A Belgian Dane

I found a bottle of Nørrebro Bryghus' Stuykman Wit at a local Vinmonopolet outlet and had to try it out.


In the glass it was cloudy with some carbonation. The nose was rather boring. I felt no aromas except for a touch of bananas. In the mouth bread and bananas had a dance with spices and Belgian yeast. The finish was fruity. I liked Stuykman Wit, but I prefer other wheat beers. For instance a Paulaner would have been great right then, and a bottle of Hoegaarden is usually a nice treat.

Time for juleøl

The weather is colder, the days are shorter. It is almost the end of November, and juleøl (Christmas beers) are once again available in Norwegian supermarkets and at Vinmonopolet, if you prefer stronger beers. Most macro breweries have several Christmas beers available at various strengths. In addition to these breweries craft brewers like Nøgne Ø, Haandbryggeriet and Ægir also brew juleøl.

I have tried some of the different Christmas beers during the last week. During the next weeks there will be reviews of juleøl now and then here on this beer blog, but first we will take a look at three Christmas beers available at Vinmonopolet.

Last year I felt that Nøgne Ø's Special Holiday Ale was the best Christmas beer. This year I was a little bit disappointed. The Special Holiday Ale is a very good beer, but I remember it as better in 2009. The beer is nearly black, has nearly no carbonation but builds a thick and lasting head. In the nose there are spices, malts and a hint of coffee. The beer has a nice body. There are many spices dancing around in the mouth before a bitter finish with coffee and a hint of dark chocolate.

Nøgne Ø's second juleøl is called God jul (Merry Christmas). This is even better than Special Holiday Ale this year. In the nose there is malt, hops and a touch of toffee. In the mouth dark chocolate takes the lead with a hint of coffee before a half bitter finish.

Haandbryggeriet's Nissefar is another very good juleøl. It is nearly black with very little carbonation and a little head. There are aromas of cold coffee, prunes and some malts. In the mouth the prunes lead on with tastes of raisins, cold coffee and some sweetness.

Svyturys - round 2

I received many comments after my review of Svyturys Ekstra pale lager. I felt the beer was very sweet, and several comments from blog readers told me that the Lithuanian lager had a different taste profile than the beer I had described.

Finally I found a new bottle of Svyturys Ekstra, and therefore I was ready to do a new tasting. In the glass, this was a beer with a large head and some carbonation. The aromas were of malts and grains. In the mouth I felt bread, some bitterness and a hint of sweetness before a grainy finish.

This beer was less sweet this time around, but it will not be a common guest in my fridge. I prefer other pale lagers. The price is also high. At about 45 NOK, which is 4.50 GBP, I prefer buying for instance Czech lagers like Pilsner Urquell, Bernard or Budvar. These beers are usually priced below 30 NOK for a half litre can or bottle.

Priceless?

I abstain. Nearly 70 GBP at Vinmonopolet for a bottle is a no-no.

From Lithuania with sweetness

As I entered the local Vinomopolet outlet yesterday, I was looking for some bottles of Budvar for the weekend. Unfortunately, the shop was out of Budvar, and the shop assistant could tell me that the central Vinmonopolet warehouse in Oslo also was empty. Therefore they do not know when the Czech lager beer will be available again in the shop. For me that is no problem, as I am soon returning to Prague and can have draughted Budvar instead.

I looked around the Vinmonopolet shop to find a beer that I had not tried before. On one of the shelves some bottles of Lithuanian lager was making themselves interesting for me. Covered in some dust, it looked as if these bottles were not a popular choice among the Vinmonopolet costumers. Anyway, I picked up a bottle and brought it home.

According to the label, Svyturys Ekstra is the most popular beer in Lithuania. In the glass this is a pale lager that builds a nice lasting head. It is fizzy, and in the nose there is little aroma. In the mouth, this is a very sweet and medium bodied beer. There is also some maltiness and hints of grains. The aftertaste is full of sweetness.

I did not like this beer, and after several sips, Svyturys Ekstra got much too sweet. It was almost sickening sweet for me, and I would have liked it to have some bitterness to counter the sweetness.

I guess I have bought my last bottle of Svyturys Ekstra. This was a beer that I did not care for at all. If I want something this sweet, I would rather have a Coke or a Pepsi.

Another Brew Dog

Among the newer beers at Vinmonopolet, you can find Brew Dog's Punk IPA. If we are to believe the label this is another of the Scottish brewery's no holds barred beer marketing products, and it is called "an aggressive beer" that the brewery does not care "if you don't like".

In the glass this is a somewhat unclear golden beer. There is nearly no carbonation, a small head and my first thought is that it looks like a Belgian wit. The aroma is sweet with some flowers and hints of yeast. In the mouth there is first sweetness before bitterness takes over. There is a lot of hops in the beer leading into a hoppy aftertaste nearly tickling the tongue before some grapefruit leads off.

