Two Danes

Dashing through the December streets of Copenhagen, I see that there is time for a beer or two before I need to be at the railway station. As I am walking through Strøget and getting closer to Rådhuspladsen, I know where to go: Bryggeriet Apollo next to Tivoli.

At Bryggeriet Apollo most tables are occupied, and there is a queue of people waiting to be shown a table. I have no time for waiting, so I decide to walk on towards the railway station.

In one of the streets next to the station I find Vertshuset Pinden. Pinden looks like a typical Danish inn with brown tables and a decent supply of Danish beers and schnaps. Unfortunately there are no draught beer at Pinden, but I sit down and order a bottle of Carlsberg's Carl's Special.

Carl's Special was one of several beers Carlsberg started brewing some years ago that Danish beer drinkers could vote on. It won the vote, and it has been on the market since. In the glass this is a copper coloured beer with nearly no carbonation and a small head. I can smell malts and coffee from the beer. In the mouth there is a taste of cold coffee and some dark chocolate. This is a lovely beer, and it is one I can recommend.

As it is December, the Danish Christmas beers are on the market. At Pinden they have Tuborg's Julebryg. This copper coloured beer with little carbonation and a large head is a disappointment compared to Carl's Special. The beer has nearly no aroma, and it has a sweet taste. There is some malts and hops in it, but it is clearly a less interesting beer than Carl's Special.

Pinden was a nice neighbourhood boozer. I had a nice time there before I moved on to catch my train. But on my way I stopped at a newsagent to have a beer to drink on my train. Guess which!

More Christmas beers

There are many juleøl beers (Christmas beers) to be found in Norwegian supermarkets and at Vinmonopolet. Here you can read about some of them.

Hansa juleøl is the weaker version with a lower alcohol content than the traditional Christmas beer. It is a copper coloured beer found in supermarkets. There is some carbonation and a medium sized head. In the nose I feel some caramel and a touch of malts. In the mouth there is little taste, but the caramel and malts are still there. In addition to this the beer feels a bit watery. This is not my favourite this year. It is just an average juleøl.

Grans julebrygg is also found in supermarkets. This is a better beer than Hansa with aromas of licorice and malts. In the mouth there is caramel and some burnt notes. This is a nice effort, but not among the better Christmas beers in Norway.

Erdinger Schneeweisse is a German wheatbeer brewed for the holiday season. In the nose I feel some malts and a touch of yeast. Typically for the Erdinger beers I have tasted, there is not much taste. I feel some fruitiness and hints of banana and cloves in a watery beer. Schneeweisse feels boring, and I prefer other wheatbeers to this beer.

Tuborg juleøl is the Norwegian variant of the Danish Christmas brew. It is brewed on licence by Ringnes, and it is a coppercoloured beer with some carbonation and a medium sized head. In the nose there is some caramel, and in the mouth I feel toffee, cinnamon and a touch of licorice. It feels a bit watery, but it is the best of these four Christmas beers.

Christmas and Nøgne Ø

It is getting nearer and nearer to Christmas. Here in Norway the days are short and the temperatures on a freezing level. It is a good time to be inside drinking dark beers.

Kontoret is a good place for beer drinkers in the city centre of Bergen. At the moment, Kontoret has two rotating taps focusing on beers from Nøgne Ø and Ægir. It is exciting visiting Kontoret, as you never know what beers you will find on the taps.

This week I was back at Kontoret. A smiling and helpful waitress told me that two Christmas beers were available: Ægir's Juleøl and Nøgne Ø's God Jul. I have tried both from bottle, and my favourite was God Jul. Therefore I chose to try the Christmas beer from Nøgne Ø this time around.

In the glass Nøgne Ø's God Jul was a nearly black beer with no carbonation and the tiniest head. Just like from bottles, the draught beer version had a nose with malts, hops and some toffee. The beer was served way too cold, and tastes of dark chocolate and coffee was present. From bottle at a higher temperature this was a rich and flavourful beer. The way it was served here, it was nearly boring. Next time around, I will have God Jul from bottle and not from tap. The price for a half litre of God Jul at Kontoret was 106 NOK, which is nearly 11 GBP.

