Squeamish

 

While the Scandinavian governmental TV channels do not wince at showing horror movies, and while our offspring are busy have blood spattered monitors after battling down rebel forces on their Xboxes, there are still things which are too tough for us.
Swedish TV Channel SVT is currently running a series called Landet brunsås – The Land of brown sauce –  asking questions about why Swedes eat what they do.
 
One part of a program was to feature the cooking and eating of a guinea pig. When one of the national tabloids got hold of this, the scenes were deleted, presumably after protests from the family that sold the pet to the journalist.

To be replaced by brown sauce, I assume.

Around Oslo in 18 beers, part 11: HåndverkerStuene

It’s been a while since the last installment in this series, so it’s a bit time to follow up.

Håndtverkeren is a traditional restaurant in central Oslo, lately being mostly used for meetings – press conferences and so on.

It closed down for some weeks last year and reopened as HåndverkerStuene. It is slightly refurbished, with a large bar and lots of smaller areas and long tables. Still inspired by ca 1890 national romantic style, but not excessively so.

There is still wine and stronger stuff to be had, but this is now an unashamedly beery spot. A printed beer menu with a long list of Norwegian micros and selected imports. Six Norwegian micro beers on tap, and you can even order a sampler of those.

The food is reputedly good, too, and there is a daily special that’s moderately priced.

I work in downtown Oslo for the time being, so I popped in on my way from work the other day. There was one beer on their list I particularly wanted to try, Haandbryggeriet’s Wild Thing.

I have tried a prototype of this beer at the brewery some time ago. I’m not sure if this is being brewed at commercial scale now – but there are properly printed labels for this, so I assume it’s on its way.

Wild Thing is brewed with lingonberries, red currants and Brett. The prototype was quite sharp, very dominated by the red currants as far as I remember. The sourness is still there, but it is more Rodenbach-like and a bit more muted. The malty base is more present, giving good balance. The lingonberries give a fresh fruitiness.

Highly recommended. They could consider a better spelling of the name, though, the capital S is out of place…

I will also like to highlight the good service. I was there at a quiet time, and the waiter came over to my table and politely enquired if the beer was to my liking. This is the style we want. Let’s hope it wasn’t only because he noticed my camera and note book.

This

Bitter Root Porter

Sometimes I get unexpected treats. Some weeks ago, my friend David the brewer told me he had a beer he’d like me to try out. It was a long distance collaboration project between him and  Paul Thomas, former head brewer at Bitter Root Brewery (where the beer was brewed) in Hamilton, Montana and, as of December, head brewer at Pelican brewery and pub in Oregon.

The beer is listed on the Bitter Root web page under Brewer’s whims and seasonals, CollaBEERation Baltic Porter. 9% ABV, aged in freshly emptied bourbon barrels for 69 days, no less.

The bourbon is very present here, with vanilla and an edge of alcohol.There is more underneath, a fine porter with cocoa, liquorice, a hint of coffee, perhaps.

It is bottled with a fair amount of carbonation, giving a huge, rapidly imploding head. A dark beer with a ruby glow.

The bourbon outshines everything – for a follow up perhaps an even stronger imperial stout would give the barrel more of a challenge, or maybe a few weeks less of barrel aging?  A bit too much vanilla for me.

But that’s a minor complaint. First and foremost this is a refreshing change from all the Scotch barrel aged beers out there – perhaps some bourbon casks could find their way across the Atlantic as well?

News from Munich

For most of us, Autumn is not the season that comes to mind right now, busy as we are waxing our skis, shuffling snow or just trying to keep our beer from freezzing.

But the brave burghers of Bavaria are looking foward, and they are announcing the winner of the contest for the 2010 poster for the Octoberfest. The artist is Nathalie Fumelli from Designschule München.

Nice job, but I prefer the Dirndl with Mädchen in them.

It’s the 200th Anniversary of the fest, so the glasses will be extra large this year.

Just kidding.

Beer envy

One disadvantage of the Scandinavian beer revolution is that it is hard to keep ut with everything happening. Yearly visits to Copenhagen means I get to try many of the Danish top brews, and there is not much in the way of interesting beers in Norway I don’t get – by hook or by crook.

But Sweden is more complicated. Sure, there are Swedish booze shops not too far from Oslo, but the range there is limited. The most interesting Swedish beers are either only available on tap or in a limited number of government monopoly shops in the region of the brewery.

One place I would really like to visit is Monks Café in Stockholm. In addition to what looks like a never ending beer festival with a great list of for example Dutch and American beers, they also brew their own. In their latest newsletter they also offer takeaway beers.

They have bottled limited editions of fairly low alcohol session beers, with a quota of six bottles for each customer. Black Isak Porter, Monks Mandarin Ale and Monks Svea Pale Ale, all at 3.3% (due to Swedish legislation, of course).  Apostrophes are not included.

