I had looked at the Tivoli web site beforehand, so I knew there were some of the stands worth looking into. Lots of chocolate and dough fried in fat, cute dolls and cool Danish design things to hang on the tree. I passed them all. But then there was a pretty little pavilion promising delicacies from Provence and Canada. I walked in.
The Schoune Brewery had ten of their beers for sale. There were samples to be had, and I had a chat with Andre (?), who is based in Sweden and tries to break into the Scandinavian nmarkets with their brews. Their web site says it’s a farmhouse brewery, but their long list of beers and annual production of a million liters tells me they have grown a bit beyond that.
A spicy tripel, a spicy blond, a beer brewed with maple syrup. Nice attempts of trying new approaches, I decided to buy a few bottles to take home. I’ll come back to more detailed tasting notes when I have tried a full bottle at more appropriate temperatures. (Except for the maple syrup beer, which did not survive the flight..)
There was a range of stronger stuff, too. Maple suryp, herbal teas and lamps. And, a very nice pairing, a fantastic selection of French cured sausages. I bought three – chestnut, duck with green pepper and one flavoured with a mature cheese which name escapes me.
There are many opportunities for promoting beer in Copenhagen, and the country is filled with beer festivals. The problem is that a small importer might drown among all the fuzz and all the one-offs and extreme beers. To showcase your products in a place like this seems sensible to me.
One of my favourite possessions is the framed Tivoli poster on my living room wall. I wanted 1984 but it wasn’t that good so I think I have one from the 70s.
No beer when we went unfortunately…
For Schoune, the Scandinavian market must be equal to the Danish market, given the rotten legislation in Norway and Sweden.
The pub market in Sweden is interesting, they are talking to the Bishops Arms chain, with 30+ pubs. And if you manage to get into the Systembolaget list, you might hit the jackpot.
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