About time you visited Norway? – Haandbryggeriet Ølfestival 2013

The lineup for this year’s event in Drammen (30 minutes from Oslo) is more or less ready.

This year it takes place on Friday, May 24 (16-22) and  Saturday, May 25,  (12-22).

Confirmed participants so far:

• Aass Bryggeri (N)
• Bierbrouwerij Emelisse (NL) @Rest_emelisse
• Birrificio Toccalmatto (IT) @Toccalmatto
• Brouwerij de Molen (NL) @molenbier
• De Struise Brouwers (B)
• Haand (N)
• Lervig Aktiebryggeri (N)
• LoverBeer (IT) @LoverBeerBrewer
• Magic Rock (UK) @MagicRockBrewCo
• Monks, Stockholm (SE) @Monksevent
• Naparbier (ES) @Naparbier
• Närke Kulturbryggeri (SE)
• Partizan (UK) @partizanbrewing
• Picobrouwerij Alvinne (B) @alvinnebeer
• S:t Eriks Bryggeri (SE)
• Ægir Bryggeri (N)

I particularly look forward to the return of Magic Rock, the new London brewery Partizan and Lervig from Stavanger, Norway. Not to mention Alvinne, Emelisse, de Molen and the rest of the stellar lineup.

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South of the Border

I’ve mentioned before that I had a wish to freshen up my German. The last time I had any formal lesson in that language was some time in the late Seventies, and I have rarely used it apart from touristic purposes. A number of visits to Germany and Austria over the last five years or so have, however, wet my appetite to get a better grasp of the language.

So I enrolled in a course at the Goethe Insititut here in Oslo. Back to school every Wednesday from five to quarter past eight. Plus homework. Grammar, vocabulary, the lot.

It is challenging, but it’s great fun.

I ahve even started ordering books from the German amazon shop. Short stories to begin with, but I decided to have a look at more beer related titles in German, too. Lots of home brew books, some German translations of English language books, crime novels set in hop yards or Kneipen.

Some beer history, too, like this book about brewing in South Tyrol, a German-speaking region in Italy. There were 27 breweries in the area in 1880, a number that dwindled down to just one during a century of war, closed borders and taxation that favoured other beverages. But the book also covers the birth of small scale brewing in recent years, with portraits of the new brewpubs.

No plans of a visit to there area for now, but I think I’ll try to ask for a review copy.

But there is more.

Amazon.com and amazon.co.uk will not surprise you by giving unorthodox suggestions when you search for beer books. They will recommend pub guides and atlases, Brew like a monk and How to Start a Brewery Even if You’re not interested in Beer.

Amazon.de has a broader approach.

Sure, you have a guide to the most beautiful beer gardens of Bavaria, but they also have the Dirndl Sexy Romance series. 

But even if I was tempted, these Kindle tales of lust during the Oktoberfest are only available in Germany. Maybe it’s for the best.

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How many beer events can Oslo take in one week?

After all the years in the wilderness, I guess we should bow and be grateful. The Oslo beer scene has exploded, and next week it is a matter of picking and choosing.

In addition to a beer festival at Aker Brygge and one at the new Vulkan food hall, held simultaneously in separate parts of town, there is a the-more-the-merrier Oktoberfest competing for attention. There is the 2nd birthday of Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri, featuring some very interesting new stuff.

There are beer tastings at bars and restaurants. There is a press event celebrating Pilsner Urquell, I’d not be surprised if that involves the (excellent) unfiltered version of the beer.

You can attend a Brewmaster’s Dinner several evenings in a row. One of tem with beers from Erdinger, hereby nominated for the Least Exciting Beer Event of the Year.

Me?

I’ll be at our mountain retreat most of the week, without losing any sleep for not attending the proceedings. But I’ll probably pop in at both festivals on the Saturday.

But I have a feeling that this is far too much. That some of the events will be less than succesful. And that there are far too many people without a clue jumping on the bandwagon. But that does not mean that things were better when we were an underground movement.

The more the merrier? Photo nicked from the amazing Oktoberfest Girls blog.