Anyone passing by, please bring along a few bottles. And I need to get to Stockholm soon. Monks have just opened a second bar/restaurant, with 28 beers on tap.

On beer and friends

Those friendly guys over at A-B InBev (Making friends is our business is their slogan. I didn’t make it up) are launching an even lighter beer for the Super Bowl. The world’s lightest beer. Less carbs, less calories, approaching zero.

I think that behind closed doors, the slogan is more likely to be Making money is our business. There is nothing wrong with that, just don’t pretend anything else.

I prefer small and mediums sized breweries. Brewing beer is their business. And by brewing good beers they are actually making friends.

Small and friendly

A bargain at Nørrebro

I’ve blogged about Nørrebro Bryghus a number of times. I have visited their brewpub/restaurant, I have spent some time at their bar at Kastrup Airport – sadly closed down – and I have had the pleasure of trying a number of their beers at the festivals in Copenhagen. I have also noted, with more than a fair share of jealousy, their current range of barrel aged beers only available in Denmark.

One more reason to visit them is their Nordic gastronomy evening running through 2010. It seems like Wednesday is the slowest day at the restaurant, at selected dates you get a four course seasonal meal with five beers. In addition there is a bottle of beer to take home. All for 400 Danish Kroner.

Wednesday 10 February

Wednesday 3 March

Wednesday 14 April

Wednesday 19 May
Wednesday 16 June
Wednesday 14 July

Wednesday 8 September

Wednesday 6 October

Wednesday 3 November

Wednesday 1 December

Booking essential.

World class

We Norwegians are extremely pleased when we get a moment in the limelight. It’s usually when our fjords and islands are declared among the most beautiful on the planet, when we manage to broker a peace agreement between enemies in foreign lands (which fall apart the next week, but we pretend not to notice) or when we get the award for the most expensive pint in the world.
 
It is therefore with undiluted joy I can tell you that an Oslo restaurant is in the top 50 beer restaurants of the world, according to ratebeer. No, it’s not near the top of the list, but it is a strong symbol of how the Norwegian market has changed over just a few years.
 
Olympen has Norwegian micros on tap, a full range of bottled beers from the best domestic and imports and a food menu to match. Their mark up is moderate, especially for the more rare imports, and they actively seek a dialogue with their customers. It’s not rocket science, just a simple concept that works.
 
Best of all, it is a success. It’s not a place struggling to circulate the contents of their cellar. Every time I pop in, there are people drinking micro beers on some tables. And according to press reports, they are making good money from this concept. 

Anything negative about the place? It’s hopeless to take good photos there in the evening.
 
Cheers to Olympen!

Just what you want on a rainy afternoon

A good place for a pub

I’m sure I’ve used that heading before…

The new Westfield shopping centre in Sheperds Bush, West London, has everything you expect of glass and crome, designer bars, fashion shops and a few large supermarkets. I managed to find the M& S to buy some socks and shirts as well as picking up a few of their new range of beers. The rest of the shops were too bewildering for an old man like me.

Speaking of beers, what a place like this needs is a proper pub. Not a bar with over priced San Miguel, but a pub.

There was a Wetherspoons across the street, but after checking that none of their seasonal beer were on and getting some hostile glances from the serious drinking crowd, I decided that this was not really my style. Obviously there are parts of theh are that is still waiting for gentrification.

Better then the Bull, inside the shopping complex itself. As you enter from the Underground or bus station, the serious shopping is on the right, while there is a long line of eateries on the left. I only gave them a cursory glance, but there seemed to be plenty to choose from.

The decor is a bit bewildering, with sofas, school desks, farmyard nostalgia clashing with stark modernism.

Doom Bar and Adnams Broadside on cask. Bitburg and other lagers, a long wine list on the blackboard. The Broadside was OK, but too cold.

The blackboard promised more substantial meals soon, but they already had oysters, pork pies and scotch eggs if anyone was desperate for solid food. (I know, you could always debate wether oysters are to be considered solid food…)

This is a nice place for a pint if you need a break during shopping, and I’d pick this as a place to wait for family members trawling the shoe shops and other delights of the shopping centre. Very convenient for Overground, Underground and the spanking new bus station, too.

Some techno music in the background. I have a feeling this place could be unbearable for the over 30ish if they turn up the volume in the evening. But you can’t have it all. Not all the time.

Glass lined pewter mugs. I saw that the regulars at Jeff’s place had them, too. Probably the next big thing. No, I did not nick one.

Every time I get to do a review of a London pub overlooked by the local bloggers I’m pretty pleased. It’s like the towels with the message I got to the pool before the Germans.

I got to the pub before Boak and Bailey.