Back at Arlanda

Having another stopover at Stockholm's airport Arlanda, I this time visited Terminal 5. This is a newer and better looking building than Terminal 2, that I visited last year.

For some beer, I sat down at Andersson Food & Aquavit. From draught, Andersson could offer Staropramen Dark Lager and three pale lagers: Carlsberg Hof, Staropramen and Pripps Blå Expert. I have had my share of boring Swedish lagers, so the local Pripps was a no-go. Instead I went for the the dark beer from the Czech Republic.

The beer was as black as a Coca Cola. There was no carbonation, and there was barely a head- In the nose I felt coffee and and sweet malts. The beer was mainly sweet with some caramel, malts and a bit of coffee before a sweet finish. I felt the beer was average, and I know I have been drinking much better dark lagers than this one.

My flight was late, but I did not see it until I was nearly at the gate. I decided it was time for another beer, and I had it at the place called Bar in Terminal 5. The draught beers on offer were Carlsberg Hof, Kronenbourg 1664 and Brooklyn Lager. It was not difficult to choose. I had the American lager, and as usual it was a satisfying experience with aromas of grapefruit and a fine taste combining grapefruit and caramel. It was really enjoyable.

It was time to leave, and next time I am at Terminal 5 I will go straightly to Bar. The best draught beer I have found at Arlanda, is still Brooklyn lager.

Another IPA

Drinking beer in Bergen is enjoyable these days. There are several good beer bars, and most of them can offer interesting draught beers. Henrik is now the leader of the crowd with 44 beer taps. Baran used to be the local tap race leader, but the current 18 taps are not that bad. Among them you can find beers from Norwegian craft breweries and exciting import beers.

I recently visited Baran and found that they had Crooked Tree IPA from the American Dark Horse brewery. As I am fond of IPAs and Crooked Tree was a new acquaintance, I chose that beer. In the nose I felt some grapefruit and pineapple. The beer tasted of fruit coctail with assertive pineapple and a touch of pine. The finish was partly bitter, and in all I felt this was just an average IPA. I would prefer Norwegian IPAs like Kinn Vestkyst, Ægir IPA or one of Nøgne Ø's IPAs compared to Dark Horse Crooked Tree.

Nevertheless, Baran is always worth a visit while in Bergen for a beer enthusiast. And there is more to come! It is rumoured that Baran will start brewing their own beers soon. That will be interesting, as the management show great knowledge in beers and beer styles.

A round of IPAs

Suddenly Vinmonopolet had several new India Pale Ales available, so I bought some of them and had an IPA session.

From Denmark, Herslev Bryghus IPA is probably the palest IPA I have tasted. It looked like a pale lager in the glass, and there was some carbonation and a medium sized head. I felt some grapefruit and apples in the nose, while the beer tasted of apples, citrus and some pine before a partly bitter finish. This was a nice beer, but I was a bit disappointed that I did not feel the grapefruit promised from the aromas when I tasted it.

Skands Elvegade IPA is also from Denmark. This is a cloudy beer with some carbonation and a small head. In the nose I felt apples and some sour citrus. In the mouth there was lemon and some bitter hops. The beer was quite alright, but it was not what I expected from an IPA.

Southern Tier IPA is an American beer. This cloudy beer had a small head and nearly no carbonation. In the nose there was some assertive grapefruit, and the grapefruit also dominated in the mouth. The finish was bitter with a touch of grass. This was a great India Pale Ale and my favourite of these three.

To finish the session I went for a wheat beer with a hoppy twist. Schneider Weisse TAP 5 was a cloudy beer with a nice, white and large head. There was some carbonation, and the aromas were very hoppy. I felt grapefruit and some banana. In the mouth this was a beer with an assertive fruit cocktail in the lead. Some bubble gum and sweetness danced along before a finish with a touch of sweet pear and a touch of hoppy bitterness. This was a very good beer, but I felt that a half litre bottle was too much. As a Weizendoppelbock with an alcohol content of 8.2%, this is a strong beer.

First Christmas beer and three more

Christmas Day is less than two months away. As usual shops and supermarkets have started selling Christmas goods, and here and there you will even find Christmas decorations. This week I also found the first Norwegian juleøl (Christmas beers), and next week the stronger juleøl beers are to be found at the state owned Vinmonopolet outlets.

