Back at Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri

Grünerløkka is the neighbourhood in Oslo where some of my favourite Norwegian beer bars can be found. At the southern end is Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri found close to the Nybrua tramstop. I called this brewpub the best Norwegian pub last year, and I still consider it like that. Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri is a charming beer hall with a great selection of draught beers both brewed at the premises and from leading craft breweries.

At this visit I concentrated on the brewpub's own beers. I started with Sonne IPA. The cloudy beer had barely any carbonation. It had a fruit aroma, and the beer tasted of bitter blood arange. The finish was fruity with a touch of toffee. I really liked this IPA.

I then went for a pale ale. Female Of The Species had a dominant grapefruit aroma. In the mouth I felt lemon and pine, and a sour touch made the beer a little bit more interesting. The finish was somewhat watery and average. I liked the beer, but perhaps I should have tried it before I drank the IPA?

Goose time

Earlier this month, Gaasa opened its doors in Oslo. The location is fine. It is in Storgata street in the city centre close to Oslo Central Station.  Gaasa will both sell beers brewed especially for the pub and selected beers from smaller and larger breweries. The premises looked like an apartment, and on the opening night that gave the place a party feeling. What seemed to be a student crowd looked to have a great evening mostly enjoying their Carlsberg from bottles or playing snooker in a separate room.

The bar was the centre of attention in the main room. Except for draught beers, it looked as if Gaasa had a fine selection in wines. Myself I wanted to try the house beer, and that was Gaasa IPA brewed by Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri.

Gaasa IPA was a cloudy beer with a medium sized head and no carbonation. In the nose I felt grapefruit, and the beer tasted of a balanced combination of citrus and grass. The finish was partly bitter, and I felt this was a fine IPA.

Then I decided to try out a Danish beer. Beer Here Kama Citra was a dark beer with nearly no carbonation nor head. In the mouth I felt coffee and some orange. The beeer tasted like a cocktail of coffee, citrus and grapes before a partly bitter finish with apples. This was a good and different beer.

I am not sure if I will be a frequent guest at Gaasa when I am in Oslo, but for the novelty it would be interesting to see how this place will turn out after a few months. So far I prefer other pubs to it, but if I am near the railway station I might take the time for a beer or two.

Return to Schouskjelleren

Oslo's Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri was my favourite Norwegian pub in 2011. It is easy to find at the southern end of the Grünerløkka neighbourhood close to the Nybrua tram stop. At my recent visit I still feel that the pub is among the top of the crop. The service is great and attentive, the atmosphere is very good and there is an excellent selection of draught beers. The big bonus is that some of the beers are brewed on the premises, making Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri one of the better brewpubs in Scandinavia. And I also like the policy of selling branded beer glasses. Other pubs can learn from that. A beer glass is an excellent souvenir!

I chose to try out O.S.B. Bitter. This was a cloudy beer with some carbonation and a medium sized head. There were nearly no aromas from the beer. I felt some yeast and touches of pine. The beer was a bit sweet with some honey and pines. The finish was boring and nearly tasteless. I liked the beer, but the anonymous finish was a let down.

There was not time for more beers this time around, but I will be back the next time I am in Oslo.

Pale ale tasting at Schouskjelleren

I have been to Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri once again. Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri is one of Oslo's newest brewpubs, and it is interesting to see what new beers that are available from visit to visit.

During my last trip to Oslo I ended up drinking three of the pale ales brewed on the premises. A fourth draught beer brewed at Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri was also available together with nine other draught beers and an excellent collection of bottled beer.

I started with Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri's Empress of India IPA. This cloudy IPA had a small head and nearly no carbonation. In the nose I felt grass, grapefruit and yeast, while the beer tasted grapefruit and grapes before a partly bitter finish with some sweetness. This was a lovely beer!

Then I tried Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri's Hip Hops. This beer was described by the friendly and cute waitress as a pale ale. The beer was cloudy, had a large head and some carbonation. Hip Hops had nearly no aroma, but the beer had a touch of fruit cocktail before a finish with some sour lemon. This was an average beer that I perhaps would have liked a lot more if I drank it before the Empress of India IPA.

Transport Helicopter is supposed to be a single hop pale ale. This was another cloudy beer with some carbonation. In the nose I felt some fruit cocktail and malts, while in the mouth I felt a combination of grapefruit and sweet lemons before a semi bitter finish. This was another lovely beer from Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri.

Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri is probably the most interesting brewpub in Oslo at the moment. A beer tourist should not miss out on it.

For the record: I also tried the Dresden '45 rauchbier from the Danish brewery Grassroot during this visit to Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri. I feel naming a smoked beer that way is tasteless by the brewery. I will therefore not comment on the beer.

