us know someone closely affected. I actually work in one of the ministries hit by the bomb, butby a stroke of luck i [...]

Pub signs

Posted: July 23rd, 2011, 12:37pm CEST by knutalbert

If you’re dreaming of owning an original English pub sign, you’ve got the chance. Fuller’s are now selling signs from some of their pubs. They don’t come cheap, £ 350 each, but they aren’t mass produced, either.

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Corfu – a beer (two, actually) in the Old Fortress

Posted: July 21st, 2011, 11:32am CEST by knutalbert

Our only excursion during our week in Corfu was a day trip to Corfu town. It is a pleasant place to stroll around, and we ended up at the Old Fortress, with magnificent views of the town and surroundings. This is a UNESCO World Heritage site, with a lot of history if you want to [...]

Corfu beers

Posted: July 20th, 2011, 8:58am CEST by knutalbert

It turned out that the beach bar had two beers from the Corfu brewery, luckily the two most interesting ones. They brew two pale lagers as well, but they do not really stand out among the others on offer – and I don’t think they are meant to, either. The two dark beers are both [...]

Sign of the times

Posted: July 19th, 2011, 9:25am CEST by knutalbert

A week with my family on a sunny Greek island does not include any great expectations for beer hunting. Sure, I know there are micro breweries in Greece, a few of them with very respectable beers. I had even sent off an e-mail to Corfu’s own micro, asking if they could deliver a few sample [...]

A week in the sun

Posted: July 18th, 2011, 1:01pm CEST by knutalbert

Luckily, there were more interesting beers than Mythos to be found. Stay tuned!

Oslo: Olympen terrace

Posted: July 14th, 2011, 12:05pm CEST by knutalbert

It’s been rather wet around these parts this summer, meaning that the opportunities for outdoor drinking have been somewhat limited. A pity, as there are a few places that really stand out among the hundreds of pubs offering bland lagers and uninteresting food. Olympen has an outstanding beer selection throughout the year, with Norwegian micros and interesting Danish [...]

London pubs: The Euston Tap

Posted: July 11th, 2011, 9:45am CEST by knutalbert

There used to be one good pub at Euston station, the Head of Steam, featuring beer from a range of breweries. This was later taken over by Fuller’s, renamed the Doric Arches and the ale range has gradually shrunk. It is probably still the place to go if you want to have a proper meal [...]

London pubs: The Southampton Arms

Posted: July 8th, 2011, 7:06pm CEST by knutalbert

Time I summed up my London impressions from last month, right? In Kentish Town, easily accessible by Tube, though you have to walk for ten minutes if you don’t want to figure out the bus routes, lies a small but charming pub, the Southampton Arms. Their aim is to sell only beer and ciders from [...]

London: Saturday morning at the Kernel Brewery

Posted: June 30th, 2011, 3:28am CEST by knutalbert

Brewery visits can mean a lot of things. There are large industrial breweries where you get a standard tour to watch bottles and crates flash past at incredible speed. There are old breweries which may have a museum or a cozy brewery tap with their most interesting brews. There are micros in wastelands of concrete and [...]

London: Sourced Market, St. Pancras

Posted: June 28th, 2011, 6:32pm CEST by knutalbert

I am probably a bit of a snob, but I am usually avoid food at airports and railway stations. But sometimes you cannot do any advance shopping, meaning you have to pick up something before running to your gate or platform. You’d usually go for an over-priced baguette in from one of the chains [...]

London: Cask Pub & Kitchen

Posted: June 27th, 2011, 1:09pm CEST by knutalbert

This is, for all purposes, a new pub, even if there has probably been an old boozer on the premises. The front is not up to much, no old-fashioned pub sign outside. It is in Pimlico, but for most of you it is more informative that it is less than ten minutes’ walk from Victoria Station, [...]

Back to London

Posted: June 24th, 2011, 12:32am CEST by knutalbert

I was invited to London for a wedding reception last weekend, and of course I used the opportunity to get an update on the beer scene, as I haven’t been there for more than a year. The beer revolution has really come to town with new micro breweries and new pubs with outstanding beer lists. I [...]