I felt this was a nice and enjoyable beer. Myself, I was not scared by it, and compared to my other IPA experiences this was a moderate beer. I remember my first outing with Nøgne Ø's IPA, which has much more bite than Brew Dog's Punk IPA.

New from Vinmonopolet

There are many interesting beers to be found at Vinmonopolet these days. As of January, the state owned liquor and wine stores in Norway has had a special focus on beers. There are many new beers available, and many styles are represented.

If you are looking for beers at Vinmonopolet, they will be among the stronger ones, as only beers with less than 4.7% alcohol can be sold in ordinary shops in Norway.

Myself I am happy to find Budweiser Budvar available at Vinmonopolet. They sell this Czech golden lager in 0.33 litre bottles. This is the Budvar svetly lezak, and it has 5.0% alcohol. It is actually cheaper than it's vycepni version in ordinary shops. The 4.5% alcohol Budvar is sold at 27.90 NOK in supermarkets, while Vinmonopolet sells it at 26 NOK. This is around 3 GBP or 3 EUR.

Among the new beers at Vinmonopolet is Goose Island India Pale Ale. This is an American beer from Chicago with a very beautiful label. It is my first American IPA, and it has a alcohol content of 5.9 %.

In the glass Goose Island IPA has a Pale and cloudy colour. It has a small, white head and there is very little carbonation. There is nearly no aroma, but some hints of apples can be found. In the mouth there is apples and hops. I feel it is nice balanced with nearly no bitterness. This is a very good and enjoyable beer and one of the best IPAs I have tried so far.

First Brew Dog

I have seen people telling both good and bad things about the Scottish Brew Dog brewery and its beers. Until January I had never tried a Brew Dog beer. I have seen them on shelves in beer shops and bars abroad, but I had never seen a bottle here in Norway.

This changed as of 1 Januar when the Norwegian state owned wine and liquor outlets, Vinmonopolet, started selling some Brew Dog beers. I decided to try one out, and Rip Tide was my first Brew Dog beer.

According to the label this is a "twisted merciless stout". The alcohol content is 8%. The label also tells that this beer won the prize for "world's best stout-imperial" at the World Beer Awards. The beer is very dark. In the glass there is some carbonation and a small, tanned head.

In the nose there is coffee and some burnt notes. In the mouth the feeling of cold coffee takes the lead with much bitterness, but there are also hints of prune there. The beer is balanced, as the alcohol content does not show.

Rip Tide is a nice beer, but I feel the straight forward coffee taste makes it unneccessarily bitter. I would like to try it again, but I feel there are other dark beers out there that suit my palate better than this beer from Brew Dog.

Beer in Norway

Traditionally Norway is a country of regional brewers. Farmers brewed their own beer, and there were also commercial brewers. Each city had its own brewery, and thirty years ago you would normally only find the local beer in bars and shops. For instance: Oslo had Ringnes and Frydenlund, Stavanger had Tou, Kristiansand had CB, Trondheim had E. C. Dahl, Bergen had Hansa, Sarpsborg had Borg, Bodø had Nordlandspilsen and Tromsø had Mack.

After brewery mergers, brewery buy-outs and new distribution systems, these days it is common to find beers from other parts of Norway in the local shops. Foreign beers are also common - both imported and made on licence in Norway. Two brewers share most of the market between them. They are Ringnes (owned by Carlsberg) and Hansa-Borg.

Beers of the light lager style are most popular in Norway. For instance Ringnes sells various beers of this style. It is possible to find both Ringnes Pilsener, Ringnes Fatøl and Ringnes Classic in most shops.

Normally the beer sold in shops are available in cans.

By law beers with more than 4,75% alcohol is not to be sold in shops. These beers are sold in stately outlets called Vinmonopolet, which is the only source for wines and spirits in Norway. This means that if you want to buy classic Norwegian beers such as bokk and sterkøl, Vinmonopolet is the place for you. Juleøl (Christmas beer) is found in two strengths. A version under 4,75% alcohol to be sold in shops and a strong, traditional version sold at Vinmonopolet.

Beers from many countries at a Vinmonopolet outlet.

Craft brewers and brewpubs are also found in Norway. Nøgne Ø of Grimstad is perhaps the most known of these, and their beers are commonly found at Vinmonopolet.

Norway has strict laws and taxation on beers. In shops you can only buy beer on Mondays to Saturdays. On the weekdays beer sales start at 9AM and it stops at 8PM even if the shop is open for some more hours. On Saturdays it is not possible to buy beer in shops after 6PM. Prices are also high compared to other countries. At a bar it is not uncommon to pay 60 NOK for a half litre of beer. In shops you can expect to pay 20-25 NOK for a half litre can of Ringnes or Hansa pilsener. Imported beers and craft beers cost more. A bottle of a Nøgne Ø beer can cost about 60 NOK at Vinmonopolet.