Danish Microbrew
– The rise and rise of Danish craft beer
In the coming time I will be doing a series of blog posts focusing on the rising craft beer scene in Denmark. Craft beer is of course on the rise in most of the world, and it seems to just keep on going, and here in Denmark too where new breweries pop up all the time. And it’s not just beer for the sake of making beer. No, it’s creative, high-quality and highly acclaimed beer coming out of Denmark now.
In this Danish Microbrew series, I will be looking at some of those micro breweries, right from the newly started, self-proclaimed nano-breweries to the ones that have almost gone macro. I will not be writing about the OG’s of Danish craft beer Mikkeller, or some of the other internationally renowned breweries like To Øl and Amager Bryghus. They have already made it big time and their beer is widely available almost globally. I will be dedicating this blog series to the ones that are next in line and there are quite a few breweries that are knocking on the door of an international breakthrough.
The first post in this series will focus on a couple of very new breweries and a brewery that dares to challenge Danish beer drinkers and taste them out of their comfort zone. All three breweries operate on a fairly small scale and definitely out of the mainstream attention.
The Brewsketeers (Copenhagen, Denmark)
The Brewsketeers are a nano brewery formed in 2019 with roots in Copenhagen, currently operating as a contract brewery, meaning they don’t have their own brewing facilities but are currently contract brewing their recipes at fellow danish brewery Ølsnedkeren’s facilities north of Copenhagen or doing collabs with brewer friends. They have, at the time of writing, only ever put out one can and have, brewed since operating under The Brewsketeers name, about a handful of different beers. All of them hoppy beers.
Wizard of Hops / Session IPA (5% ABV.)
I have only tasted one of their beers. The only canned beer they have released to the public. A hazy Session IPA. I ended up buying a six-pack at a great price and because I felt like supporting an up-and-coming brewery. I’m pretty sure it was one of the owners himself that delivered the beers at my doorstep, something I really appreciate but perhaps also because it’s a necessity when you’re first starting up and have to do all the work yourself. Even more reason to support breweries like that in my opinion.
A while ago I tried to avoid Session IPA’s. I just felt you got more bang for your buck if you bought a normal IPA or even a Double IPA. I wasn’t really getting myself into situations where the lower alcohol Session IPA’s would be preferable, so I could just as well buy the tastier and stronger versions of this hoppy beer style. Especially when I bought imported beers that were already pretty pricey. But being a sucker for a good beer bargain I picked up a six’er, and I’m glad I did.
I’m not saying that Wizard of Hops is the beer that got me back into sessionable beers but it really delivered. Hazy, juicy and delicious. If this is the quality that The Brewsketeers deliver when doing Session IPA’s? I can’t wait to try the IPA’s and Double IPA’s they will hopefully be producing in the future. A brewery I will be keeping an eye on – and you should too.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Thebrewsketeers/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebrewsketeers/
Caleidoskope Brewing (Amager, Copenhagen, Denmark)
This brewery was also founded in 2019, but they are a bit larger in scale and have already put out a good amount of beers. All of them IPA’s (as of the time of this writing). And almost all of them of the New England style. So hazy juice bombs with low bitterness. Honestly I haven’t had a bad beer from Caleidoskope. They are pretty consistent and what the perhaps lack in variety they more than make up for in drinkability and flavor. This is the kind of beer I really like and also like to drink a lot of.
Moving Colors / IPA (5,8 % ABV.)
Orange Dots / IPA (7,5 % ABV.)
Twisted Angles / IPA (6,8 % ABV.)
I chose to write about these three beers out of the ones I’ve had from Caleidoskope because they are the ones I remember the best and are actually quite similar.
