A Carlsberg disappointment

The monitor told me that there had been a slight delay on my ongoing flight from Copenhagen airport. I decided to use the time to check out the beer selection at O'Learys. O'Learys is a chain of sport themes pubs that often can be found on airports and railway stations around Scandinavia.

From tap there were several choices from Carlsberg. I was not ready for a pale lager, so I would have to choose between Jacobsen Brown Ale and Carl's Special. I had never tried Carl's Special as a draught beer, so it was easy to order a taste of it.

The friendly bartender brought me a half litre of Carl's Special. In the nose there was malts and a touch of coffee. The beer had not that much taste. I felt some malts and burtness before a watery finish. This was a boring version of a beer that I felt was richer in taste when I tried it from bottle in 2010.

Copenhagen Airport is beerwise not that interesting. There used to be a bar selling Danish craft beers, but from what I hear it has been closed for some time. That is a pity, as there is more to Danish beers than what is produced by Carlsberg.

Another Easter beer

As I was walking around Copenhagen Airport, I found The Bar in terminal 3. The round shaped watering hole had two sets of beer taps, and the yellow chicken on one of the taps' plackards made me interested. As I took a closer look, I saw that the beer offered on that tap was Tuborg Påskebryg, an Easter beer.

Tuborg Påskebryg was a pale lager with a lot of carbonation and a medium sized head. In the nose I felt malts and sweetness with a touch of mints. The beer was fullbodied with some citrus and malts. The finish was malty with a touch of butterscotch. The beer was not that bad, actually, but I guess that the butterscotch tones might be a result of diacetyl infection.

It was time to find the gate where my flight was waiting. I left The Bar having ticked off a beer, but without having had the greatest beer experience.

Copenhagen stopover

There was time for at least one beer during my stopover at Copenhagen airport. As I went from one part of the airport to another, I saw that Eyecon bar in terminal 2 had Jacobsen draught beer. Jacobsen is Carlsberg's socalled craft beer label with several interesting beers. As I sat down on a bar stool I saw that Jacobsen Brown Ale was on offer from tap. As I had never tried that beer before, I ordered half a litre of it.

In the glass this was a nearly black beer with barely any carbonation nor head. In the nose I felt burnt malts and some caramel. The beer tasted of caramel, some sweetness and roasted nuts. The finish had hints of toffee and cold coffee. This was a very nice brown ale!

There was time for another beer, so I picked up my luggage and went on to see if there was another draught beer for me in the area. None of the Tuborg lagers available at Eyecon tempted me at that moment.

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.

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.

Tuborg versus Tuborg

If you go to Denmark, Tuborg beer is everywhere. The traditional brewery once based in Hellerup outside Copenhagen has been owned by Carlsberg for the last 40 years, and its beers can be found all over the world. In some countries the original Danish Tuborg beer is sold, while elsewhere Tuborg is brewed on licence by a local brewery.

Tuborg's flagship is Grøn Tuborg (green Tuborg), which is a pale lager. I have fond memories of vacations spent in Denmark enjoying Grøn Tuborg with friends or as a thirst quencher in Summer.

While visiting Copenhagen earlier this month I ended up near the old brewery site in Hellerup. The premises are still used as offices, but the beer and soft drinks are being produced in Fredericia in Jutland.

Being in Hellerup it was neccessary to try some Tuborg from tap. A little cafe in what used to be the bottling building had both Grøn Tuborg and Tuborg Classic as draught beers. Unfortunatly they were out of Tuborg Classic, so I ordered only Grøn Tuborg.

Grøn Tuborg was a pale lager with little carbonation and a little head. In the nose I felt a grainy and malty touch. Grøn Tuborg had not that much taste. I felt it was somewhat watery with a touch of butter before a malty finish with a hint of apricot. The beer is OK, but there are loads of pale lagers I prefer to it.

At Copenhagen airport there are several bars. One of them is Bryggeren. It has a nice selection of bottled beers, and from tap you could earlier this month drink Carlsberg, Carl's Special, Grøn Tuborg, Tuborg Classic and Tuborg Julebryg.

I wanted to try out the Tuborg Classic from tap. This is a beer that is widely available in Denmark, and cans with it advertise that it has a fuller pilsener taste.

The bartender gave me a half litre of Tuborg Classic in a Carlsberg glass. The colour is golden, and the beer was fizzier and had a larger head than Grøn Tuborg. The nose was dominated by malts. In the mouth the malts took the lead with a bready feeling and some hoppy bitterness. The beer was also more fullbodied than Grøn Tuborg.

My choice is clear. If the selection is Grøn Tuborg and Tuborg Classic, I will go for the latter. It has a better taste, and it is much more interesting to drink.

Copenhagen's Brewpub

In the city centre of Copenhagen there are many places to find a beer. One of them is Brewpub. This is a great name. It tells everybody exactly what kind of place it is: A pub with a brewery on the premises.

Many beers are brewed at Brewpub, and according to their website there are 14 taps with both Brewpub's own beers and some guest beers.

Brewpub looks like a nice combined pub and restaurant. On my visit earlier this month I did not try any food, but I liked the atmosphere. The place was packed on my visit, so it felt like a popular pub.

The first beer I tried at Brewpub was Brewster. This is a pale ale with nearly no carbonation and a small head. In the nose there were scents of yeast, while in the mouth hops were present with a nice taste of orange. I really enjoyed Brewster, and this is a beer I would love to try again.

Being December, it was natural to have a go at one of the Christmas beers. Red Xmas was dark red, and the beer had almost no carbonation nor head. There were nearly no aromas from the beer, but it had tastes of caramel, coffee and hops. Red Xmas is a nice beer, but I preferred Brewster to this beer.

There are also other brewery pubs in Copenhagen. Bryggeriet Apollo next to Tivoli is one of them, but because of queues I did not visit it this time around. Another place is Færgekroen inside Tivoli, which was recently visited by fellow Norwegian beer blogger Knut Albert.

I am back in Copenhagen next year, and I will return to Brewpub. But I will also try to visit Færgekroen and Bryggeriet Apollo and other brewery pubs in the Danish capital. If you have any suggestions, please leave a recommendation in the comments field.

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!

If this is Thursday, it must be Copenhagen

I spent one day last week in Copenhagen. The weather in the Danish capital was fabulous. It was was sunny, and the temperature was heading towards 30 Centigrades. The day would be nice for trying out some of Denmark's finest beers, but I was not able to. I do not mix drinking and driving, so my beverages were water and soft drinks.

But I did envy the ones sitting down having a glass of beer in the warm weather. Next to the famous Tivoli gardens, you can find Bryggeriet Apollo. This is a brewpub with a varied offer in beers. Most people sitting down at Bryggeriet Apollo enjoyed their pilseners, and it looked really good.

Inside Tivoli Gardens there are several food stands and restaurants. Most of them offer draught beers from Danish breweries like Carlsberg, Tuborg and Royal. In addition to this there is also a little brewpub on site, but I did not see it during my short visit.

Instead I found a German inspired beer garden called Paulaner Biergarten. Paulaner's draught beers were naturally present, and I would love to have tried both the weissbier and the Oktoberfestbier from the menu.

As always, Tivoli Gardens are full of people in Summer. It is a great place for children, but there is also much to do for adults. With both a German styled beer garden and a brewpub, Tivoli is an interesting site for beer travellers.

Not far from Town Hall Square (Rådhuspladsen), I found another interesting place for beer hunters. A little pub called Brewpub, also had their own microbrewery on site. Brewpub makes several beers, but most interesting was that they based their food menu on dishes and beers that fit together.

Sure, I need to go back to Copenhagen. And next time I will use public transport.