Finally Olympen

Oslo is an interesting destination for beer travellers. The last few years more and more bars and pubs have started selling craft beers, and Norwegian craft breweries like Nøgne Ø, Haandbryggeriet, Kinn and Ægir have made a name for themselves brewing excellent beers. There are many restaurants in Oslo selling craft beers on tap, and nowadays it is easy to make several pub crawls in the Norwegian capital testing out new draught beers on every crawl. One of the better places for a beer visit is Olympen.

Olympen is a traditional beer hall. Some years ago it had a reputation as a local smoke filled boozer, but nowadays this is a large and spacious restaurant with a solid and much better public image. Olympen is called Lompa by locals, and it has a nice atmosphere. After hearing many recommendations about the beer hall, I finally could enter it at its location in Grønlandsleiret street in the Grønland neighbourhood.

In addition to bottled beers, there are several draught beers available at Olympen. The house beer is Hansa pale lager, and it is by far the least interesting draught beer available. In addition there were five other beers on tap the evening I visited Olympen. Two of the beers were from Oslo's Schoukjelleren Mikrobryggeri, and I decided to check out one of the local brews. My choice was Schouskjelleren's Thunderbear Stout.

Thunderbear Stout was served in an original Schoukjelleren Mikrobryggeri glass. It was a black beer with a medium sized head and nearly no carbonation. In the nose I felt some coffee and burnt malts. The taste was of cold coffee and some chocolate cake. I liked this stout a lot.

It was unfortunately time to move on. I had things to do the next day, so I needed to call it a night. But I know I will be back at Olympen.

Back to Schouskjelleren

Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri is one of Oslo's newest brewpubs. It is placed where the former Schous brewery once was based in the Grünerløkka neighbourhood.


The pub feels more like a beer hall. At this visit four beers from the in-house brewery were available. In addition to these, there were nine draught beers from other breweries and a large selection of bottled beers.

I chose one of Schoukjelleren's own beers, and I ended up with Schoukjelleren Sommer-Kölsch. This was a yellowish beer with a small head and nearly no carbonation. In the nose I felt nearly nothing except for a touch of tutti frutti bubble gum. In the mouth I felt fruit, sweetness and some yeast. Tastewise this was a lovely beer.

My second visit to Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri was short, but I could take home a souvenir. Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri's original beer glasses were available at the cheap price of 15 NOK (nearly 2 EUR). That is a great idea, as I believe this is a way to counter beer glass theft from pubs. In addition to this the pub visit will live on for a tourist. You will remember both the pub and the time spent there afterwards.

Oslo's new brewpub

In October Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri opened its doors, making itself the second brewpub in Oslo. Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri is on historic brewery ground in the Grünerløkka neighbourhood. The area around the brewpub used to be Schous brewery, which was founded in 1821. Schous brewery was later bought by Frydenlund brewery, which again was bought by Ringnes in 1978. In 1981 the brewery business came to a close for Schous.

Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri is based in a cellar. The brewpub is like a big cavernous beer hall with bricks on the walls and ceiling. On my visit last week, the brewpub was full of people, and it was difficult finding a table. I felt the pub was noisy, but perhaps it would feel different if I was part of a group there?

The two bartenders did a good job, and the female bartender took time talking about the pub and the beers available. Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri has a good selection in bottled beers, and on tap there were five beers. Two of the beers were brewed on the premises, but Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri also offered Nøgne Ø's Wit and Imperial Stout while Haandbryggeriet's Pale Ale also was available.

I started with one of the brewpub's own beer. This was the phonetically incorrectly named beer [aj pi ej], which of course is an IPA. In the glass this was an unclear beer with a copper colour. I felt some orange and bitterness in the nose. In the mouth there was grapefruit and lemon before a partly bitter finish with a touch of grains. This was a lovely beer, and I felt it was one of the better Norwegian IPAs I have tried.

The other draught beer from Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri on my visit was called Batch #10, with Vinterøl (Winter beer) as an extra description. In the glass this was an unclear, dark brown beer with some carbonation. In the nose I felt dry roasted nuts and dried coffee. The taste was of cocoa, cold coffee and a touch of spruce shoots. This was a nice beer, but the [aj pi ej] is the better beer of these two.

If you go to Oslo, you must not miss out on Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri. This is a great brewpub with promising beers. I would love to see [aj pi ej] as a bottled beer and taste it head to head at home with IPAs from Kinn, Ægir, Nøgne Ø and Haandbryggeriet. That could be a fabulous night of beer tasting! In the meantime I promise to be back at Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri later this year.