The Great Beer Journey – Sweet & Sour in Scandinavia
I’m starting my ’round the world virtual beer journey in my own neck of the woods here in Copenhagen.It’s a place I’ve spend all of my soon to be 41 summers and a place that’s embraced the craft beer revolution and become of the worlds leading beer destinations. There are so many great breweries in Copenhagen and in Denmark now and Copenhagen has some of the best beer bars and taprooms in the world. A beer crawl in Copenhagen is a journey through a world of delicious beers.
(Find out what the beer journey is all about here...)
I could have started my journey at many places in and around Copenhagen but when the journey itself is as much about trying new beers and different beer styles, than it is trying beers from different countries, one place immidiately spoke to me.
Mikkeller Baghaven, Copenhagen, Denmark
This barrel facility, brewery and taproom is about as good as it gets in the beer world. When I think of summer in Copenhagen I think of sitting outside at Baghaven looking at the city of Copenhagen across the harbour and drinking a bottle of their irresistible barrel aged creations. They produce some of the best sour, wild and funky beers outside of Belgium. Most of it is barrel aged and uses local terroir. They brew with curiosity, innovation and a passion for aged beer. But in the end it’s the quality of the beer that counts and the beer is top notch. I’ve yet to have a beer from Baghaven that wasn’t great. They respect the old traditions coming from Belgium but also push the beer in exciting new ways. If there is a place I long to go, during this pandemic, it’s definatelty Baghaven.
Luckily I’ve been able to taste a lot of their beers at home and they all kick some serious wild ass. The bottles aren’t cheap but I think they are worth every penny. Sour, fresh, fruity, funky, weird, wild, rustic. These beers are special.
This Stevnsbær Danish wild cherry ale is not the best beer I’ve had from Baghaven. But it’s still on par with the best krieks I’ve had from Belgium. That says a lot about the insanely high levels they deliver. The beer is made with Stevnsbær cherries from Frederiksdal Cherrywine. So much cherry in aroma and taste. A true sour, fruity delight.
If you’ve fallen down the Baghaven rabbit hole like me, I can recommend Pantao – their peach sour or my favorite Kriek Vanilje -which also has Stevnsbær cherries but also Tahitian and Bourbon vanilla. It’s liquid cherry jam of the very best kind. But basically any beer from Baghaven will set you right.
1st Beer, 1st Country
Stevnsbær 2020 – Danish Wild Ale with Cherries (by Mikkeller Baghaven)
4.25 Stars out of 5 Stars
Duckpond, Gothenburg, Sweden
To abide to the rules of the journey, I had of choice of two places to go on my journey. South to Germany or east to Sweden. I virtually travelled across the Øresundsbron connecting Copenhagen and Malmö and headed north to the capital of swedish craft beer; Gothenburg, at least in my opinion. Gothenburg is home to some of my favorite swedish breweries like Stigbergets, O/O and Morgondagens. It’s also home to breweries Beerbliotek and Duckpond. Having never had beer from either brewery I chose Duckpond because I had been hearing good things about them.
The beer I had was Dark Love. A fruited Gose with Black Currant, Raspberry and Vanilla. A combination of their two beers Darkwing and True Love. Duckpond does what they do very well in Sweden, and that is making sours. So much black currant in the aroma with raspberry in there as well. The taste again exploded in berry goodness along with vanilla all wrapped up in a delicious tart package, with a little salt in there for good measure. The depth of the flavors and the balance from fruity tartness, sweetness and then the little bit of salinity. A really, really amazing Gose.
Even though I’m only two beers into the journey, this could be a top candidate for best beer.
2nd Beer, 2nd Country
Dark Love – Gose with Black Currant, Raspberry and Vanilla (by Duckpond Brewing)
4.75 Stars out of 5 Stars
Amundsen, Oslo, Norway
I continued on my journey to the magical land of Norway and the capital Oslo.
I’m going to be honest. Amundsen doesn’t really fit into the rules of the beer journey. Not only have I had plenty of Amundsen beers before, I’ve also had plenty from their dessert in a can series. It was a gateway stout for me. As I wasn’t really a big stout fan, but the ultra sweet sticky black liquid that Amundsen puts out in this series really spoke to me. Since then I’ve become a little braver when it comes to stouts.
In all fairness I haven’t had this particular beer (that’s really a no-go in the rules of the beer journey) and I haven’t tried any of their barrel aged stuff. I am a huge fan of Tiramisu so I thought this would do the trick.
Unfortunately it didn’t really hit the spot. There wasn’t really that tiramisu feeling I was hoping for.
A very subtle coffee feel, but not really a lot in the mouthfell, aroma or taste reminded me of Tiramisu. The stout wasn’t very sweet which I think good tiramisu should be. To be fair it had a fair level of boozyness and that can sometimes be evident in tiramisu, depending on how people make it. I did pick up a bit of the barrel aging as the flavours were more intense. It unfortunately didn’t do too much for the beer.
This wasn’t my favorite Amundsen beer, but I will definately not be last from a brewery that does a lot of fun and amazing beer and have really put Norway on the craft beer map along with Lervig and a few others.
3rd Beer, 3rd Country
Dessert in a Can : Tiramisu – Imperial Pastry Stout (by Amundsen Bryggeri)
3.25 Stars out of 5 Stars
What’s Next?
The journey will go on in Finland in my next post and where I go on from then is kind of a secret.
Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram at @the_danevore and compete in my great beer journey giveaway for your opportunity to win 5 of the best beers I have on this journey.