Orange Dots is probably my favorite of the three. Using Amarillo, Citra and Mosaic hops and then dry-hopped with the same hops. A solid trio of hops if you’re brewing a hazy IPA, and it really delivered on all the things I like about that style of beer. Twisted Angles is brewed with Rakau and Sabro hops and dry-hopped with the same hops again. A different hop character but still very similar in mouthfeel and balance. Moving Colors is using almost the same hops as Orange Dots but substituting Mosaic for Simcoe and dry-hopped with Galaxy and Idaho Gem as additional hops. Once again pretty close in taste and overall feel as the other beers but pleasant on the palate. A trademark of Caleidoskope beers. If you love New England IPA’s. I suggest you check out Caleidoskope.
Website: https://caleidoskope.bryg.io/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caleidoskopebrewing/
BrygBrygBryg (Skovlunde, Copenhagen, Denmark)
This brewery separates themselves from the two others and from most breweries coming out of Denmark. They focus mostly on sours and other weird and rare styles. They do also brew stouts and all other more familiar beer varieties but their sour stuff is what they are most known for and what I like about them. If you’re on a quest for hoppy IPA’s this is not the brewery you should be looking at.
They have been around longer and put out a lot more beers than The Brewsketeers and Caleidoskope but their setup is still that of a small scale brewery. I’ve been to their brewery in Skovlunde as part of a “yard sale” and it’s a lot of buckets on the floor with bubbling liquid and really a hands-on approach. It’s bare-bones brewing in the best possible way. The duo behind BrygBrygBryg are working their asses off making some of the most interesting beer in Denmark at the moment out of the mainstream eye. Even though true beer geeks know about BrygBrygBryg and all seem to love them – with good reason.
What the hell is a Grisette? Or a Lichtenhainer? It’s beer! And if it wasn’t for BrygBrygBryg you would probably never know about it. But they’ve brewed it. Both are variations of the sour style. A Grisette is an easy drinkable light sour beer style, low in ABV. Lichtenheiner is a smoky sour beer. I’ve also had a beer from BrygBrygBryg that instead of using yeast, was fermented with the peel and rind of pineapples. Just like a Mexican fermented pineapple drink called Tepache. 99,8% of all beers are made with yeast (or close too) but this says a lot about this brewery and their curious and experimental nature, that they want to be part of that 0,2 % by brewing a beer, a Belgian Bruin no less, with the “carcass” of a fucking pineapple. I was lucky to get to try the Tepache beer because almost all of what BrygBrygBryg brew is very limited. That also makes their beers highly sought after among beer geeks.
Gris 2020 / Grisette (4,5% ABV.)
This is a sour for people that don’t think they like sours. A beautiful ruby red colored cherry sour. Very mildly soured, pleasant on the palate and easy drinkable. A real summer beer.
Annika 2020 / Sour – Fruited (6,4 ABV.)
A much more profound sourness in this one. Still a very drinkable sour made with a lot of raspberries and a little hibiscus. Raspberry definitely is the dominant flavor and delivers a bit of sweetness to counterbalance the sourness.
Fleur de Cactus (A.K.A. Camille C) / Sour – Fruited (7 % ABV.)
My favorite beer from BrygBrygBryg. It’s a cactus flower sour and I think it’s the uniqueness of this beer that speaks to me. Honestly I don’t really know how cactus flower tastes, but I like it. It’s hard to pinpoint the taste exactly, but it has a does have a flowery taste (duh!). It’s kind of odd but at the same time kind of delicious. I had it on keg for the first time at the beer bar 1420 in Copenhagen and have had it bottled a few times since. If you have the opportunity to get your hands on this (all BrygBrygBryg’s releases are like I mentioned before very limited) – do it! This is a special beer that you won’t get to try the likes of in many other places.
I understand why the beer geeks (I’ll include myself), geek out about BrygBrygBryg. They’re pushing the envelope in terms of beer brewing and dare to experiment in a landscape where many others stick to a formula they know works. Currently a top 5 brewery in Denmark in my opinion.
Website: https://brygbrygbryg.dk/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brygbrygbryg/
Have you had beers from any of theese three breweries? Also, what makes your favorite micro brewery worth buying from?
Let me know in the commentary field below.