Disappointment at Patricks

I was recommended to visit Patricks during my stay in Kristiansand. Patricks is supposed to be the best beer place in the city, and it is easily found in the pedestrian Markens gate street in the city centre.

Patricks seemed to be a popular place. The evening I was there, the place was packed. It was difficult to find a place to sit down, and the large bar was very crowded. Beerwise Patricks was interesting. In addition to a good selection of bottled beers, Patricks had 14 draught beers on tap. Among them were beers from Norwegian breweries like Nøgne Ø and Ægir.

I wanted to try a local beer, so I ordered CB's take on a Bavarian styled lager. CB Bayer was paler than what I expected from what should be a typical brownish beer. The beer had a small head and nearly no carbonation. In the nose I felt burnt malts and some caramel. The beer felt watery, but it had a caramel taste before some roasted nuts in the finish. This was a boring Bayer that I did not enjoy.

My visit at Patricks was not that fun. The staff was playing really loud music, and because of that guests were more or less shouting to each other. It was not a must staying there, and normal conversations were more or less impossible. I had a craving for an IPA and ordered a glass of Ægir. That beer was great as usual. And then I was off. I had had enough of Patricks for that evening.

A taste of CB

Kristiansand is the largest city in Southern Norway. It has about 70,000 inhabitants and is Norway's fifth largest city. It is a beautiful town, and many Norwegians travel to the area during Summer. Some of Norway's best beaches are near Kristiansand, and the biggest Norwegian zoo, Dyreparken, is based just outside the city.

Markens gate street in the city centre of Kristiansand.

Earlier Kristiansand was called Christianssand. The local brewery is called CB (Christianssands Bryggeri), and it is one of Norway's oldest current breweries. It was originally founded in 1856. CB's beers are easily found in bars and restaurants around Kristiansand, and the locals are very fond of the brewery's pale lager, CB pilsner.

I had my taste of CB pilsner at Six Pence Pub in Kirkegata street. This is a large cellar pub with few guests on my visit.

In the glass CB pilsner is a golden beer with much carbonation and a small head. In the nose there is some malts and a touch of sweetness. The beer has a malty taste before a watery finish with some grains. This was an average pale lager, and I prefer buying other Norwegian beers than CB pilsner.

Drinking local beer in Malmö

There is no fuss getting from Copenhagen to Malmö. Trains from Copenhagen's central station leave several times every hour, and the trip takes about half an hour.

My visit in Malmö was short, but I had time for a beer. I had been recommended the pub Bishops Arms close to the Gustav Adolfs Torg square by fellow beer blogger Have Beer Will Travel in this post. I entered the pub and was very impressed by the draught beer selection. I counted 32 taps with several interesting ales, lagers and triples, and in addition to this a lot of bottled beers were available.

Among all the great draught beers, there was also a beer brewed in Malmö. The local Malmö Brygghus brewpub is based on the other side of the town, but at Bishop Arms there is supposed to be a Malmö Brygghus beer available on tap at all times.

Malmö Brygghus' Ribban Sommer Öl was described by the friendly waitress as a pale ale. In the glass it was a brownish beer with very little carbonation and a large head. In the nose I felt caramel and nuts. The beer had a fruity taste, and I felt both oranges and mandarins before semibitter finish. This was a lovely beer.

Another glass of Ribban Sommer Öl was what I should have ordered. Instead I paid my bill and left the nice Bishops Arms pub. A plane was waiting for me at Kastrup airport.

In the Danish Alps

Not far from Copenhagen's City Hall Square (and across the street from Brewpub), you can find Heidi's Bier Bar. Heidi's Bier Bar is a cellar pub with a German bierstube theme. Inside the walls have Alpine motives, and the pub's focus is on beers and schnaps. The bar looks like a place for students, but it also has a good selection of beers both from tap and in bottles.

Heidi's Bier Bar offers 17 different draught beers. From tap can drink several Erdinger and Franziskaner wheat beers, Pilsner Urquell, Grolsch, Puur, Grøn Tuborg, Tuborg Classic and Carl Special to name a few.