This year's first Norwegian Christmas beer for me was from Grans. Grans uses the Lade Gaards Brygghus label to promote beers that are supposed to be craft brewed. The Lade Gaards Brygghus bottles are among the prettier ones in Norway, and I really like the retro look. I have not been quite satisfied with the beers from Lade Gaards Brygghus, so I was not expecting much from the Juleøl.

In the glass the Lade Gaards Brygghus Juleøl had a dark, coppery colour. There was some carbonation and a large head. In the nose I felt some toffee, while the beer had a taste of caramel and some malts before a watery finish. This Juleøl was a decent, average beer that I probably will try again before Christmas.

Chang lager is a new beer in Norwegian supermarkets this Autumn. This pale lager from Thailand is a fizzy beer. In the glass it built a medium sized head, and I felt a malty aroma. The beer had a sweet, malty taste and felt a bit watery. In all Chang is a boring lager that needs a hoppy bite to become somewhat interesting. The way this beer is right now, it has no appeal to me at all.

Ravnsborg Rød is an amber ale from the Denmark based brewery Nørrebro Bryghus. This is a copper coloured beer with some carbonation and a medium sized head. In the nose I felt chewing gum and banana and got a suspicious feeling that it was a wheat beer I was having. In the nose I felt a tutti frutti taste combined with bread and banana that gave me more wheat beer connotations. The finish was watery and not exciting at all. Ravnsborg Rød is just another average beer, and I would rather buy a Paulaner weizen than this to have a wheat beer kick.

The Goose Island brewery from the United States makes a fine India Pale Ale. Honker's Ale is another beer from the brewery, and the label calls it an English style bitter. This is a copper coloured beer with some carbonation and a medium sized head. In the nose there is some grapefruit. The beer is a disappointment compared to the aroma. There is not much taste in Honker's Ale. I feel some grapefruit before a partly bitter finish with a touch of grapes. The beer is another average beer, but I had much more expectations for this beer that what it could deliver.

Two Summer beers

I have yet to find Brooklyn Summer Ale in a Norway, but at 4.5% alcohol it is a beer that could be sold at ordinary shops and supermarkets.

The beer has a pale colour. There is a lot of carbonation and it builds a medium sized head. In the nose I feel lemon and oranges. In the mouth I feel malts and lemon before a watery finish with a touch of biscuits and lemon. This was a nice thirst quencher in the sun.

Sigtuna Summer IPA hails from Sweden. This a a dark and cloudy beer with nearly no carbonation nor head. Grapefruit dominates both in the nose and in the mouth. I also feel some lemon, grass and toffee before a semi bitter finish. This was a lovely beer with an alcohol content of 7%.

Beer notes update

Sometimes I get a large backlog of beer notes. This is one of the times, and here I will present my thoughts on five beers. Four of them are Norwegian, and the last one is from the United States.

Aass pale ale is a copper coloured beer with some carbonation and a medium sized head. In the nose there is caramel, yeast and some sweetness. In the mouth I feel some fruit salad, toffee and a touch of yeast before a semi bitter finish. This was a nice beer that I liked.

Aass bayer is a more interesting beer. It is made in the Bavarian style, and it has not much carbonation nor a large head. In the nose there is caramel, and I feel the beer tastes of caramel and some coffee. The finish is watery but with coffee and spices still making the beer worth checking out.

Arendalspilsner is a pale lager from Arendal. It is from the same district as the Norwegian cult brewery Nøgne Ø. In the nose I feel that Arendalspilsner has some malts, grass and sweetness. This is a partly sweet beer with some maltiness and a touch of apples. The finish has a touch of bitterness. This is a decent pale lager, but there are many beers I prefer drinking compared to it.

Seidel pale lager is one of those Norwegian generic brand beers where the brewery name is disclosed on the can. In the glass the Seidel beer is fizzy with a large head. I feel malts and sweetness in the nose, and in the mouth there is some malts before a partly bitter and watery finish. This is a boring lager that it is easy to avoid.

Duck-Rabbit Märzen is an American beer. This is a copper coloured beer with some carbonation and a small head. There is some burnt malts and caramel in the nose, and the beer has the same taste except for an extra touch of honey. This beer was a little bit too sweet for me, and I felt it was boring before I had emptied my glass.

