A touch of black beer

If you leave the tram at Olaf Ryes plass square in Oslo, there is just a short walk to Grünerløkka Brygghus. No, it is still not a proper brewpub, but it has several interesting beers on tap.

I started with a glass of the house beer, Kjell Pop Single Hop. This nice India Pale Ale brewed by Nøgne Ø was a good way to start the visit. I then looked at the beer menu and ended up ordering Løkka Svarthumle. This was another house beer. This time we talk about a Black IPA brewed by the Norwegian Kinn brewery of Florø.

I have said it before in discussions on the internet that I hate that term. Read it, please: Black India Pale Ale. You can not have a black beer that is pale. It is impossible! So any brewer reading this: Use another term! You can not sell liquid ice cubes, can you?

But I digress. Løkka Svarthumle was a black beer with a medium sized head and barely any carbonation. In the nose there was coffee and hops. The beer tasted of coffee and some grapefruit before a finish with assertive coffee. I liked this beer, and I went on to have another glass of it.

Grünerløkka Brygghus is one of the pubs a beer interested visitor to Oslo should check out. The atmosphere is fine, and there is a good draught beer selection where the house beers are the icing on the cake.

Grünerløkka Blues

Something has happened in Norway during the last few years. There is an interest in beers that go beyond the ordinary pale lagers, and many pubs and bars now have a decent selection of bottled beers. There has to be an interest for these beers among the guests, and I am happy to see beer menus expanding with more available beers than before. There is no mumbo jumbo doing this for any proprietor. They just have to buy the beers, and any bar owner can do it!

Myself, I rarely bother drinking bottled beer at a bar. Usually I can buy it myself and drink it at home. I prefer drinking draught beer. Therefore I like it when a bar expands and gets hold of more beer taps. It is also a treat when a pub gets a house beer brewed especially for itself.

I had an hour to myself before attending a meeting in Oslo. I chose to take the tram to the Grünerløkka district, as there are several interesting pubs there. Among them you can find two brewpubs and also some with house beers. I chose to visit Grünerløkka Brygghus. The pub's name tells that it is a brewpub. It is not. Grünerløkka Brygghus started up in 2010 aiming to be a brewpub, but so far only beers from outside the building have been available there. But they have house beers brewed for them by Nøgne Ø, and I really liked the Kjell Pop Single Hop I drank there last year. This time around there were no possibilities to check out the beers at Grünerløkka Brygghus. The pub was closed, and it would open a few hours later. OK, I thought. Then I will try Aku Aku Tiki Bar further down the road.

But no such luck. Aku Aku Tiki Bar was also closed. That was a shame, as I wanted to taste the house beer. It is a pale ale brewed by Nøgne Ø called Aku Aku Lemongrass Ale. It is only available a a draught beer, and it is a rather rare beer as this bar is one of the very few places to sell it. Two letdowns so far. Would there be more? Was I just way too early in the day to drink other draught beers than pale lagers from Ringnes and Frydenlund in this area of Oslo?

At the square further down the street I saw Parkteatret. Once this was a big cinema, but these days there are concerts there. The former lobby is now a bar. It has a great retro look with leather chairs and sofas. I enjoyed being there. And as a bonus there were interesting beers on tap!

I chose Dobbel Dose from Haandbryggeriet. This cloudy beer had barely any carbonation nor head. The nose was very fruity with lots of grapefruit. In the mouth sweetness and bitterness met in a great balance. I felt fruit cocktail and grapefruit before a partly bitter finish. This was lovely! A great beer.

Time was up. I rushed down the road to catch the next tram heading downtown. There was work to be done.

From single to double

Once again in Oslo, a visit to Grünerløkka Brygghus is a must for me. As always the beer bottle collection is excellent with many interesting beers available. In addition to this, there are 13 draught beer taps with several great brews. Norwegian breweries have a good presence on the draught beer list with beers from Aass, Nøgne Ø, Ægir and Kinn represented.

The house beer at Grünerløkka Brygghus is still not brewed on the premises. Instead it is Nøgne Ø who delivers Kjell Pop Single Hop. These days it is supplemented by another house beer. This is also from Nøgne Ø and is called Kjell Pop Double Hop.

Kjell Pop Double Hop is a cloudy beer with a nearly brown colour. In the glass there is hardly any carbonation, and the beer has a small head. I feel grapefruit in the nose, while the beer tastes of more grapefruit, pepper and grass before a very bitter, hoppy finish. I liked this beer at first, but it became much too bitter for me.

