Ringnes Bayersk Lager

First I wrote about Hansa's beer in Bavarian style. Then I wrote about the Naboen pub and restaurant's Bayer. This time I will take a look at Ringnes' version of Bavarian beer.

Ringnes is the biggest brewer in Norway. The brewery is owned by Carlsberg, and the brewery group owns several Norwegian brewers. Their flagship is the Ringnes Pilsener, but Ringnes also has several other beers on offer in several styles.

Ringnes Bayersk Lager pours into the glass with a large head and much carbonation. The head disappears quickly, and the same can be said about the carbonation. In colour, it is lighter than the other Norwegian Bavarian style beers covered here at Beer Sagas. It is more or less light amber.

In taste there is a burnt character. The beer has hints of sweetness, but the finish is bitter. The lightness makes it an inferior offer compared to Hansa's Bayer, but all in all this is an OK beer.

Neighbours

There are many pubs in the centre of Bergen. One of them is Naboen. Naboen is a restaurant with a pub in the cellar. It is possible to order food from the restaurant menu in the pub, so this is a place to stop both your hunger and your thirst. The name means neighbour in English, and it has to do with the menu. There are many Swedish courses on it, and as Sweden is Norway's neighbouring country the name is good.

On tap you can find several beers. If you fancy Heineken brewed on licence in Norway, it is available here. Among others you can also find Hansa Pilsener, Murphy's stout, Newcastle Brown Ale and Naboen's own Bayer.The waitress did not know that much about the Bayer, but she could tell me it was not brewed at the premises. Instead a brewer makes it for Naboen from Naboen's own recipe.
Naboen's Bayer is a good beer of the Bavarian style. It is dark amber of colour and with very little carbonation. It tastes much like Hansa's Bayer, but feels somewhat sweeter. The watery aftertaste of Hansa is not to be found, but it feels somewhat thin. At 52 NOK it is not that expensive compared to other Norwegian beers, and it is one of Naboen's better offers.

Hansa Bayer

Breweries are spread all over Norway, but most of them are controlled by two large companies: Ringnes and Hansa-Borg. Hansa-Borg is the second largest brewer in Norway, and is a result of a merger between Hansa brewery of Bergen and Borg brewery of Sarpsborg. Hansa and the soccer team Brann are the prides of Norway's second largest town, Bergen. Bergen is famous for its patriotism, and people living there are known to say that they are not Norwegians, but Bergeners.

Bergen harbour. On the left is Bergenhus fortress. In medieval times this was the home of the king of Norway.

The Hansa brewery was established in 1891. For many years it was based at Kalfaret - just outside Bergen's old town gate. These days Hansa has a modern brewery based in a southern suburb close to the airport. On the old site there is a micro brewery and a little restaurant. While attending college I used to live near the old brewery, and the smell of malts in the area is a fond memory. It is just like the weeks I spent in the German village of Böklund some years ago. The smell from the sausage factory there used to water my mouth.

Bergen seen from Mount Fløyen - one of the city's seven surrounding mountains.

When Hansa started up their first beer was Bayer - a darker beer in the Bavarian style. Bayer is still brewed today, and Hansa sells it in cans. Bayers used to be popular in Norway, but today it is a marginal product. In the 1950s 20 percent of Norwegian beers were Bayers. In 2004 Bayers had a Norwegian market share of 0.2 percent.


I feel that it fits that the first beer tested out in this blog is a Norwegian Bayer beer. Hansa Bayer pours nicely into the glass, and there is a good head that disappears rather fast. There is some carbonation, and the colour is amber. I can taste notes of fruitiness, but still there is some bitterness in it. A nice beer - but it leaves a watery aftertaste. Hansa Bayer is enjoyable, and in my opinion one of the better offers from the Hansa label.