I wanted to try the Belgian beer Puur, but unfortunately the keg was more or less empty. Instead I ordered a half litre of Hoegaarden from tap. This is a beer I have not tried for about two years. Earlier it was easy to get hold of in Norway, but lately I have not seen the beer in any Vinmonopolet outlets. I was therefore happy to find Hoegaarden at Heidi's Bier Bar. The friendly waitress was kind enough to fill the glass nearly to the top. The original beer glass was large and heavy, so she had a challenge serving me the beer. I was also offered some complimentary beer snacks with the beer, but I turned the offer down. This is what I call great service!

The Hoegaarden beer was cloudy as usual. The beer had very little carbonation and a small head. In the nose I felt orange peels. The beer had a fruity taste. I felt some yeast, spices and a touch of bread. It was very good and a fine drink in the warm, Danish Summer weather.

I left Heidi's Bier Bar in a very good mood. This was a nice place, and I liked visiting it in the afternoon. I do not know how the pub is at midnight, but I can imagine it is more of a party place than a cozy beer bar at that hour.

The Session: Sour beer

It has been a while since I have contributed to The Session. This month I am back, and this time the topic is "Sour beer" and it is hosted by Jon Abernathy at The Brew Site. Thanks for hosting, Jon!

The Session is the beer writing project where beer writers and bloggers from around the globe write on a single beer-related topic on the same day.

I have never tried a sour beer before, so this month's The Session was a great starting point. My local supermarkets do not sell sour beers, so I had to check out the nearest Vinmonopolet outlet.

There were not that many beers to be found there. I found some Belgian triples and several IPAs and porters together with the occational pale lagers that are too strong to be found in Norwegian supermarkets. But there were no sour beers in the beer section.

By chance I went to the shelf with the newest products from Vinmonopolet. Among wine bottles and liquor I found one beer bottle. And guess what! It was a sour beer. I had hoped to find a Belgian lambic or gueuze. Instead I found Mikkeler Spontanale. The Danish brewery calls it a geubic, by the way.

Mikkeler Spontanale was a fizzy, pale beer with a tiny head. In the nose I found some fruit and a touch of yeast. The taste was very different to what I expected. I felt lemon, some spices and a touch of vinegar. It was not a favourite, and I believe this beer to be an acquired taste.

I will try other sour beers in the future, but there are other beers that suits my palate better at the moment. For instance is a can of Pilsner Urquell waiting for me in the refridgerator right now.

Back at Copenhagen's Brewpub

July takes me back to Copenhagen. I have a few hours to spend before I move on, and I choose to use them on something beer related. Nørrebro Bryghus is closed, and some Danish friends tell me that Bryggeriet Apollo is not the best beer place in town. In retrospect I should have taken the trip to the Mikkeller bar or Kihoskh, but instead I ended up at Brewpub.

Brewpub is not a bad choice if you go to Copenhagen. The pub brews its own beers, and at my visit eight draught beers of various beer styles were available.

I had a visit to Brewpub last December, and I had a great time then. This time the cellar bar was closed, so I had to sit down in the backyard. That was great, as the weather was warm. I used some time to choose which beer to drink.

The warm weather chose in a way the beer for me. I needed an IPA!

Brewpub's Atlantic IPA was a cloudy, brown beer. In the glass it had some carbonation and a medium sized head. I felt some grapefruit and grass in the nose. The beer had a delicious taste with some grapefruit and apples before a partly bitter finish with oranges. Lovely!

I did not feel that it was a shame to have visited Brewpub after tasting the excellent Atlantic IPA. Brewpub is to be recommended for Copenhagen tourists.

A surprising stout

Dorothy Goodbody's Wholesome Stout from Wye Valley brewery is now available in some Norwegian supermarkets. That is great, as the stout selection at Norwegian shops and supermarkets is usually Guinness. And that's it. If you are lucky, you can also find Aass Stout and/or Nøgne Ø's Havrestout here and there.

Dorothy Goodbody's Wholesome Stout is a black beer with a lot of carbonation and a medium sized head. In the nose there is coffee and dark chocolate. The beer tastes of cold coffee, some malts and a touch of sweetness before a partly bitter finish. Delicious! This is a lovely stout that I hope will be available in more Norwegian supermarkets. If you want a stout in Norway, you do not have to buy Guinness anymore.