Grünerløkka Brygghus has become one of the pubs I always visit in Oslo. But when will you start brewing your own beer and become a real brewpub? The Norwegian word brygghus really means brewery house in English.

Nøgne Ø's pils at Grünerløkka Brygghus

Last year Grünerløkka Brygghus started up in Oslo. It was planned to be a brewpub, but for the first months it only sold beers brewed elsewhere. The house beer, Kjell Pop Single Hop, is made for the pub by Nøgne Ø.

These days the situation is the same. On my recent visit, there were no in-house brewed beers available. Still, the pub is a great place with a more than decent menu of bottled beer and 11 draught beers.

I was looking forward to another glass of Kjell Pop Single Hop, but the draught beer list made me choose another beer. Nøgne Ø has been making a pils for the last year or so, but I had never been in a pub having it available before now. Of course, I had to try the pils.

What is a pils? Sure, most of you blog readers know about Josef Groll and his efforts to make a new beer for the citizen's brewery in Plzeň (also known as Pilsen) in 1842. Well, Nøgne Ø's pils is not a typical emulation of that beer. It has another taste profile, and I did not feel any Saaz hops. Sure, a lot of beers are called pilsners, but only beers brewed in Plzeň or with the same recipe should have the name.

After this little preach, I must confess that I really liked Nøgne Ø's "pils". It was a cloudy beer with a nearly golden colour. There was nearly no carbonation and a small head. In the nose I felt some citrus, while grapefruit took the lead in the mouth with a touch of apple. The finish was bitter and lovely. I liked the beer a lot. It should have been called Nøgne Ø lager, though, but I understand why Nøgne Ø uses the name. Nearly all breweries call their pale lagers pilsners, but a brewery that is so good at making their own versions of various beer styles like Nøgne Ø should be careful calling their pale lager a pilsner the way I see it. This is not an emulation of Pilsner Urquell, but it is still a very good beer.

Grünerløkka Brygghus is a great pub in Oslo. Do not miss out on it if you walk the streets of the Norwegian capital or somehow get on Oslo tram number 11. It is easy to find the pub at Thorvald Meyers Gate street near the Olaf Ryes plass tram stop.

Brewpub without brewery

Beerwise, Oslo has been getting more interesting during recent years. Some exciting pubs and bars have opened, and craft beers are easier to find both in bottles and on tap. These days there are three brewpubs in Oslo. Grünerløkka Brygghus is one of them, and it started up last Autumn. The pub is situated in the hip and trendy Grünerløkka area, where you can find many bars and restaurants.

It is easy to get to Grünerløkka. Tram number 11 from the city centre takes you to the Olaf Ryes plass tram stop two blocks away from the brewpub. But there is a catch about Grünerløkka Brygghus. The brewpub has not started brewing so far, so the beer menu consists of beer brewed elsewhere including a good selection of bottled beers. There is also a food menu with sandwiches and solid pub grub. On Fridays the pub has a special offer on oysters.

Grünerløkka Brygghus has nine draught beers. On my visit last week, you could drink Samuel Adams Boston lager or pale lager and bayer from Aass brewery. Ale drinkers could enjoy Old Speckeled Hen or be more bold trying out BrewDog's Punk IPA or Nøgne Ø's Imperial IPA #500.

The real deal at Grünerløkka Brygghus are two beers brewed especially for this pub. Haandbryggeriet's Løkka Steamer was not available on my visit, but I had a chance to try Nøgne Ø's Kjell Pop Single Hop. Served in a red wine glass, Kjell Pop Single Hop was an unclear copper coloured beer with some carbonation and a little head. I felt a touch of hops and citric acid in the nose. The taste was dominated by grapefruit, but the beer also had a watery feeling. This IPA was a very good beer, and I felt it was much more sessionable than Nøgne Ø's other IPAs.

Grünerløkka Brygghus is a must for visitors to Oslo. The pub has a great atmosphere, and I enjoyed being there. On the evening I was at Grünerløkka Brygghus, the place was packed and it was difficult to find a table. It looks like the pub is very popular in the neighbourhood, and the draught beer menu is good and varied. I recommend this brewpub, and I hope to be back in the future trying Grünerløkka Brygghus' own beers.