Bryggerikaia Blues

My favourite place in Bodø is Bryggerikaia. Bryggerikaia used to be a brewpub, but that has changed. Nowadays beers from Mack in Tromsø are sold at the restaurant together with some bottled beers.

At my latest visit to Bryggerikaia, I was happy to find two new taps. As usual Bryggerikaia offers Mack's Pilsner, Arctic Beer, Bayer and Haakon, but now there is also a choice of Bryggerimesterens Spesial (the brewmaster's special). This is a series of draught beers brewed by Mack's own microbrewery. The beers in the Bryggerimesterens Spesial series are supposed to change now and then, and there will be both experimental beers and Mack's various takes on different beer styles.

There was no doubt which taps I was going to have my beer from. I asked the friendly and cute waitress what was on the Bryggerimesterens Spesial taps. She did not know, but she offered me to sample one of the beers. Great, I thought, and listened to the sound of the last drops of liquid coming out of the tap. There is always the other one, I thought just before she told me that both kegs were empty.

I decided to go for Haakon instead. This is one of Mack's many lager beers, and I liked it when I have tried it earlier. This brownish, but still somewhat golden beer had a lot of carbonation and a medium sized head. In the nose I felt malts and caramel. The malts were assertive in the mouth with some toffee. The finish was typical Mack with a lot of grains. I was disappointed, as I remembered Haakon with a fuller and more advanced taste pattern than this.

After a meal and another glass of Haakon I left Bryggerikaia to find a taxi to the airport. Bryggerikaia is a fine place to enjoy a meal, but I hope to find beers from Bryggerimesterens Spesial when I return. The other Mack draught beers available at Bryggerikaia are nice, but they are not that impressive. And what about brewing your own beers again? The equipment is still there in the building.

Piccadilly revisited

In the windy town of Bodø, I ended up spending an entire Autumn evening at Piccadilly. Piccadilly is one of those English pubs you find outside Britain with the distinct English touch, but unfortunately lacking British draught beers. Sure, it is nice with a Guinness or another Irish stout or ale now and then, but I feel that a British bitter or pale ale from tap should be a must for an English pub.

At Piccadilly there are several draught beers, and Nordlandspils pale lager is the one preferred by the locals. I was not in the mood for a pale lager, so I chose Frydenlund Bayer. This is a very fine beer in the Bavarian style, and in my opinion it is the best of its style from Norwegian macro breweries.

I was given a beer with a small head and some carbonation. This copper coloured beer had aromas of cold coffee and toffee. In the mouth there was burnt malts, toffee and cold coffee. The finish was with a bitter touch. I really like Frydenlund Bayer, and in these Christmas beer times it is worth mentioning that it is much better than most Norwegian Juleøl beers sold in supermarkets.

Piccadilly is a nice pub. I would like a bigger beer offer, and it would be nice if the pub also could offer Norwegian craft beers from tap. But I must confess that Frydenlund Bayer did its trick as a a session beer this evening.

Forgettable

Near the city square in Bodø, you can find Paviljongen. In Summer it is possible to sit outside enjoying the North-Norwegian weather. In Winter it is better sitting inside keeping oneself warm.


If you want something to eat, hamburgers, lasagne, chicken, salads or fish soup are among the courses on the menu. But I wanted something to drink, and on offer there were draught beers from Mack brewery. The choices were Arctic Beer or Bayer, a beer in the Bavarian style. In short, this was a very boring selection. At least a place like this should have a draught beer available from a brewery like Nøgne Ø, Haandbryggeriet or Ægir. But this is typical of Bodø. Pale lagers rule the taps in pubs and bars.

Mack's Arctic Beer is one the brewery's many pale lagers. It has usually a grainy taste, but for some reason I felt the beer tasted different at Paviljongen. There were no aromas, and the taste was typical for a eurolager but without the grainy touch. Perhaps there was something wrong with the lines, or perhaps the beer was subpar? In addition to this, the atmosphere at Paviljongen was not very good. The waiter seemed under pressure by stress, and a customer did not make his day better by yelling to him after something that had happened earlier.

I went into the city square thinking that Paviljongen perhaps is a better place in Summer. I did not fancy being there this time around.

Bodø once again

It is beautiful in Northern Norway. The nature is stunning, and there is a certain charm being north of the Arctic circle in Winter. The days are short, and it is strange walking around in the early afternoon feeling it is in the middle of the night.

Bodø is the second largest city in Northern Norway. Every time I visit Bodø I end up on the quayside visiting the Bryggerikaia pub. Once it was a brewpub, but nowadays it is selling draught beers from Mack brewery of Tromsø.

I have always enjoyed being at Bryggerikaia. The waiters are both service minded and friendly, and they seem to like having conversations with visitors.

At this visit I wanted to try another Mack beer for the first time. I ended up with Mack's Haakon. Haakon is a golden beer with some carbonation and a small head. In the nose there is some caramel, while toffee and burnt notes are typical of the taste. I liked the beer, and felt it was superior to the Mack Arctic beer, which has been my usual beer at Bryggerikaia.

