Is that what you call quality beer?

I have told you before about the sad fate of Møllebyen Mikrobryggeri in Moss, where they closed down the brewing part of the business recently.

The management uses economic arguments, this is what they say on their web site:

Producing our own beer became too expensive, so we have decided to use an external supplier. High fixed costs (the brewer, I assume), increased price of raw materials and high taxes means that our own production of beer became too costly. (I’m sorry, this is a translation, they are repeating themselves.)

I can understand the economic line of reasoning. It is a pity, but I cannot tell other people how to spend their money. I feel, however, that they are trying to fool their customers into believing that they will offer beer of the same variety and quality as before.

Which is crap. They continue:

We will stick to our trade mark, which is to serve a number of different beer types and seasonal goods (?).

We have made a deal with Ringnes Breweries, who has an enormously large and and broad range. We can promise 5-6 different beers on tap at any time, plus a new product from the  “House of Beer” range that som Ringnes delivers.

This means we can offer more types of beer than today! We would like to mention Guinness, Kilkenny and Frydenlund which already are on tap!

I find it deploring when women in suits talk (or write) about subjects they know nothing about.

For all I know, Møllebyen Mikrobryggeri might be a roaring success form now on – packed with bright young things swilling alcopops and Corona. But don’t confuse it with consumer choice and quality, please!

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Back to Moss

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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