Two beers at Oslo airport

I had left the city centre of Oslo to catch a plane at Oslo's Gardermoen airport. This time I was early at the airport, so I sat down at the Christiania bar to have some beer.

As always the draught beer selection at the airport leaves something to be desired. At Christiania you can have Ringnes, Carlsberg or Stella Artois pale lagers. Are you ready for some ales, there is Kilkenny and Guinness from tap.

I would not have any of these beers, so I checked out the beer bottle selection. There I found some beers I had not tried earlier. The Ringnes brewery distributes some of the Brooklyn beers in Norway, and I wanted to check out Brooklyn East India Pale Ale.

In the Ringnes branded glass the Brooklyn East India Pale Ale had some carbonation and a medium sized head. In the nose I felt grapefruit. I found grapefruit, sour oranges and some spices in the mouth before a semi bitter finish with some passionfruit. This was a lovely beer!

There was also time for a Jacobsen dark lager. Jacobsen is Carlsberg's mini brewery, and I have enjoyed some of the other Jacobsen beers earlier. The dark lager was not a favourite. It was a dark beer with nearly no carbonation and a small head. Except for a tiny hint of coffee and caramel, there was no aroma. In the mouth the beer felt watery with some caramel. I felt it was boring.

As I went to my flight, I had once again the same feeling: Why is it not possible for Oslo airport to sell some Norwegian craft beers? And why not as draught beers? The airport is the largest in Norway, and many tourists travel through it. This could be a nice place to show the better beers of Norway to visitors.

Arlanda beer hunt

My plane from Arlanda was late, and there would be at least an extra hour for me at Stockholm's airport. I had checked some of the beer possibilities in Terminal 2, and I had tried two half litres of pale lager at the terminal's bars. Sure, I could have some other beer I had not tasted earlier from bottle, but I wanted to check out some other part of the airport to see if I could find some exciting draught beers.

First I went into the tax free shop at Terminal 2. The beer selection there was boring. I could have Carlsberg or Tuborg. No Swedish beer brands were available, and this being Sweden's largest airport it could have been a fantastic place to sell the best Swedish beers to take home for a tourist.

No such luck. I left Terminal 2 to see what to find elsewhere. Walking towards the other terminals, I saw a sign showing the way to SkyCity. SkyCity is Arlanda's mall with shops, bars and restaurants. That would be the right place to look.

SkyCity had a facinating architecture. It was a building where space age fancy decour took the lead. It was not a welcoming place, and I did not feel at home. Free wifi was available, though, and that was a plus.

There were several bars and restaurants upstairs at Sky City. I chose one of the first I saw, New Orleans Bistro & Bar.

New Orleans Bistro & Bar had a nice selection of bottled beers, but from draught Brooklyn Lager was the most interesting beer compared to Kronenbourg 1664 and Carlsberg Export. I had to have a taste of the American beer, and I went for the largest glass: 0.75 litres.

In the glass Brooklyn Lager was a nearly browninsh beer with some carbonation and a small head. The beer had a nice aroma with caramel leading on with a tiny touch of grass. In the mouth caramel and citrus tastes danced along before a semi bitter finish with some toffee. This was a lovely beer, and i enjoyed it very much. It gave the Stockholm stopover and flight delay a nice finish.

A bunch of import beers

Mikkeler is one of the most popular Danish craft breweries. Mikkeler Beer Geek Breakfast is a beer brewed for Mikkeler at Nøgne Ø in Norway. It is a dark beer with some carbonation and a medium sized head. In the nose there is coffee, while I feel coffee, roasted nuts and some cocoa in the mouth. The finish is bitter with a touch of cold coffee. This is a lovely beer.

Westmalle is one of the Belgian trappist breweries. The Westmalle Tripel beer has 9.5% alcohol, and it is cloudy with a medium sized head. There is nearly no carbonation. In the nose there are fruits, some flowers and malts. I feel malts, sweetness, some peach and a touch of yeast before a partly sour and bitter finish. It is a nice beer.

