Name: Knut Albert
47 year old, living in Oslo, Norway. This blog is mostly for my own enjoyment, documenting my beer encounters across Europe, but if you find this interesting or entertaining, you are welcome! Feel free to leave comments - all feedback is welcome!
I can also be reached on knutalbert-at-gmail.com.
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1.1. A Good Beer Blog
1.2.Belgian Beer Blog
1.3.The Beer Tourist (another Norwegian beer blog in English!)
1.4.Larsblog - another Norwegian beer blogger
1.5. grove's beer log
1.6.Det står en-og-førti øl.. (Norwegian beer blog in Norwegian)
1.7. Stonch's (London) Beer Blog
1.8. maib's Beerblog
1.9. Shut up about Barclay Perkins
2.0. The zythophile
2.1.Ofiltrerad - A beer blog in Swedish
2.2. Danish beer enthusiasts
2.3.Venner av Nøgne Ø - fans of the best Norwegian brewery
2.4.Stephen Beaumont's World Of Beer
2.5.RateBeer
2.6. BeerAdvocate
2.7.noodlepie - Food/beer blog from Saigon
2.8. Seen Through A Glass
2.9.Bridger's Beer Blog
3.1.The Brew Lounge
3.2.Hail the Ale!
3.3.beeralewhatever
3.4.The Liquid Muse
3.5.The reluctant scooper
3.6.Fancyapint?
3.7. mattias-beer-experience
3.8. The Beer Nut
4.1.Hjorten uttaler seg om ting.. (in Norwegian)
4.2.VamPus Verden (in Norwegian)
4.3.PCJ on SF etc (in Norwegian)
today
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visited *loading* times
More and more mainstream papers take therir beer coverage seriously those days. The New York Times, no less, has an extensive article, complete with a multimedia presentation on American Pale Ales which is really worth reading.
To quote: On a hot summer night, a beer need only be cold and wet to satisfy. But consider if the standard were set a little higher. Imagine a beer that offered more than the internal equivalent of holding a cold, glistening bottle against a flushed and sweaty forehead. What if that beer did not merely satisfy, but inspired?
They have tested 24 pale ales, no less! (Well, it's a big paper!)
Over at the Good Beer Blog I have complained that the British sometimes serve their beer too warm, and this is now confirmed by the BBC.
Hundreds of pubs are serving real ale which is too warm to be refreshing, an inspection has revealed.
The recommended temperature for a hand-pulled pint is from 11C to 13C but assessors found 44% of pints bought in 2,000 UK pubs exceeded 13C.
Publicans in London, Essex, Middlesex, Cambridgeshire and the West Midlands all pulled pints measuring between 25.9C and 28.1C, said Cask Marque. But the worst offender was in Kent, where an inspector found a pint at 35C.
This was on the list of recommended beer pubs in Paris, but I was rather the worse for wear when I stumbled in at lunchtime. I had a very enjoyable meal the night before, with far too much Cote de Rhone, and this was still lingering in the body (and the head). I was handed a fairly extensive beer list, with an emphasis on Belgian and French beers, but also a few fro Britain (and Quebec!). Lots of beer cocktails on offer – I wonder if anyone actually drink them?
This is a friendly pub/bistro, and despite being in a pedestrianised area close to major tourist traps like Les Halles, it seems to be dominated by regulars who greet each other and chat while they eat and drink.
Most of the bottled French beers on offer are in 75 cl bottles, so if you want a tasting evening here, you should bring a friend or two.
From a dozen beers on tap I tried Brigand, www.brigand.be, a Belgian ale. A golden ale with nice foam. The smell is slightly sour, and so is the taste. Not unpleasant, and probably exactly like it is supposed to be, but not really a style I am fond of. (If I had felt slightly better, maybe the beer had tasted better, too!) Their web site says the bottled version has 9% alcohol, not the ideal lunchtime drink, perhaps!
I did not have time to sample the other beers on offer, but this is certainly a bar I will go back to the next time I am in Paris.
The local patriots in my old home town Trondheim do not have much to celebrate for the time being. The summer weather is lousy, their soccer team is losing most of its matches (they have been national champions for a decade, so this is quite a blow!), and their beer is under threat. They had a banner during the soccer match yesterday saying "God bless E C Dahls". E C Dahls is the local brewery, and there are two reasons for alarm. Firstly, the pub in the arena sells Hansa beer from Bergen, an arch rival for many years. Secondly, E C Dahls is owned by Carlsberg, and there is a fear that they will close down the brewery, as they have done everywhere else in Norway.
More on this story (in Norwegian) at nrk's web site
One of my favourite pubs in London has no fancy menu - a few sandwiches at lunchtime is all you can eat there. The selection of drinks is rather limited, too, and you can certainly not swing a cat in there. But this was the one I searched out after checking in to my hotel. It was the hottest June for 30 years, so a pub visit was first item on the agenda.
The pub is question is the (Ye) Old Mitre. 
