Beer drinking in a Freetown – Christiania Pilsener

June 16, 12:04 PMBeer ExaminerCharlie Papazian

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There's no free beer in Freetown of Christiania, Denmark. Photos by Charlie
Papazian

I’m searching for a beer as I encounter the sign posted outside of the Moonfisher Café sarcastically proclaiming in English, “Safest Café in the world.  More than 6,000 armed police inspections since March 2004. 

Welcome to Christiania, a self-proclaimed 85 acre independent “Freetown” in the middle of Copenhagen.  “Freetown,” well kind of.  It certainly has an independent air about it as you walk the paths and traffic-less roads.  It’s a throwback of what the utopian village tried to be in the 1960’s and early 1970s.  Christiania is still seeking nirvana.  There’s the feeling of optimism and also the continual sense of Danish politics that overhangs this little plot of land.

Ah, the Moonfisher Café – why the antagonistic poster?  It’s a spacious, airy and comfortable looking place serving beer, coffee and light food.  It seems that they’ve been busted a few times for allowing the smoking of certain non tobacco weed.  Tired of being busted and wanting to stay in business, the smokers are asked do their thing freely outside.  That’s part of what “Freetown” is about, but just part.  There are a lot of interesting things to take in.  Art, culture, shops, a lake, interesting architecture, history, surprises around every bend and of course beer.

My wife Sandra and I played tourist, enjoying the view of an eclectic way of life and throwbacks to a way of life I thought had disappeared.  For those outside the Moonfisher Café it probably seems a bit like Alice’s Wonderland, but it ain’t. 

Me I plopped myself down in an outdoor kind of café / beer garden and checked out the beer.  We ordered one bottle of Christiania’s “own,” Christiania Thy Pilsner  (Okologisk).  I figure out that it’s organic and from the Danish hieroglyphs on the bottle I also figure it’s 4.6% abv, made with organic malt and hops and brewed by Thisted Bryghus, makers a great brown porter/ stout. 

Christiania Thy Pilsner is a style of pilsener, actually quite “international” in character.  The bitterness of hops is clear, but with no hop flavor or aroma character. Just bitter, hazy (no not what you’re thinking – we were upwind of the smokers) with an accompanying fruity “twang” and phenolic aroma and flavor (note: phenolic is a character that can resembles plastic/band aid type aroma caused often by wild yeast) .  The other option available here was Carlsberg’s Tuborg, which is for mainstream beer drinking in Denmark, if that’s what you’re into. 

The rap music is booming from the small band shell.  It’s a rare sunny day in Copenhagen.  The temperature is in the low 60’s and it’s about as warm as summer gets here.  We split the beer between the two of us. We were thirsty.  Even though I was finished with Christiania beer for the afternoon, I was smiling.  Sandra glanced at me and warned, “Don’t smile too much, they’ll give you some more.”

We left quickly, grabbing a Double Brown Limfjords Porter brewed by Thisted Bryghus on the way out of town.  Yum.