Three beers in Bodø

Bodø railway station

Bodø is a very compact city. It takes about ten minutes to walk from the railway station to the town hall. If you want to go to the airport, it takes five minutes in a taxi from the bus terminal in the city centre. If you prefer walking, it would take about 20 minutes.

In the city centre there are several bars and pubs. I wanted to watch a soccer game, so I ended up at the pub with a very fitting name, Wembley.

Wembley pub & lounge is first and foremost a sports bar. I enjoyed my soccer game and wanted something to drink. Sure, I could have had a half litre of Nordlandspils, which is available everywhere in Bodø, but I preferred something else.

The nice and friendly female bartender offered me toasts to eat, but I did not want any. Instead I looked around the bar. Carlsberg from tap did not tempt me. Neither did bottles of Tuborg Lime or Budweiser. Instead I ended up with a glass of Guinness stout from tap.

After the game was finished, I walked a few blocks and found another bar. Piccadilly looked like the closest thing to an English pub that I could find in Bodø, so I walked in.

Piccadilly could just like Wembley offer Guinness and Nordlandspils. In addition to these beers Kilkenny, Frydenlund Bayer and Stella Artois were available. Being in an English style pub made me choose what a hooligan would order: A pint of Wifebeater. Stella Artois, I mean.

Stella Artois is not my favourite pale lager, but once again I felt it took away my thirst. The pub was nice with leather furniture and classy interior. I liked staying there, but I would have liked some Haandbryggeriet, Nøgne Ø or Ægir beers on tap as well. And by the way: I did not share the Swedish waitress' music taste.

My time in Bodø was over for this time, so I found my things and got ready to go to the airport. I went down to the bus terminal and started to wait for a bus. It was not due to arrive in nearly an hour, so I ordered a taxi to the airport.

Bodø airport is a small airport, and most of the air traffic go to local airports in Northern Norway.

Inside there is a pub called Bodø Aktiebryggeri. It is found before the security check, so if you want a beer you must enjoy it before entering the departures hall. I sat down and ordered my first and only Nordlandspils for this trip. Once Nordlandspils was the local beer brewed in Bodø. Nowadays the beer is brewed in Trondheim, so it is not even brewed in the same part of Norway.

I drank my 0.6 litre of Nordlandspils and thought it was better than Stella Artois. But still it is inferior to the pale lagers I have tried in for instance the Czech Republic.

I left Bodø thinking that the city needs its brewpub back after Bryggerikaia has stopped brewing its own beers. The little city also needs bars, pubs and restaurants with a bigger selection than pale lagers and Guinness.

Back to Bodø

A ten hour train journey from Trondheim took me past the Arctic circle and to Bodø. Bodø is one of the largest cities in Northern Norway, but with about 46,000 inhabitants it is really a small sized city.

A few years ago, Bodø had a brewpub in the city centre. Bryggerikaia served several beers brewed on site. These days the brewing equipment inside the combined restaurant and pub is a sign of the former brewpub activity. The brewer has left Bodø, and visitors to Bryggerikaia must make do with beers from Tromsø based Mack brewery.

Bryggerikaia is a nice place to have a few beers and something to eat. At lunch time there is a lunch buffet with a lot of tempting courses. I sat down and had several servings of among others Spanish meatballs, marinated prawns and tasty fish.

Mack is one of the better of the large Norwegian breweries. As usual in Norway, pale lagers are the most common beers brewed by any brewery. My favourite from Mack is the Arctic Beer, and fortunately that was one of the available draught beers at Bryggerikaia.

Arctic Beer is a decent pale lager with a nice and grainy aftertaste. The nose is flowery and in the mouth malts and hops dance along in a fine combination.

If you go to Bodø, Bryggerikaia is perhaps the best place in town. Unfortunately it is no longer a brewpub, but it has a great atmosphere and a fantastic view of the harbour and the wild, North Norwegian nature.

Back on the quay

If you want to have beer in the city centre of Bodø, there are several bars and restaurants to visit. One of them is Bryggerikaia, which is perfectly located next to the wharf. Bryggerikaia used to advert that it was the only brewery in Bodø. In June I was at the brewpub twice to check out the beers brewed there. When I visited, there were no beers available in the brewpub. I was therefore hoping for a new chance to check out Bryggerikaia's beers when I was in Bodø earlier this month.

Once again I was disappointed. The cute and friendly waitress could tell me that the brewer has moved from Bodø and that all the brewery equipment is not in use at the moment. She then showed me a corner of the pub where I could see some of the brewing tanks.

According to the waitress, the management at Bryggerikaia hope to start brewing again, but they do not know when. In the meantime Bryggerikaia sells draughted beers from the Mack brewery of Tromsø. Mack is according to their advertising the most northern brewery in the world, and on tap I could see their Arctic Beer, a pilsner, a Bayer, Haakon special beer and a seasonal beer. I like Arctic Beer, so I used the opportunity to try it again.