A few weeks earlier I tried another Christmas beer from Nøgne Ø at Kontoret. Julesnadder was also a black beer. It was served with a small head and very little carbonation. In the nose there were aromas of toffee and some malt. In the mouth I felt coffee, a hint of licorice and a nice touch of sweetness before a finish where cold coffee took the lead. This is the Nøgne Ø's Christmas beer that is sold in shops, as it has an alcohol content of less than 4.7%. I liked it, and it is a very good alternativ to other Norwegian Christmas beers sold in shops if you can find it. I have not seen it the shops I frequent. The price for Julesnadder at Kontoret was 86 NOK for a half litre.

Two from Atna

Atna Øl is one of Norway's smaller breweries. Until lately, I had never tried any of their beers. Atna's beers from bottles are often available in Norwegian pubs with a wide beer selection, but they are not very often found as draught beers.

Recently I came across some Atna beers at a supermarket for the first time. I wanted to try some new Norwegian beers, so both Atna Nakenbad and Atna Stabbursøl found their way into my trolley. Both beers are ecological beers.

First out was Atna Nakenbad, which translated into English means nude bathing. The label says that this is a beer with traces of wilderness. From the nose I found nothing wild except for a fruity aroma with a hint of strawberry. The beer was cloudy with a small head and nearly no carbonation. In the mouth there was very little taste before a finish with grains and some bitterness. I felt it was a different beer than what I am used to, but it will not become a favourite.

Atna Stabbursøl (English: grainary beer) was another cloudy beer with a small head. There was some carbonation, though. This beer is brewed by using only malts and hops, according to the bottle label. There was very little taste from the beer. I felt hint of hops, but otherwise this was a watery beer that I did not enjoy.

Time for juleøl

The weather is colder, the days are shorter. It is almost the end of November, and juleøl (Christmas beers) are once again available in Norwegian supermarkets and at Vinmonopolet, if you prefer stronger beers. Most macro breweries have several Christmas beers available at various strengths. In addition to these breweries craft brewers like Nøgne Ø, Haandbryggeriet and Ægir also brew juleøl.

I have tried some of the different Christmas beers during the last week. During the next weeks there will be reviews of juleøl now and then here on this beer blog, but first we will take a look at three Christmas beers available at Vinmonopolet.

Last year I felt that Nøgne Ø's Special Holiday Ale was the best Christmas beer. This year I was a little bit disappointed. The Special Holiday Ale is a very good beer, but I remember it as better in 2009. The beer is nearly black, has nearly no carbonation but builds a thick and lasting head. In the nose there are spices, malts and a hint of coffee. The beer has a nice body. There are many spices dancing around in the mouth before a bitter finish with coffee and a hint of dark chocolate.

Nøgne Ø's second juleøl is called God jul (Merry Christmas). This is even better than Special Holiday Ale this year. In the nose there is malt, hops and a touch of toffee. In the mouth dark chocolate takes the lead with a hint of coffee before a half bitter finish.

Haandbryggeriet's Nissefar is another very good juleøl. It is nearly black with very little carbonation and a little head. There are aromas of cold coffee, prunes and some malts. In the mouth the prunes lead on with tastes of raisins, cold coffee and some sweetness.

Svyturys - round 2

I received many comments after my review of Svyturys Ekstra pale lager. I felt the beer was very sweet, and several comments from blog readers told me that the Lithuanian lager had a different taste profile than the beer I had described.

Finally I found a new bottle of Svyturys Ekstra, and therefore I was ready to do a new tasting. In the glass, this was a beer with a large head and some carbonation. The aromas were of malts and grains. In the mouth I felt bread, some bitterness and a hint of sweetness before a grainy finish.

This beer was less sweet this time around, but it will not be a common guest in my fridge. I prefer other pale lagers. The price is also high. At about 45 NOK, which is 4.50 GBP, I prefer buying for instance Czech lagers like Pilsner Urquell, Bernard or Budvar. These beers are usually priced below 30 NOK for a half litre can or bottle.

New Czech pub guides

Last week two new pub guides to the Czech Republic were released. Both are e-books, and one is a guide to pubs and bars in Prague, while the other presents watering holes for beer drinkers in Brno.

Alistair Reece used to live in Prague. These days the man behind the beer blog Fuggled has moved to the United States. In his Pocket Pub Guide to Prague, Velky Al presents his 40 best places to get a beer in the Czech capital. The e-book is available through Lulu.com, and more information can be found on the guide's own web page.
Brno Now is a web page in English commited to the largest city in Moravia. Now the Brno Now people have published what they call a guide to beer, pubs and alehouses in Brno. You can find more information about the guide here.