An oatmeal stout for the star

I am sure there are experts on riders in the entertainment industry, and while the survivors of the more hedonistic days of rock ’n’roll nowadays ask for wheat grass juice and decaf skinny soy latte, I am sure there are performers who demand craft beer as well. That’s for someone else to find out.

But these documents may also be opening the door to beer history. Who would have thought that world-famous Norwegian soprano Kirsten Flagstad (1895-1962) asked for beer instead of vintage champagne?

In 1950, the singer agreed to perform in Purcell’s opera «Dido og Aeneas» at The Mermaid Theatre in London. The rather humourous contract obliges her to be obedient, tractable, sweet-tempered and helpful in every possible way, and not to brag about the Vikings.
The management, on the other hand, was to supply her with two pints of oatmeal stout per diem at the follow-ing times and in the following quantities, viz. lunch one half pint, dinner one half pint, and one pint following each performance.
The whole story is nicked from the online beer column in the Norwegian provincial daily Østlendingen, written by Bjørn-Frode Løvlund. He has even published a copy of the original agreement.

Soprano stout

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Going local

If you look at the global picture, the trend is clear. Beer consumption is going downhill, if you look at the traditional markets (meaning everywhere but China). The global players are doing their best to gain market shares, sometimes with alliances about as cozy as the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact.

But, frankly, it does not matter. (Well, if you are in China, it probably does).

Because we are getting spoilt for choice. The next wave of the beer revolution is sweeping across Europe.

I torment myself by joining the mailing lists of a selected number of beer retailers, bars and breweries. One of them is the Arendsnest in Amsterdam.

They are having a tasting tonight. This café has long been a promoter of Dutch beers, taking pride in serving craft beers from every corner of the country. But tonight they are staying local, offering beers from seven Amsterdam breweries:

• Brouwerij de Prael
• Brouwerij ‘t IJ
• Brouwerij de 7 deugden
• Brouwerij de Bekeerde Suster
• Brouwerij de Snaterende Arend
• Brouwerij Zeeburg
• Brouwerij Butcher’s Tears

By this time next year, we’ll be able to hold a similar tasting here in Oslo, with between six and eight breweries in business. Most of them will be exclusively brewpubs, some will possibly bottle some.

There are other European capitals with impressive lists of brewpubs and micros:

• London must have a few dozen breweries now, up from two or three when Young’s closed down.just a few years ago.
• Berlin has a fair number, as documented here on this blog.
• Vienna often escapes the radar for beer tourism, but had a fine selection of brewpubs.

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For sunny and rainy days – BBC Food podcasts

While there is intelligent radio here in Scandinavia, too, there are limits to what relatively small language communities can offer in the way of output.

Sure, there are celebrity chefs in Scandinavia, too, some even have global TV series. But good no-nonsense journalism about food is lacking. In this day and age we are, however, lucky to be able to pick and choose from the offerings of the global village. The BBC Food Programme is broadcast weekly on Radio 4. There are podcasts going back several years. Quite  few of them are related to beer. I particularly recommend the programme about malt, which includes an interview with Alastair Hook from the Meantime Brewery, contrasting craft beer with beer being designed by accountants.

Check out the full list, there are many hours of knowledge and enjoyment available for free, splendid for sunny days by the pool, rainy days in the  countryside or just an escape while you are commuting to work.

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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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A sophisticated smuggler

With the new influx of beers in Norway, there are also occasional promotional tastings. With more mundane brews, this is all right, you get a general feeling of the quality level and the flavours. At the same time this speed dating does not do justice to more sophisticated brews.

At the launch of new specialist importers and distributors Beer Enthusiasts, I was pleased to see a more general distribution from domestic Sundbytunet plus imports from breweries like Midtfyn and Hornbeer.

A small sample of St Austell’s Smugglers Gran Cru caught my interest, but this was one that deserved drinking in a more quiet environment. I hinted that if a bottle could be made available, I would try to give it a proper review. A few days later, I was invited to come over and pick up a bottle.

This beer is aged in whisky casks before refermentation in champagne bottles. I have a suspicion this is fairly expensive in both the Norwegian market and closer to its English origins, but I honestly don’t know. I think you have to head to one of the serious beer bars to find it in Norway.