Amstel Pulse is a Dutch pale lager. I drank the beer from the bottle. In the nose there was some malts, while in the mouth this was a watery beer. It had some sweetness before a tiny touch of hops in the finish. This was a boring pale lager that it is easy to avoid. There are loads of better lager beers around than Amstel Pulse.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is a golden, but somewhat cloudy beer in the glass. It has some carbonation and a medium sized head. I feel citrus and grass in the nose. In the mouth grapefruit is dominating before a semi bitter finish. This is another lovely beer.

Six import beers

Once upon a time more or less only Norwegian beers were available in shops and supermarkets in Norway. Nowadays it is very different. A lot of brands and beers are sold both at Vinmonopolet and supermarkets, and it is easy finding new beers if you just visit several outlets.

Anchor Steam Beer is sold at Vinmonopolet. It is a beer that has been praised by beer bloggers, but I was very disappointed when I tried the beer for the first time. It looked delicious in the glass with its brownish colour, nice head and some carbonation. In the nose I felt more or less nothing, and the beer was nearly tasteless until a semi bitter hoppy finish. I will try it again in Summer and see if it feels better then. What I had here, was a boring beer.

Coors Light is another boring American beer. Budweiser and Miller have been available in Norway for years, so this year it is Coors' turn in some supermarkets. Coors Light is a fizzy pale lager with a malty nose. It the mouth it feels watery, but it has an interesting touch of pines. It is not bad, but I can think of many pale lagers available in Norway that are more satisfying than Coors Light. I will not buy it again.

Brakspear Oxford Gold is one of the British ales sold in some Norwegian supermarkets. It is an organic beer, and in the glass it looks lovely with a golden colour, some carbonation and a medium sized and lasting head. In the nose there is sweetness and some malt. This beer also feels watery, but it also has a touch of toffee before a finish with hops and grapes. This is a nice beer, but again there are better alternatives available.

From Germany comes the Weihenstephaner brewery. I like its ordinary wheat beer, but Vinmonopolet also offers Weihenstephaner Vitus at some outlets. Vitus is a weizenbock with 7.7% alcohol. It seems unclear in the glass. In the nose there are bananas, and bananas are also leading the beer taste before a finish with a touch of vodka. It is an average beer, but I prefer Weihenstephaner's normal weizen to it.

BrewDog's Trashy Blonde is sold in better stocked Norwegian supermarkets. It is a beer with a tiny head and some carbonation. There are some aromas of grapefruit in the nose. In the mouth a bitter, hoppy touch is dominating together with a touch of grapefruit. Trashy Blonde is not a favourite for me. It is another beer I will not seek out, but I will drink it if somebody offers me a glass.

The Samuel Smith brewery is known for having several interesting beers. Samuel Smith Nut Brown Ale is sold at Vinmonopolet in Norway, and it is a copper coloured beer with nearly no carbonation and a medium sized head. In the nose there is yeast and caramel. Toffee dominates in the mouth before a yeasty finish with a touch of caramel. This is a very nice brown ale, and it is one that I will buy now and then. This is a great beer for a cold Spring day in front of the fireplace.

New from Vinmonopolet

There are many interesting beers to be found at Vinmonopolet these days. As of January, the state owned liquor and wine stores in Norway has had a special focus on beers. There are many new beers available, and many styles are represented.

If you are looking for beers at Vinmonopolet, they will be among the stronger ones, as only beers with less than 4.7% alcohol can be sold in ordinary shops in Norway.

Myself I am happy to find Budweiser Budvar available at Vinmonopolet. They sell this Czech golden lager in 0.33 litre bottles. This is the Budvar svetly lezak, and it has 5.0% alcohol. It is actually cheaper than it's vycepni version in ordinary shops. The 4.5% alcohol Budvar is sold at 27.90 NOK in supermarkets, while Vinmonopolet sells it at 26 NOK. This is around 3 GBP or 3 EUR.

Among the new beers at Vinmonopolet is Goose Island India Pale Ale. This is an American beer from Chicago with a very beautiful label. It is my first American IPA, and it has a alcohol content of 5.9 %.

In the glass Goose Island IPA has a Pale and cloudy colour. It has a small, white head and there is very little carbonation. There is nearly no aroma, but some hints of apples can be found. In the mouth there is apples and hops. I feel it is nice balanced with nearly no bitterness. This is a very good and enjoyable beer and one of the best IPAs I have tried so far.