A German beer museum in the making

Posted: June 23rd, 2011, 12:53am CEST by knutalbert

A German beer museum is being established in Central Berlin, due to open next year. It is the first independent beer museum in Germany, though there are smaller museums dedicated to particular breweries or regions. The web site is still under construction. Thanks to Lieblingsbier.de, where you also can find details as a post for [...]

Norwegian festivals

Posted: June 22nd, 2011, 11:09am CEST by knutalbert

No international beer festivals for me this year, but there are interesting things happening here in Norway, too. I won’t go into a full report from the Øl & Mat festival here in Oslo a few weeks ago. I felt it was badly organised, they had a weird system of 2 cl samples which lead [...]

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Bavaria – A beer for the baby?

Posted: May 31st, 2011, 10:56am CEST by knutalbert

Sometimes you find examples of big gaps between cultures. (Don’t worry, I’m not going into any discussions about political Islam here.) I tend to have a fairly liberal outlook towards beer and beer drinking – if not I would have been blogging about something else. But I have to admit that there are regulations that I [...]

Single hops from BrewDog

Posted: May 30th, 2011, 5:27pm CEST by knutalbert

I like single hop series of beers, though the current Mikkeller lineup of 19 varieties is perhaps a bit too much. For once, BrewDog is a bit more moderate. (Who thought I’d write that in the same sentence?) Four single hop beers, brewed to the same recipe. Sold as a set. Which is not allowed in [...]

Oslo updates

Posted: May 27th, 2011, 12:37am CEST by knutalbert

There is talk of a lawsuit over a brewery name. Ringnes (Carlsberg) is the result of a number of merges and aquisitions, and one of the brand names of old breweries in their portfolio is Schous. They have sold the real estate where the old brewery used to be, all that’s left is really the sign [...]

Hard words in Denmark

Posted: May 25th, 2011, 1:48pm CEST by knutalbert

Denmark has been at the forefront of the beer revolution in Europe. They have a hundred micro breweries in a fairly small country, a consumer’s organisation with a large number of members and local associations, good shops and bars. There is even a broad press coverage of beer and brewing, probably because it is a major [...]

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(The new) Ølbutikken, Copenhagen

Posted: May 24th, 2011, 4:31pm CEST by knutalbert

I try not to read too much of the advance buzz about the Copenhagen Beer Festival this weekend. Sure, I know that Three Floyds are in town. That there will be a Zillion new beers from Mikkeller. That Nøgne Ø have some real rarities. But I’m not going this year. but at least I can make a [...]

Bishops Arms, Copenhagen

Posted: May 23rd, 2011, 8:29pm CEST by knutalbert

I think I have mentioned before that the Swedish pub chain Bishops Arms (their spelling) were planning to expand to neighbouring countries. I don’t know about Norway, but at least they are open for business in Copenhagen. The interior is very much buy it by the yard and by the container type of English pub. [...]

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Byens Kro, Copenhagen – smoke gets in your eyes

Posted: May 20th, 2011, 10:01am CEST by knutalbert

Byens Kro. The Inn of the Town. Copenhagen. I have known about this pub for some time, as the Svaneke brewery used to brew a special beer for them. As I had business in the neighbourhood, I decided to visit, but it is not far from the main tourist drag anyway. It is like entering a [...]

Food halls in Oslo

Posted: May 16th, 2011, 2:48am CEST by knutalbert

When Norwegian foodies travel abroad, we drool. When in Florence, the central food market is just as impressive as any works of Renaissance art. In London the main attraction is Borough Market. We envy our Swedish friends in Stockholm and Gothenburg who have well established food halls where they can stock up for the weekend. There have [...]

Podcasts on pubs

Posted: May 13th, 2011, 3:15am CEST by knutalbert

The British National Archives, which I wisited some eyars ago in connection of their display of printed material connected to beer, has a good range of podcasts. Some of them have pubs as their theme, like The pub and the people. Worth a download. This podcast was recorded in connection with a seminar of the Pub [...]

