A bargain in Oslo

Things are getting better and better in Oslo. The following was posted on Facebook from Schouskjelleren Mikrobyggeri this morning:

It has taken some time but finally we have installed 8 new taps in our bar. So as of today we can offer a wider selection of our own beers and beers from other craft brewers. We now have 16 beers on draft including Hop Horn, Odins Tippel, Jaipur IPA,Saw tooth ale, American dream and a greater selection of Schouskjelleren beers.

And Amundsen Bryggeri og Spiseri have adjusted their price level, apparently after feedback from their guests.  Of particularly great value are their beers of the day.

Yesterday they had these two lovelies at 50 kroner a bottle. Avery IPA, too. A bargain – at least around here.

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Brew Masters on TV

Discovery Channel Norway is airing the first episode of Brew Masters tonight at 22.30. I think their schedule is the same in Sweden, I don’t know about Denmark.

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Sons of Norway

If you ever find yourself in Duluth, Minnesota, the New York Times has some advice. Not on how to find long lost relatives of Scandinavian ancestry, but I’ve been told they are easy to find in the area. No, as this is a beer blog, I would like to recommend their article on a beer route from Duluth to Ashland, Wisconsin, covering 70 miles and four micro breweries.

There is a note in the article that Minnesota breweries cannot sell growlers to go on Sundays. Their Norwegian heritage lives on. Just let’s hope the natives are not all like in Fargo.

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Good Beer NYC

It is a bit of a relief that mainstream (well, even if it was once a radical rag, a number of decades makes it estblished, don’t you think?) media use crappy photos. The substance of the story in the Village Voice is that there is a new beer bar in the East Village due to open soon.

Good Beer NYC will have 12 beers on tap, 900 in bottles. 422 East 9th Street.

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White Horse

I should go to London more often. I should have been there today.

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Beer Traveller

Just to let you know that the latest issue of All About Beer Magazine has a special supplement – Beer Traveler. Focus is on the US, but there are articles about Germany and Belgium, too. A list of 150 Perfect Places to have a beer will surely lead to discussions. Nice to see Olympen in Oslo at number 98, but I would probably have skipped the visitor’s centres of Heineken and Guinness.

Btw, the magazine itself is recommended, I don’t know of any other beer periodicals with such a consistently high quality currently available.

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DC Brews

According to the Washington Post All We Can Eat blog, there will be a number of new breweries opening up over the next year or two, offering beer in kegs, bottles and cans.

I haven’t been there for decades, but I still have fond memories of the Brickskeller, one of the pioneers among the beer bars of the world.

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It’s getting better all the time

Arriving in Norway next week:

Southern Tier   IPA, Gemini
Captain Lawrence  Captain’s Reserve Imperial IPA
Jolly Pumpkin  Bam Biere, Bam Noire, La Roja, Oro de Calabaza
The Bruery  Saison de Lente
Lost Abbey  Angels’ Share
Ale Smith  Horney Devil, Yule Smith

Shortly arriving from Italy:

Birrificio Italiano Bik Bok, Amber shok, Cassissona, Vudu

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Bring on the Belgians!

The New York Times has conducted a blind tasting of  20 Belgian and Belgian style golden ales. A beer from Jolly Pumpkin got the highest ranking.

And while you’re there, check out their story on beer in Vietnam, too.

Sorry if the photo does not highlight real classy Belgians. I just needed something to remind me that spring is due to arrive any time soon, despite the Siberian temperatures still ruling Norway.

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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?

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