On our way back to Oslo last weekend after visiting the mountain brewery, we passed by Lillehammer, and of course we did not miss the opportunity to stop at Lillehammer Bryggeri, the brew pub some of us visited last year.
The brew pub does not usually open until seven, but a few phone calls made them open some hours earlier to give us a tour and some samples.
Their seasonal beer is a modified version of their Christmas beer, a dark and tasty lager. It has a lovely toffee aroma, and has lots of grain and malt character, well balanced by the hops. Their other beers were also on top form, just like the last time we were around.
There is something about the fresh, unpasteurized flavour that makes the Lillehammer beers stand out, and this includes both their lagers and their ales. The Hammond Pils is probably the best pilsener brewed in Norway.
The best pilsener in Norway?
They are shortly to install bottling equipment, which means that their beers will be easier to come by. Let’s hope that the beers will keep their character in bottled form!
Distribution will be in the Lillehammer area plus a few selected outlets in Oslo, Fenaknoken among them.
Lillehamemr Bryggeri are setting up an outdoor serving area in their yard, and this will be a very pleasant place to while away a sunny afternoon. This also means longer opening hours.
To charm the local population, especially the students, they will host an Oktoberfest on 2-3 October in a large tent in their outdoor area, and they have plenty of beer ready for the guests to gulp down. Check their web site for details.
Beer festival or not, this is a must stop if you are in the region. I made some advice for a beer trip around Norway some time ago – I’ll need to revise that!
Getting ready for October
It certainly looks appetising! Is that a round, Czech-style glass, or an English dimpled mug?
Toffee can be an interesting flavour in a light beer. I had a Meantime Pilsner last night in London; it’s not a very exciting beer, but it does combine toffee-ish malt with flowery hops, and that’s creates a pretty good balance.
I’m definitely also beginning to think that freshness is a factor we don’t often enough take into account when tasting beer. The most boring recipe can be inspiring if it’s fresh enough, while otherwise brilliant beers can fall flat if they’re not.
It’s an English dimpled mug. Some places make a fuss about separate glasses for all their beers, but this is a more small scale operation – one glass fits all!