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Copenhagen Beer Celebration – my opinion

So. This event was announced last autumn, the tickers tickets went on sale – and were snapped up in November. We were promised two magnificent days of great beers and top class food, something way beyond what we have experienced before.

I won’t go into any detailed review here, but I feel like summing up my experiences:

First of all – the beers. Full score on this. There were world class brews from a number of the best breweries in the world. The hosts had actually toned down their own offerings from Mikkeler and Evil Twin to make room from all the others. Some were household names, like de Struise, Nøgne Ø, de Molen and BrewDog. Some were legendary, like Three Floyds and Cigar City. Some of them were new to me – Broadies (from London) and Farmer’s Cabinet (from Philadelphia).

There were sour ales and barrel aged ales. Barley wines and stouts. IPAs and Apas. Even examples of Gose and Berliner Weisse. Some of the line up was changed from the Friday to the Saturday. Some were festival specials, some were rarities very few of us had tried before.

So, for the beer selection and the beer quality, I can only applaud.

With all the tickets sold out many months ago, there were no long lines to get in either. We were let in, given a few tokens and a wristband showing our dining time.

The crowd was different from your average beer festival. Lots of friendly people from around the world, everyone seriously interested in beer. No stag parties, no one there to proclaim their undying love for their regional brewery.

A laid back and friendly atmosphere.

What about the venue? Early in the day, it was quite bright and airy.  A sports hall, with a large area set aside for benches and tables. But everyone were shooed away from the tables around four, as they were preparing for the first dinner seating. Only half of the tables were needed for each seating, but it meant a quite packed crowd for the second half of each day.

The setup of the brewery stands did not allow much in the way of presentation. Some of the stands along the walls had some posters and artwork, but the tables in the middle had a setup that looked more like a homebrew festival. This might have been a deliberate decision, but I would say that the best breweries in the world would have deserved a more professional presentation. The Haandbryggeriet festival a week ago had a setup where all the breweries were able so present themselves in a much better way.

The food was hyped a lot, anticipating a close-to-NOMA-experience, or, at least, what in the programme was called an uncompromizing gourmet experience, with food and beer pairings.

The Friday meal was nice enough, with a piece of tender meat, mashed potatoes, a green sauce with aromatic hops and some watercress. Honest food, but not gourmet quality.  And this could have been served all day without any time slots with us walking up to a counter and asking for a plate when we got hungry. This would have meant no need to rope off more than a small part of the hall, leaving ample seating for everyone.

And the food available at other times? Fairly average Danish sausages with a variety of mustards based on beer. Period. No salads, no cheese, no cured meat, nothing resembling gourmet at all.

One main ingredient in a beer festival is water. Sure, bottled water with the Mikkeller logo is fun.  But running water is also needed. Water for drinking, water for washing your hands and even your face. Water for rinsing your glass. Even water as in toilets. And as this was in an athletic venue, there were toilets roped off somewhere. Too expensive to clean? Come on!

And where were the hosts? They were briefly spotted, but a highlight would have been a trumpet fanfare and some words of welcome at noon on Friday. Maybe a stage with some round table talks with the beer personalities present, too? If less space was allocated to sit down dinners, there could easily have been a stage at the back of the hall. some of the showmanship we have seen from Mikkeller at previous festivals in Copenhagen would have been nice.

 There were some seminars this time around, but they were not widely publicised. The one I went too, on blogging, was poorly attended, and just when the discussion was starting, we were shooed out again.

There was, on the second day, a poster advertising free wi-fi – but the password wasn’t working.

Maybe the critical words seem to harsh, so let me get back to my main points:

• Great beer
• Great breweries
• Great people
• Fine venue, with some adjustments.

Given that, everything else can be tweaked and adjusted the next time. And it is very much a matter of very high expectations when you use big words when building up the advance buzz.  

The real test if I liked it: Will I be back?

Yes, I will.

 

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Haandbryggeriet festival – now for the beers

The Haandbryggeriet beer festival sold 1200 tickets in total on the Friday and Saturday, the budget was 1000. This means a new festival next year, I will keep you posted.

But back to this years event. I have praised the setup, but how were the beers?

