Reputation is not all

Kristiansand is one of Norway's more popular tourist cities. There is also a local group of beer enthusiasts, and they have their meetings at Patricks in Markens Gate street. Patricks has a great selection of beers both from draught and bottles, and a beer interested person visitin Kristiansand could do much worse than visiting the combined pub and restaurant. This is also a popular place in Kristiansand with an excellent position on the main street.

I visited Patricks last Summer and was not impressed. A combination of loud music and noisy guests made it more or less impossible to enjoy the place. The beer was great, but there were no possibilities to have an ordinary conversation. I was back this Spring and was disappointed once again. Patricks is unfortunately not to be recommended. I hope the owners will do somthing about it. They can for instance take an example from Schouskjelleren in Oslo and Henrik in Bergen: Cut out the music!

The rest of my evening was spent at Bakgården in Tollbodgaten street. This is a smaller place than Patricks, but at least it offers two Nøgne Ø beer taps. I liked the environment much better, and the ambience was calmer and much more interesting than at Patricks.

Nøgne Ø Citra IPA was a beer with a lot of lemon in the nose. It had a medium sized head and nearly no carbonation. In the mouth I felt spicy grapefruit with a finish where lemon and grapefruit had a great balance of sweet and sour. This was a lovely beer!

If you go to Kristiansand, check out Patricks. But you might find out that Bakgården is the better place to be for a few beers.