Happy New Year!

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Barrel aged beauties

There is BrewDog everywhere now.  Their beers can be found across Europe – not only in specialist shops, but in well stocked supermarkets from Norway to Portugal. This means that their main focus is to market their more accessible beers and to produce them in large quantities. But they are still pushing boundaries, still collaborating [...]

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New horizons

Nøgne Ø has come a long way. Their beers have won awards around the globe, they try hard to keep up with demand. Their design has matured, too, their rather basic Ø is being used in new and inventive ways. So, some of their more sophisticated beers are now being sold with more elaborate packaging, and, probably [...]

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Christmas scenery

I’m getting a bit tired of the cold spell now, but it is very photogenic. Here is a photo taken here in Oslo on Christmas Day.

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Edinburgh IV – German takeaway

Just up the street from the hotel was an off-licence with the peculiar name inxs kicked. (Don’t ask me why, and don’t bother to visit their web site for anything but directions.) There seemed to be a lot of beers inside, so I decided to have a look.) It turned out to be an Aladdin’s cave [...]

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On British pubs

The obituary editor of the Economist has written an elegy for the British pub. It is in their Christmas issue, and it is also available online. I’d say it is better on style than content. But it’s a good read. There is a new book out in a few days – The Local: A History [...]

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Edinburgh V – I’ll be home for Christmas

As you know, we managed to get a flight home on Norwegian airlines the next evening. But it meant an extra day in Edinburgh, much of it spent in the Castle. Magnificent views – crisp air and fresh snow on the mountains and rooftops. But there are good reasons of getting to the airport ahead [...]

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Edinburgh III – your friendly locals

As stated, there were several pubs close to where we stayed, so after cooking Haggis for the boys I braved the wintery conditions and went on an evening stroll. The Barony bar is on Broughton Street, not too crowded on an early Saturday evening. The beer range included several Caledonian ales plus Black Sheep. I had [...]

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Edinburgh II – two pubs

We stayed at Hot-el-apartments Canon Court, close to the Botanical gardens. Our two bedroom apartment was very comfortable for four, and it is convenient to be able to cook, have a fridge for drinks and breakfast and a TV with dvd player. There are several buses into central Edinburgh, but it is only fifteen or twenty minutes [...]

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Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

I should have inserted a sound file here. This song was played loud and clear over and over again from the carrousel in front of the Scott memorial last week. At the same time the BBC presented the whole thing as a natural disaster. We are talking about an inch or so of snow per [...]

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