Mack's Arctic Beer is a pale lager. It was served with much carbonation and a medium sized head. The beer has a flowery aroma with some malts. In the mouth the malt takes the lead with some hops and grains in the aftertaste. Arctic Beer is a very good lager, and I would like to recommend it among Norwegian pale lagers. The price at Bryggerikaia is 69 NOK, slightly more than 6.50 EUR or 6 GBP. If you want bottled beers, Bryggerikaia also sells Corona, Grolsch or Carlsberg.

I hope Bryggerikaia will get back to brewing their own beers. The pub is a very nice place to visit, and I would like to return there.

Even more airport beers

North of the Arctic circle, you will find Bodø. Bodø is one of the largest cities in the northern part of Norway, but with slightly more than 46,000 inhabitants it is not a large town. Bodø is home to the largest air force base in Norway, and the Norwegian armed forces and Bodø University College just outside the city centre are the biggest employers in the area.

In addition to the Bodø Main Air Station, there is also an airport in Bodø next to the airforce base. Bodø airport is located five minutes by taxi from the city centre, and it has a nice little terminal building.

Inside the building the departure area is on the ground floor. Here you can check in and drop your baggage. Up the stairs from departures, you can go through the security control. But, if you want to have a beer, you might wait for a while. Alcoholic beverages are not sold in the waiting hall after the security control, so if you want a beer you need to turn right after the stairs and enter Bodø Aktiebryggeri.

Bodø Aktiebryggeri means Bodø Brewery Ltd, but it is not a brewery pub. Instead it is a normal pub serving beverages and some light snacks. I had a large portion of nachos with salsa and sour cream. Nice stuff, but not very filling. The name Bodø Aktiebryggeri comes from a brewery that once existed in Bodø.

Among the beers available from tap you can find Guinness and Ringnes Lite. Ringnes Lite is not to be confused with lettøl (light beer), which is a Norwegian beer with low alcohol content. Instead Ringnes Lite is a beer with a lower calory count. In my opinion, this is also a beer with lower taste as well. If you want a diet drink, then Ringnes Lite might be an alternative. But so is also water.

There is also draughted lager beers like Carlsberg and Nordlandspils at Bodø Aktiebryggeri. Carlsberg is brewed on licence in Norway by Ringnes, and it is not among my favorite beers available in Norway. Nordlandspils used to be Bodø's own beer, but after Nordlandsbryggeriet brewery was bought by Ringnes, the production was moved from Bodø to Trondheim.

Nordlandspils is served in a 0.6 litre glass at 89 NOK. The beer is a pale lager with some carbonation and a small head. The nose is flowery with hints of fruit. In the mouth there is a hint of sweetness, malts and more flowers in a thinbodied beer. The aftertaste is bittery, but it balances the sweetness very well. I feel it is an OK Norwegian lager, and it is better from tap than from cans.

I liked Bodø Aktiebryggeri, but I feel that the airport needs a pub also on the other side of the security check. The way it is now, you can only find a Narvesen stand with books, magazines, soft drinks and snacks. If my flight was postponed, I would hate to have gone through the security check and not being able to have a beer or two while waiting for my plane to departure.

Under glass

It can be cold in Bodø. The annual mean temperature is 4.5 Centigrades, and in January the average temperature is -2.2 Centigrades. Bodø is also renowned for its chilly winds, so there is no wonder that the locals have built a roof over a part of their main street and made it into a mall.

The mall is called Glasshuset (English: The glass house), and consists of over 70 shops and restaurants. One of the restaurants at Glasshuset is called II. etage, which means First floor in English. The restaurant is, of course, placed on the first floor, and it serves a lot of Asian courses. It also has a nice bar with both wines and spirits.

This time around I was really hungry, so I decided to have a two-course dinner. II. etage offered scallops among their starters, so I had to test out their variant on the shellfish. As my main course I ordered the Chinese fried duck course.

I was served four scallops. They were as tasty as the ones I had eaten at Bodø's Bryggerikaia earlier, but there was no vinegar here. Instead I could enjoy the perfectly fried consistence on the outside and the soft interior of the scallops by themselves. I really liked this version, and in my opinion II. etage does their scallops better than Bryggerikaia.

The duck was served with vegetables and rice. The rice was nearly tasteless, and fortunately the duck sauce was a great paring. The duck itself could have been more crispier, but it was still very nice. The vegetables were cooked to perfection, so in all this was an OK Chinese meal.

To drink I went for draughted beer. At II. etage they serve Nordlandspils lager. Tradistionally Nordlandspils was brewed in Bodø by the local Nordlandsbryggeriet brewery. These days the Carlsberg-owned Norwegian brewery Ringnes owns Nordlandsbryggeriet, and Nordlandspils is no longer being brewed in Bodø. Instead it is brewed in Trondheim by E. C. Dahls brewery, which is another local brewery owned by Ringnes.

Nordlandspils is a pale lager beer. It has a medium carbonation and is served with a very small head that dissolves rather fast. It has a malty and flowery aroma and there is a hint of bitterness to its taste. The lager beer is very nice and is one of my favourites of its style in Norway. Where some Norwegian lagers are very sweet, it is great finding a nice halfbitter alternative.

Bodø airport is more or less in the city. It takes
five minutes by taxi to reach it from the town centre.