Carlsberg brews beer using hops with a history

June 4, 9:44 AMBeer ExaminerCharlie Papazian

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Bjarke Bundgaard of Jacobsen Brewery holds a delicious
glass of Original Danske Ale and the unique hops from which
it is made.  Photo by Charlie Papazian

After my tour of the Scandinavian Brewing School in Copenhagen I journeyed the next day to the Copenhagen Beer Festival and made the special effort to visit the Jacobsen Brewery stand.  There are perhaps a dozen different beers on tap.  One bottle is under glass, touted as the most expensive beer in the world at $200 a bottle.  I don’t get to try this, but I did discover a great beer.

Brewery representative Bjarke Bundgaard pours me a glass of their new release “Original Danish Ale (Original Dansk Ale) .”  It’s refreshing and full flavored athe same time.  At 6% alcohol by volume and medium body what intrigues me is the unique hop character.  It's brewed with a hop hybrid developed by Carlsberg called Jacobsen Hallertauer.  Both German-type Hallertauer and fruity blueberry-like hop aromas emerge from the beer. 

Bjarke explains that the brewery discovered hop vines barely surviving in a small area of the vast Carlsberg brewery grounds.  They transplanted the cuttings and nurtured them.  Called Jacobsen Hallertauer and from what I understood these were hops that were probably original Danish hops which Jacobsen himself had brought to Denmark and nurtured from cross breeding of German and English varieties over a hundred years ago.  They are now grown on very small acreage in Denmark exclusively for Carlsberg.  These hops are rich in oils (great for flavor and aroma) and with about a 4.5 to 6% alpha acid (bitter resins) rating, which is somewhat mild.
 
Original Ale is hopped three times, at the start of the boil, late in the whirlpool, and dry hopped in the finishing tanks.  It makes for an extraordinary delicious lager-like ale with hop fruitiness. 

Coming soon:  Danish craft brewers and their craft