OK. I pop the cork, which reveals a very vinous aroma. Lots of dark berries, with the whisky whispering in the background. The carbonation is quite lively at first, but it quiets down, some pearly bubbles keep coming through the hazy red’/brown beer.

The flavour reminds me of an oaky red wine, the barrel aging giving a dry tannin character. Old leather, rich maltiness underneath. Raisins, prunes, vanilla.

The whisky is not overpowering, there is some delicate fruit laced with caramel underneath.

No Stilton in the house, but I found a piece of Gorgonzola in the fridge to match it.

No need for a port to go with the cheese board if you have one of these.

A minor complaint – they could have gone for smaller bottles. A beer of this strength and character should be enjoyed in moderation.

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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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Hardknott – Vitesse Noir

The Hardknott brewery was born in the spotlight of the social media, Dave the brewer blogged from the pub that he ran with with his wife before he decided to step over to the brewing side.

His bottled beer range is available from online shops in the UK, I got mine from myBrewerytap.

I seldom do beer reviews on this blog any longer, but this is on my shortlist for beer discovery of the year already, so I had to share.

The Vintesse Noir has an incredibly strong and concentrated aroma and flavor. Tar, coffee, soot and vanilla. Velvet with a sharp edge I suppose will mellow with age. Very dark ruby, tan head. Chocolate finish.

This is solidly in the top league of imperial stouts with Kaggen and Dark Horizon.

It’s not even on the brewery web site, so I suppose it may be hard to find. Utobeer in London, perhaps?

I had some crackers with gorgonzola with this – a match made in heaven.

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Christmas wasn’t over

Well. I had paid for it. I had bought the beer, paid the postage, forked out the Norwegian duties.

But it’s nive to receive a package anyway. When it is filled with beer from Marble, Hardknott and others. From myBrewerytap.com.

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Cheers from Vienna, or, from England

If Austrian beers (or, more likely, brandy, wine or chocolate), Austian Airlines have teamed up with AustrianGrocery.com, delivering to your door if it’s not prohibited. A shame this seems to be aimed more at the homesick Austrian expat.

I’m afraid that the beer selection is not up to the same standards as the fruit brandies, the Sacher Torte or other delicacies. On the contrary, most of the beers are of the infamous Radler kind, a mix of pale lager and lemonade, a popular beverage in Germany and Austria.

There are, however, other online shops. MyBreweryTap in England offers a wide range of beers, most of them in boxes representing a particular brewery. But there is also a pick and mix list, including both British and import beers. Most interesting are the Hardknott beers from fellow blogger Dave. His operation is small scale, and still seems to be under the radar for beer fans outside the UK. (BTW go read his blog and read his comments to a letter from the Portman group!)

So, I ordered a box. I try not to think about what it will cost me after all the duties, taxes and fees. But at least it is legal now, not like the time when Alan tried to send me a few bottles.

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Beery apps

Alan has finally surrendered and bought an iPhone. He then, naturally, asks if there are any beery apps he could purchase.

I have been thinking about this as well, and as I’ve played with my iPhone for some months I have looked at a few beer apps. The ones I have found most interesting are connected to travel. Or, more precisely, geography. This means I don’t have much I can use here in Norway. But the ones I have found give you an idea of what to expect.

Fancyapint is based on the London web site of the same name, allowing you to find pubs on the map, read reviews and meet up with friends there. In an ideal world it would have updates about the beers on offer in the pubs, but this is a fine starting point.

FrankenBIER is an official beer guide to Franconia, the most beery region in Bavaria. It covers brewpubs, breweries, brewery museums, suggests travel routes etc. Well laid out with maps, satellite photos and background articles. My version is German, I’d be surprised if there isn’t an English version on the way.

In Copenhagen Nørrebro Bryghus has an app that shows you which beers they currently have on tap. They could have added a bit more – why not the food menu and a list of bottled beers? I think this is an example of how this can be done cheaply and simply. But I would not fill up my phone or pad with many of these.

There are, of course, lots more out there. I am still waiting for proper ratebeer and BeerAdvocate apps.

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