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Ægir brewery – Bringing it all back home

Posted: May 11th, 2011, 5:08pm CEST by knutalbert

If I were to dream up a perfect location for a brew pub, it would probably be where the Ægir brewery is already located. At the end of one of the most picturesque fjords in Norway. The last stop an a narrow gauge railway packed with tourists during the saison season. At the end of scenic walks [...]

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Berlin XXIII – some sobering thoughts

Posted: May 10th, 2011, 2:41pm CEST by knutalbert

So, I had, once again, a great time in Berlin. Good food, good company, interesting things to see and do. And I am sure most citizens and visitors find the city rewarding. But the united city is still a city of contrasts. It is a city where you find discreet elegance and stark poverty. It [...]

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Berlin XXII – an airport full of beer

Posted: May 6th, 2011, 6:12pm CEST by knutalbert

Airports. Some of them have adjusted to modern times, and if the airlines let you check in beforehand and they don’t make a fuzz about your suitcase being a wee bit heavy, they can be all right. Some are wastelands for beer – Oslo is a prime example, some are pretty decent. Munich has a [...]

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Berlin XXI – A beer club

Posted: May 5th, 2011, 6:58pm CEST by knutalbert

Apost I forgot to publish – but hardly the most significant one from Berlin. Just around the corner from the Hirsch pub is Ambrosius Bier Club, which have 3-4 beers contract brewed for them. I tried their Schwarzbier, which was a bit too sweet for my liking, but the prices are decent, the service is [...]

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Berlin XX – KaDeWe

Posted: May 4th, 2011, 7:19am CEST by knutalbert

KaDeWe - Kaufhof des Westens – a department store that used to be a temple of luxury goods in the heart of West Berlin. Sure, it is still a place for serious shopping if your credit card is up to it, I did not bother to explore in any detail, but they claim to be the [...]

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Berlin XIX – A beer shop around the corner

Posted: May 3rd, 2011, 11:45pm CEST by knutalbert

Strolling around the streets near my hotel one morning, watching people on their way to work and school, I saw a sign for a bottle shop, a Getränkemarkt. I know that this type of shop is common in Germany, but I have not been to one before. I did not have any desperate need for more [...]

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Berlin XVIII – Potsdamer Kulturcafe

Posted: May 3rd, 2011, 5:38am CEST by knutalbert

Potsdam is more than castles and gardens. It is a university town and home to the parliament of the state of Brandenburg. And it has a splendid pedestrianised centre with small shops and cafes. The most charming part of that is the Dutch Quarter, which narrowly escaped the bulldozers in the final days of the [...]

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Berlin XVII – Gasthausbrauerei Meierei im Neuen Garten, Potsdam

Posted: May 2nd, 2011, 6:23am CEST by knutalbert

Potsdam. Less than an hour by suburban train from Berlin. If you want a comparison, you could say this is the German Versailles, full of stately houses, parks and palaces. In nice weather, it is a perfect day out, if you want to really get into all the historical buildings, you should spend a week [...]

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Berlin XVI – a bike ride and a few beer gardens

Posted: May 1st, 2011, 2:09am CEST by knutalbert

Across the entrance to the Berlin Zoo, to the right of the railway station, there is a bike rental place. It gives a splendid opportunity to explore the Tiergarten park, which covers a large area, much of it crisscrossed with paths. It is also easy to cross into the central areas of the Mitte, the reborn central [...]

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Berlin XV – a beer at the Zoo

Posted: April 30th, 2011, 9:07am CEST by knutalbert

Bring a few extra for the monkeys Even if the polar beer Knut is gone, his relatives seem to have fun playing in the pool. The Berlin Zoo is a pleasant place to spend a spring morning, you can’t help being charmed by some of its inhabitants. No motorized vehicles inside, except for the beer [...]

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Berlin XIV – a box full of beers from Bavaria

Posted: April 29th, 2011, 5:40pm CEST by knutalbert

I knew there were beers in Berlin. But I have found it very convenient to buy beer from web shops when I visit various countries. Biershop Bayern keeps sending me offers. Regional beers, wheat beers, packs of beers from small breweries. I decided to give it a try. 9 beers from the brewery Camba Bavaria. Typical German [...]

