The brewer at Danish micro Duelund Bryglade, Poul Højlund, has a fierce attack on some of the beers on the Danish market. Højlund is launching a new concept – Real Microbrew, with a BBB logo – Brewed at the Brewery by the Brewer. (for once a concept easy to translate!)
He attacks major industry players like Harboe and Carlsberg, who market beers with misleading labels.
There is no Kongens Bryghus, there is no Wibroe, and there is no De Fem Gårde. Those are names stuck on bottles brewed and bottled at a big industrial facility with the same costs as a discount pilsener, but which retail at high prices. And that is cheating .
Labels can be bought, so the buyer can pretend that Ølfabrikken still exists, even if the beers now are spit out of Harboes factory.
As if this was not enough, he also has a special message for so called phantom brewers, some of them among my personal favourites like Mikkeler, Djævlebryg and Beer Here:
But is there anything wrong in being a phantom brewery? The beer may be just as good, maybe even better, because the big secret brewery might have better equipment, better brewers and lots of experience. No, it is O.K. – as long as we tell the customer that this bottle from this or that “brewery” is not a product from the non existing brewery on the label, but rather the result of clever beer design and various contracts for brewing.
Thanks to the ever reliable Beerticker.dk for making me aware of this!
I think the BBB thing is a great idea, and I also thhink it’s good that it’s required: it”s a sign that generic world-brand beer is declining.
[…] på Beerticker.dk, og viderebragt det til et internationalt publikum på hans engelsksprogede blog: Something rotten in Denmark again (Knut Albert’s Beer Blog). Som efterfølgende er omtalt ved RateBeer. Her har det specielt […]
I am in a bit of two minds about this. I agree that small often is beautiful, but on the other hand, I have tried microbrews lacking in quality control (some of the minor Norwegian operations come to mind), and have had interesting beers from what might be called soulless corporations. I’ve also noticed that some of the industrial lager corporations in for instance the US have started subsidiary brands in order to sell other stuff than light lager, and while I think they should be relatively open about this and not do a “Ye Olde Fakery” label, the beer should be judged on its merits.
I tend to agree, Per. There is a lot of mediocre Danish micro brew out there, which I thing mailnly appeals to a local market. And the harsh words about the contract breweries have been modified, especially after they have pointed out that they are actually very open abut where their beers are being brewed.