From the home front

At least it used to be home. I moved to Oslo more than 20 years ago, but when I visit Trondheim and the surrounding region, especially just when everything is turning green, I get nostalgic.

But I am not getting into that today, I’d just like to inform you that the Inderøy Gårdsbryggeri has officially opened. I’ve mentioned their first three brews before, and they promise an English ESB and a stout in a month or so if you happen to pass by. Their beers are also available at a few restaurants and pubs in Levanger and Trondheim - and they have a licence to sell it directly to thirsty travellers too, albeit with limited opening hours.

I have managed to get hold of their first beers, which I’ll blog about as soon as I get around to a proper tasting. I tried two so far, and they were very nice.

Later in the year, Trondhjem Mikrobryggeri is celebrating its 10th anniversary. They plan to do that with a special hoppy brew, which should be available around the beginning of December.

Off for an oval weekend

In Trondheim. No blogging. But I have plans to pick up a few beers..

Happy Birthday!

I won’t be in Brussels on 7 June, but if I were, I would go for a birthday celebration! Happy birthday, Bier Circus, one of my favourite bars in the world! Sorry about the poster, I can’t get it right here.

 

European Beer Festival - 3 day tickets

The European beer festival in Copenhagen is getting closer, and tickets are now on sale. So far the only option has been to buy one ticket for each day, which makes for hefty service and postage fees for those who do not reside in Denmark.

I’m happy to report that the organisers will be offering a 3 day ticket, which will cut the costs significantly. They will go on sale next week.

Some people are not too fond of beer festivals, especially on a grand scale, but I think this will be a very memorable event. I need to book my plane tickets soon.

I have made a reservation at Hotel Sct Thomas, decently priced and convenient for the festival. Thanks to the Beer Nut for finding this.

He’ll be there until he runs out of booze..

 

The Morning Advertiser is a goldmine of information:

A former Punch leaseholder has locked himself inside the pub after claiming the pubco owes him £8,000 for fixtures and fittings.

David Williams has been locked in the Highwood in Gledhow, Leeds since 31 March over a row with Punch.

 

Well, if it’s free…

By Herschell Hershey. From the Londonist.

Bring your own soap

Trying to plan for a trip to New York later this year, I search for hotel rates. Despite the weak dollar, they don’t come cheap. And some of the descriptions are not too inviting:

Guest Room with Semi Private Bath.

What does that mean? A curtain? A door that doesn’t lock? I’m too old for this!

And if anyone has recommendations for a nice, inexpensive and centrally located Manhattan hotel, I’ll buy them a beer.

The return of the legalese

I received an e-mail from a woman named Maria in Arizona just before the weekend, which was very flattering:

I’m looking for WordPress-hosted blogs to show as examples in a training video I’ll be recording next week……..

I’m going to show off 4 to 6 blogs that have a nice look and interesting content as a way to introduce WordPress blogging. Your blog will be onscreen for 1 to 2 minutes of a 2+ hour video.

As you know, flattery (or beer) is the main source of energy behind this blog, so I sent off a positive reply within minutes.

A bit later, I received another e-mail, this time from Michelle, with a pdf form enclosed. Michelle is a paralegal in Ventura, California.

I am the owner / publisher of KNUTALBERT (my “Blog”). I hereby grant to Lxxxx.com, Inc., a California corporation (“Lxxxx.com”), the absolute right and permission to use, re-use, publish, and re-publish my Blog, in whole or in part, without restriction as to changes or alterations, or reproductions thereof in color or otherwise, made through any and all media now or hereafter known, primarily in connection with training videos, but also for illustration, promotion, art, advertising, trade, or any other purpose whatsoever. I also consent to the use of any printed matter in conjunction therewith.

There was more, too, but that paragraph was enough for me. Signing this might have been the road to fame, stardom and a yacht, but I’d rather keep things as they are. I’d rather not have anyone in California have the right to my blog for any other purpose whatsoever.

I need a beer. In color or otherwise.

(In all fairness, Maria has apologized. She had told them the form could scare people off!)

Flashback - Bologna

The notes from my last stop in Bologna have been lying around - I never got around to typing them out. What I had hoped to be the highlight of my visit turned out to be quite a disappointment.

It was a warm day, but it was getting chillier, even if a visiting Northerner could be fooled to believe ti was spring, despite the calendar only showing February. I took the bus from my hotel down to the historical centre, but getting a decent beer in the afternoon was not easy - Italy can be worse than Britain used to be, with beer bars only opening sometime around eight.

20 minutes walk from the touristy stuff, in a rather anonymous area, I reach my destination - the Bibo brewpub. It was easy to find - a big sign on the wall of a modern shopping and entertainment complex.

A rather young and trendy crowd. The menu was printed on a torn “handmade” paper, offering a number of small dishes. The Italian kitchen actually has a good range of food that is splendid with beer. On offer here were a number of pasta dishes with various fillings and sauces. I picked a bruscetta.

A look at the beer sdisplay showed four beers on tap, and samples in shot glasses were kindly provided. There were four beers, a lager and a helles bock from the German Ahornberger and two from the White Dog brewery, a micro in the area run by an English expat.

The beers were fine, with the porter from White Dog being especially fine. But I am curious. This was supposed to be a brew pub. One guest beer would be fine, but all four of them? The brewing vessels were clearly visible in the next room, but there were no visible displays of activity as there usually are.

The first of the staff I asked was embarrassed by the question of why they did not offer any of their own brews. She mumbled something about the people downstairs.

The other barman explained that this was due to financial problems, and my understanding was they were in the process of closing down the establishment.

There are lots of micro breweries being established in Northern Italy. Some go for a local market, some have regional ambition, some go for the international market. It is a pity that some do not manage to stay in business. Hopefully there are someone willing to give Bibo a new try.

Dry days in Bankok

From Terry Durack’s Eat blog at the Indy:

It appears that everyone but me knows that the Thai government has increased the number of days in the year in which the sale of alcohol is illegal at all bars, restaurants, supermarkets and convenience stores. In the past, this applied to a number of Buddhist holidays, auspicious royal days such as the King’s birthday, and election days.

Fair enough. But a new law outlaws alcohol on the two days leading up to the election as well. And it’s election season. One local restaurateur said the bans have made his business extremely difficult, with no less than eight alcohol-free days decreed in the past two months alone.

It’s not only Norway, then…