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Berlin XIII – Kneipe & Kino

Posted: April 28th, 2011, 6:20am CEST by knutalbert

Sure, we could walk up to the Tilsiter Liechtspiele. But we had already spent the day walking around the parks and streets, som a swift tram ride was a good alternative. The old tram network of East Berlin has been refurbished with comfortable and speedy trams. My friend Arve and I left our families back at the [...]

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Berlin XII – Hirsch, your friendly local

Posted: April 27th, 2011, 9:02pm CEST by knutalbert

After booking our hotel, which had good rates for family rooms, I used Google to search the nearby streets for potential watering holes. It turned out there was a place just across the street, Hirsch, that looked promising. It turned out it had just the relaxed atmosphere you want after a long day of walking the parks [...]

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Berlin XII – Back to Friedrichschein

Posted: April 26th, 2011, 5:39pm CEST by knutalbert

We were fairly late in finding a place to go for the Easter family break, which meant the cheap tickets were gone for Paris, Amsterdam and England. But Air Berlin and Norwegian Air Shuttle had nice fares, it is only an hour and a half from Oslo, and we found a nice hotel on the [...]

Axis and allies

Posted: April 21st, 2011, 4:58am CEST by knutalbert

There will be two visits to Berlin and one to London this year. I’d be surprised if I don’t manage to cram in a few beers.

A growler a long way from home

Posted: April 20th, 2011, 12:49pm CEST by knutalbert

While in Copenhagen, I was lucky enough to get invited to a beer tasting of rare US and Canadian brews. This was kindly hosted by Alex, a world resident who resides in Malmö but travels both for business and pleasure. Other guests included the top Danish raters on ratebeer. I have promised not to reveal any [...]

Seven deadly sins

Posted: April 19th, 2011, 8:15pm CEST by knutalbert

The Austrian magazine Genuss has a list of the seven deadly sins to avoid if you want to serve beer on tap. We are talking about keg lagers here, not cask condition ales. Nevertheless: Old beer. Once a keg is opened, it should be consumed, preferably on the same day. Not enough turnover to serve [...]

Barley Wine, Copenhagen

Posted: April 19th, 2011, 9:20am CEST by knutalbert

This little shop is tucked away in a side street, but actually just a few minutes away from the main tourist route. I have walked past it several times, but never during its opening hours. The owner takes his beers seriously – this is where they refused to sell Nøgne Ø Dark Horizon 2 until had aged [...]

Gunmakers beer festival

Posted: April 18th, 2011, 12:01pm CEST by knutalbert

The Artist formerly Known as Stonch is back blogging, this time about an upcoming beer festival at the pub he runs, the Gunmakers in Clerkenwell, London. They will be offering up to 30 different ales during the course of the week, with a special cask ale-only bar in place in the rear conservatory. This will start [...]

Lord Nelson, Copenhagen

Posted: April 15th, 2011, 1:03pm CEST by knutalbert

I’ve been here before. Not many meters away from the busy shopping streets of Copenhagen you walk down a few steps, bow you hed to avoid the door frame and blink a few times to adjust to the dim light. On a Friday afternoon it has yet to fill up, so it a perfect pit stop for a [...]

Khioskh, Copenhagen

Posted: April 14th, 2011, 8:55pm CEST by knutalbert

Of the many temptations of Copenhagen, there is a very convenient shop with very convenient opening hours. Five minutes walk from the Mikkeller Bar, ten minutes from the Central Station. Khioskh - no it is not usually spelled that way in Danish – is not really a kiosk, more the old fashion corner grocery store kind of [...]

20 000 beers and still counting

Posted: April 12th, 2011, 2:52pm CEST by knutalbert

I was in Copenhagen for a few days last week, for once not connected to any beer festival. I thought I was just going to visit a few bars, but it never hurts to check out your network. It turned out there was a celebration going on. One of the very top raters at ratebeer is Henrik [...]

That calls for a gobbledygook

Posted: April 6th, 2011, 12:23pm CEST by knutalbert

“The changes to both the brand proposition and the visual identity will help to make the C’******** brand more consistent, appealing and distinctive to its consumers in both its established and newer markets”. “This global launch is our way of getting our story out there to both our mature markets and our newer markets. We [...]

