Axel Kristiansen, Director of Scandinavian Brewing School, schools me with
a tasting of local beers. Photos by Charlie Papazian
Beer and The Scandinavian Brewing School, founded in 1925 is alive and well near the Arctic Circle. Located in Copenhagen the SBS was formed and supported by the brewers of Scandinavia as a school free from government and brewery ties.
The Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway have brewing cultures worthy of exploration by any intrepid beer enthusiast. Baltic-style lagered porter, Gotlandsdricke and Sahti are but a few specialties of the region. Their institution of higher beer and brewing learning attests to the value they place on the art and science of brewing. It may be a bit off the beaten track but from my recent and past experiences the journey is well worth the effort.
II visited Axel Kristiansen, Director of the School last month. Their offices are eerily across the street from the vast complex that was the realm of Copenhagen’s Carlsberg Brewery. All of Carlsberg brewery’s Copenhagen operations ceased in 2008 – except for their small “craft-microbrewery” called Jacobsen Brewery A testament to survival this brewery dedicated to creative, innovative beers produces about 50,000 hectoliters of beer a year. It’s a drop in the proverbial ocean of beer that’s Carlsberg, but for the time being wiser men and women have prevailed in retaining the original culture which was Carlsberg.
The rest of the sprawling brewery is a ghost town and plans for dismantling and redeveloping the valuable real estate is underway.
Meanwhile, the SBS is independent of Carlsberg and continues to rent classroom space on the grounds of which stands the original brewery founded by J.R. Jacobsen in 1847.
For the time being and for me that made for a convenient tour of this state of the art small brewing facility. A quick tour of the grounds and sights reveals an extraordinary operation with the capability of brewing and packaging a variety of ales, lagers and specialty beers. I taste one the next day that I think is extraordinary. More on that later
Photo left: Axel Kristiansen searches school refrigerator for education purposes.
After a tour we head back to the School. Axel heads straight for the staff refrigerator (I must brag that the Brewers Association’s refrigerator is bigger and holds more beer) and we load up on a few brewski’s for sampling.
Brewed by Jacobsen our first sample is Jacobsen Pils Extra. It’s a 5.5% organic light pilsener beer with a slight corn-like and cooked cereal character. I enjoyed what followed more; Jacobsen Keller Pilz. It’s an unfiltered, 5.7% lager with 31 units of bitterness, a bit fruity from suspended yeast, bready, malty and pleasantly sweet.
Finally Axel offers a Double Brown Limfjords Porter, brewed by Thisted Bryghus. Thisted is a small 30,000 hectoliter regional brewery that’s been around for 100 years. Axel tells me that this porter wins Danish “Best Stout” awards regularly. Rich, full bodied, slightly smoky; with a satisfying hop character, but not at all bitter, except for the small bite of roast malt. The Scandinavians have the custom of proclaiming rich and hearty black beers as both “stout” and “porter” on the same label. No matter to me. I’m not here (nor anywhere for that matter) to police beer styles – I’m here to enjoy the beer. It was delicious and is worth seeking if ever in Scandinavia. It deserves a much greater following than the tiny market it commands.
Next soon: Tasting Jacobsen Brewery’s Original Ale, brewed with a hop history
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