The frost is biting a bit more every morning as I bicycle to work, and it is the season of where did I put my gloves when the spring weather turned out to be reliable. The leaves are falling, and the time for al fresco drinking is over at this latitude – unless you are a smoker and huddle in various forms of tents under gas heaters all winter long.
So, it is time to find cosy indoor drinking spots, and I made an appointment with David the brewer at Møllebyen Mikrobryggeri in Moss, 40 minutes by train from Oslo. I was there last year, and I’ve meant to pay a return visit for quite a while. There were six of us this time, five taking the train from Oslo, the last one joining us at the brewpub. The train ride was quite comfortable, made even more som by a 2 litre PET bottle of Bulgarian dunkel I had saved in my cellar for such an occation.
There were three ales on tap when we arrived in addition to the two standard lagers, and English ale, an October ale and a Porter. All three were under 5% ABV, this strength is what the locals prefer.
All beers were in fine form. The English ale was a bitter, very true to its type. A fine caramel sweetness well balanced by the crisp bitterness from the hops. I’d be happy to sip this the whole night long.
The October ale was more of a hybrid, as it was quite close to a dark lager. A bit of tar or smoke, some liquorice and a lovely bitterness in the finish.
The Porter was dark with a deep red glow. Lovely liquorice aroma and flavour. A long finish with a hint of sourness. Some of us said there was some mint in the aroma.
We tried their food as well, they have menu dominated by pasta, but we went for club sandwiches and burgers and were very pleased with those.
Afterwards David showed us around the brewery, demonstrating the various equipment and answering questions. He had just finished brewing a new batch of porter, but there is a Christmas beer on its way as well.
We missed the weekly pub quiz while we had the tour of the brewery, and it was probably just as well. As we walk out of the door, we heard the quizpasters proclaim: The answer to the question about the plains in South America is tampas. Some of you have answered tapas, but that is wrong. Tampas it is!
So, go to Moss if you have the opportunity – but you don’t have to pick a quiz night!
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