Cafe Laundromat, Oslo

Posted: April 5th, 2011, 9:29am CEST by knutalbert

Some neighbourhoods in Oslo have a fair number of pubs, bars and cafés, some have to make do with fast food outlets and coffee bars. Around my place there is nowhere to go if I want a decent beer, meaning I have to go downtown. If you live or work around Bislett, you don’t have [...]

A bargain in Oslo

Posted: March 31st, 2011, 2:54pm CEST by knutalbert

Things are getting better and better in Oslo. The following was posted on Facebook from Schouskjelleren Mikrobyggeri this morning: It has taken some time but finally we have installed 8 new taps in our bar. So as of today we can offer a wider selection of our own beers and beers from other craft brewers. We [...]

Not dead

Posted: March 23rd, 2011, 10:12am CET by knutalbert

No, I’m not dead. It’s just the polar bear.

Another beer from Scotland

Posted: March 11th, 2011, 5:51pm CET by knutalbert

A guest post from the Ulster-Scot again: Travelling back through Scotland the tippler stopped off at Morrison’s supermarket in Girvan, an Ayrshire coastal town. With a little while to spare there was time to peruse the beer shelves and the selection of Scottish bottled beers. So the other Saturday night while doing a bit of [...]

Amundsen Bryggeri og Spiseri, Oslo

Posted: March 11th, 2011, 12:30pm CET by knutalbert

OK, so I finally got around to visiting the new brewpub in town, Amundsen Bryggeri og Spiseri, meaning Brewery and Eatery. The Amundsen in the name is of course the polar explorer, but this is not a place with seal fur and the remains of polar bears, it’s just named after the street outside, which is named [...]

Ask a Norwegian!

Posted: March 7th, 2011, 12:05pm CET by knutalbert

In case you don’t get enough around here, there’s a new blog in town.

Where no craft beers have gone before

Posted: March 4th, 2011, 2:44pm CET by knutalbert

A few of you have been following this blog from its earlier incarnation years and years ago. I even did some brief guest blogging over at Alan’s place. One of the places I covered was Longyearbyen in the Spitzbergen archipelago, halfway between the Northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. Almost two hours flight Oslo- Tromsø, [...]

Weeding out the not so good beers

Posted: March 3rd, 2011, 11:30pm CET by knutalbert

The Publican reports on Brains of Cardiff, who have stopped brewing their 45 lager because of dwindling sales. Arfur Daley of CAMRA Wales has an explanation:“It is not really a surprise – it wasn’t a very good beer.” What if other breweries did the same and focused on their good beers instead? Some of them [...]

Proud of British Beer

Posted: March 3rd, 2011, 4:25pm CET by knutalbert

This is everywhere now, but I want to join in the chorus. For any beer lover, it is worth a few minutes of your time!

Oslo snapshots

Posted: March 2nd, 2011, 6:04pm CET by knutalbert

There is a World Championship in what they call Nordic skiing here in Oslo at the moment. That means cross country and ski jumping, sports which are fairly big in a handful of countries in the Northern part of the globe but hardly get any attention elsewhere. Anyway. This is also, of course, an excuse [...]

Swedish shopping lists

Posted: February 28th, 2011, 2:48pm CET by knutalbert

The Schnille & Schmak blog has a list of the new beers in Swedish Systembolaget in the months to come. Well, many of those will probably be available in the bars and restaurants of Oslo as well. But not to take home. And not at those prices.

The London micros

Posted: February 26th, 2011, 11:28am CET by knutalbert

Circumstances beyond my control has prevented me from visiting London for a year or so, meaning I have missed out on some of the new breweries popping up all over. Pete Brown has an enthusiastic overview in the Publican. Maybe towards the end of the year.

beerticker.dk RIP

Posted: February 25th, 2011, 4:34pm CET by knutalbert

You might have read it elsewhere, but a very important source of information on the Scandinavian beer scene is closed down. I have written before that beerticker.dk has struggled to find a financial solution. Well, now Peter Myrup Olesen has thrown in the towel. He had hoped to get enough financial support from the Danish Beer Enthusiasts and [...]