First of all, I was only present at the Friday session, meaning I cannot do justice to all breweries present. I did not go through the range of beers from the hosts, for example, as I hope I will be able to taste them later.

Prestesonen is a new porter from the Norwegian Kinn brewery. Not trying to be too pretentious, this dark brown beer has a smoky nose and a fairly light palate. Roasted grain and coffee, fine balance.

The Oaked Sunturnbrew from Nøgne Ø has not been barrel aged, but is a special order that’s been aged with oak chips. I feel there is some extra dryness compared to the regular version, maybe some vanilla, too. This is one of my favourites among the Nøgne Ø beers, but I’m not sure if the extra treatment really lifted it.

A legend in European beer circles is the Stormaktsporter from Närke in Sweden. The version available here was aged in Cognac barrels, adding an intense aroma that was very much to my liking. The Närke stand was probably the hit of the festival, both for the eccentric range of beers and for the great visual presentation.

De Molen from the Netherlands had brought a wide range of brews along, some of the will probably turn up in Copenhagen this week as well. The had a brand new Flemish sour ale in two versions, one aged with cherries. I preferred the variety without the cherries, having a cleaner sour flavour which I really enjoyed. We’re talking Rodenbach territory here.

But the brewery which really made my day was Magic Rock from Huddersfield, England. Lovely keg versions of ales available on cask closer to home. This small-scale operation is inspired by American craft beers, meaning a far more liberal use of hops than the standard British fare.

Their Amber ale, Rapture, had a stong, refreshing herbal bitterness. Low in alcohol, intense in flavour, this would make great drinking for the summer months ahead. Honorable mention for their High Wire and Cannonball beers, too, but my highest praise is reserved for their imperial stout, the Bearded Lady. The regular version come in bottled form, and is a smooth and deceivingly soft tipple with fine chocolate tones. The barrel aged version has a lovely bourbon character, smooth beer given extra dimensions. Sweet and dry, charcoal, some sour smoke in the background. Oak and smoke in the tail. All these served by two friendly brewers.

The rest of my notes are blurry. I hope the good people from Emelisse and Alvinne come back next year, so I can do justice to their beers.

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Getting a beer festival right at the first try

I am very happy to report that the Haandbryggeriet festival last weekend was a success – and it looked to me that this applied to everyone involved.

Some parts of the concept seemed to work particularly well:

• Getting to meet the brewers. For most of the dozen breweries attending, there were you actually got to meet several people actually  involved in the brewing process and in developing the brands. We are talking small-scale enterprises here,  meaning you get intelligent conversations, getting to sample various editions of the same brew etc. I think there were the precisely right people to guide the visitors to try beers that were challenging, but not necessarily extreme while also having something for the hardcore geeks.

• Having the event in the brewery was also a good choice. While it is 15 or 20 minutes by foot from downtown Drammen, they were still able to draw a crowd from near and far. Having the festival within an operating brewery environment added a dimension that would have been absent in a congress centre or in a hotel function room.

• Diversity – geographically and by style. Breweries from England, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and Norway plus bottled stuff from across the pond. Cask session ales. Festival one offs like the Nøgne Ø Oaked Sunturnbrew. Flemish red ales. Barrel aged imperial stouts. Most important: Breweries with splendid beers.

• Having the breweries present their beers meant you got a proper pour and presentation. Preferable to both enthusiastic CAMRA lads (no offense intended!) and blondes with dirdls (did I really mean that?)

• Good no-nonsense food – the artisanal sausages I had were splendid value for money.

What do I want next year? More seating and some nice t-shirts, nothing more than that, really.

I’ll get back to you about some of the beers I enjoyed.

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Too much to handle

After the Easter break, there are a number of beer events crammed in over a few weeks. Two beer festivals in Copenhagen during the same week in May.  The Association of Small Swedish Breweries arrange the event Big Beers, Small Breweries next weekend, surely something worth attending. Come to think of it, I have never been to any of the Swedish beer festivals, big or small.

Today there is the launch of new beer import company Beer Enthusiast her in Oslo, promising 20 beers new to the Norwegian market. Breweries like St Austell, Midtfyns Bryghus, Sundbytunet and Bryggeriet Skands will be present, with additional beers from Baladin, Kinn, Sierra Nevada and Hornbeer.

I think I’ll pass the Norwegian cask festival during the weekend. There is the Haandbryggeriet festival in two weeks time, too. And there is a box from myBreweryTap at the Post Office.

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It’s beer day in Iceland!

30 years ago this summer, I attended a meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland. I spent two days in endless discussions, and I did not get to see the sights. But there is one thing I remember clearly.

The local organisers insisted in us buying our duty-free quotas on arrival in Iceland. A duty-free shop in the arrival hall was a novelty in itself, but the point was not the hard liquor, but the beer quota. You could choose between two options: A full case, 24 bottles, of domestic lager or half the amount, 12 cans, of Heineken. Heineken was considered far more sophisticated.

The domestic sale of beer was banned. The full strength beer was only available at the airport – in the shops and bars a watered down low alcohol beer was the only option. The paradox was that wine and hard liquor was available.

Pressure to lift the ban built up during the Eighties, particularly when some bars started to call themselves pubs and served low alcohol beer spiked with vodka or aquavit.

On March 1 1989 the ban was lifted. Since then, the Icelandic beer day is celebrated on this date.

I have a suspicion this is just another excuse for binge drinking, the Reykjavik scene is certainly lively during the weekend.

But, over the years, the Icelandic beer scene has evolved, as I observed when I visited last year. The market for imports is, of course limited, and they are cursed blessed by state monopoly stores similar to the ones in Sweden, Finland and Norway. But there are a few craft breweries selling their beers at home and abroad, and their quality is nothing to be ashamed of. There is an excellent beer blogger. And there is even a beer festival going on this week. In a pub I cannot claim I have first hand knowledge of.

I won’t be at the Sæmundur í Sparifötunum this week. But as this is billed as an annual event, perhaps another year?

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How I would run the Haandbryggeriet festival

As I’ve told you, Haandbryggeriet will organise their own festival in Drammen, Norway in May this year. Lots of guest breweries from near and far,and they have asked on Facebook for suggestions on how to proceed with the plans.

I’ve never organised something on this scale, but I have attended enough festivals to know what I’d want:

• A web page/blog to be established right away, starting with programme and guest brewers. A comprehensive list of beers to be published at least a week before the event. Links to public transport, hotels etc.
• Make a deal with Ticketmaster or others, start promoting right away. Utilize the social media to promote the event for participants from abroad.
• A Friday and a Saturday session. Friday 16:00-22:00, Saturday noon-22:00.
• A press event on Thursday afternoon ( I don’t mean bloggers here, but for coverage of the event in regional and local media.)
• Prepaid tickets in an attractive package including food, souvenir glass, early admittance, t-shirt etc. 
• Additional tickets at the door., at least for the Saturday session.
• Clear communications about which rare beers will be available when. 
• Good no-nonsense food. Prime quality sausages, pies and stews.
• Payment by tokens – with a clear and comprehensible system. 1, 2 or 3 tokens per sample.
• Plenty of running water for drinking, for cleaning glasses and for washing hands.
• No formal speeches, but maybe some round table discussions with brewers, bloggers and others? 
• I have no competence when it comes to portable toilets, marquees etc. Check with someone local who runs soccer tournaments or concerts.

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2012 Festivals II – Haandbryggeriet opens its doors

There are more beery pleasures next year than the Mikkeller event in Copenhagen. I have complained about the quality of some festivals here in Norway recently, but I am happy to tell you there are others more concerned about quality.

Haandbryggeriet have just finished moving to new and bigger premises in Drammen, half an hour west of Oslo by train.This means more capacity and more elbow room than the old facility was able to offer.

This calls for a celebration, but they have decided to wait some months for this. 4-5 May are the dates to note in your calendar.

They have invited some of their friends, and they have promised to bring along a few beers. Confirmed so far:

• Närke
• Nøgne Ø
• Kinn
• De Molen
• Struise
• Emelisse
• Alvinne
• LoverBeer

No details about tickets and other practicalities yet, but I’ll keep you informed.

Ready for new brews

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