This is one you really have to search out– a few yards off bustling Holborn Circus and you step centuries back in time. Up a narrow alley (look closely in your London A-Z for Ely Place!) A tiny pub with staff that has an old-fashioned view of service. The pub has origins back to 1547, with the present building being built about 1770. Yes, there are a number of major nations younger than this watering hole, and for once it is a place that has the right to call itself Ye Old!
I tried a pint of Adnams Bitter, one of a few real ales on offer. The bitter was refreshing, but without too much character. But it was really what I needed right now, the nice bitter aroma of the hops linger in the mouth, remove the exhaust fumes and restore the spirit. A proper way to toast my arrival in London! (And an extra cheers to Steinar, Terje and Bjørn, with whom I spent an evening here a few years ago.)
Last week I was sitting on the tube from Heathrow to central
It turns out this is a warning to women. There is a apparently a chemical in both beer and soy products which damages sperm, so women are advised to avoid tofu, soy sauce and soy milk as well as beer. Some experts quoted in the articles don't worry too much, and point out that fertility is not lower in parts of the world where the diet is rich in soy products.
I would like to add that there are surely studies from just about any corner of the globe showing that a few beers too many is not a foolproof way to avoid pregnancy. But I don't have a medical degree, so what do I know?
The Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter has tested a number of beers for the summer season, either to go with barbecued food or just to drink by itself. Among their recommendations is Jever pilsener from Germany, a beer I will come back to in this blog later. They also offer kind words for Paulaner weisse and Pilsener Urquell. They have also tried a number of Swedish brews, and particularly recommend Wisby Pils, Jämtlands President and Fallen Angel bitter. So that is your shopping list for Systembolaget (the Swedish government alcohol monopoly stores) then.
Canned Hungarian lager in a quasi-heraldic can with lots of gold on it. No boquet, no hops. A commercial, cheap thirst-quencher. Sweetish, maize-like taste. From the can, this seems to be brewed by Dreher, and their Dreher Classic was something else. A clean, fresh-tasting pils which shows that they can do it if they want to! (As for the bottle in the middle, I haven't had time to test it yet. But if the heat wave contiues, it probably won't be long! )
The British government is to begin consultation on plans to ban smoking in many public places in England, a day after denying it intends a total public smoking ban, according to the BBC.
Public opinion will be sought on a document that will outline plans to ban smoking in most workplaces, pubs and clubs.
The government has denied reports in the Sunday papers that they will propose a total ban on smokuing in pubs and bars. Pubs that do not serve food will not have a smoking ban, and neither will private clubs.
Sheperd Neame – 1698 Celebration ale. Not too much taste, I’m afraid. A lingering aftertaste of hops. Kentish hops, 
according to the label. An aftertaste of alcohol, too, this is a beer with 6,5% of it.
It says it is brewed to an 300 year old recipe. That my be, but it’s not enough for me!
(They have lots of other beers, some of which which I have really enjoyed. Have a look at their brand new web site, where you also can find their magazine in PDF format.) http://www.shepherd-neame.co
I would rather have a bottle of McEwans Champion, a strong Scottish ale at 7,3%. This shows that the big brewers, in this case Scottish Courage, can brew great beer if they put their mind to it. Strong toffeeish taste. More on the sweet than on the bitter side, not much of hops that I can detect.
A soft and pleasant pilsener with a flowery boquet and smell. The hops are there, and they contribute to a fine balance.
This was tested in a new setting for this blog, a Lufthansa flight.
A weird setup at Lufthansa, no miniatures or cans on board. Wine and soft drinks are pured from big bottles, and beer is bottled, too. Sandwiches, not too tasty, is all you get to eat on a 2h+ flight in full fare economy class.
And not even a cognac with your coffee. On a ticket costing well over 1000 Euros, I had expected more!
Ireland is not all stout (Although you could easily think so in most pubs!) I picked up a bottle of Irish wheat beer in a supermarket, and it was very good. Curin Gold is brewed by the Carlow brewing company. On they temporary web site they list several other beers, without giving any details.
A fresh, clean wheat beer, excactly waht you need as a refreshment in the shade on a hot Summer's day. The proper taste of wheat protein on the tongue - this could easily compete with the German varieties. If I had another bottle, I might have tried a tiny wedge of lemon with this. I would be surprised if you found this outside of Ireland, but you never can tell.
A Victorian pub in the heart of the City of London has made licensing history, according to thisislondon.co.uk (the web version of the Evening Standard).
Pub licensee Adam Pattinson said he was "ecstatic" about the prospect, but he added some days the pub is empty by 9.30pm when it will close. The Swan Tavern's location in a non-residential area meant there were no objections from members of the public to the application. As this is located well away from the nightlife of West End London, it will probably have little interest for those of us who are occational visitors. As for me, I would be quite happy with a few Young's or Fuller's pubs open until midnight!
The Swan Tavern - a regular haunt of stockbrokers and bankers - has been granted what is believed to be the first 24-hour licence in the country by the Corporation of London. It is thought to be the first pub to benefit from extended opening hours made possible by the Licensing Act which came into force earlier this year.
Spending a few hours in Budapest, I tried to seek out something else than the ever present pilsner brands. The central areas of town seem to close down at eleven at night – there are probably more lively areas, but I had no time or energy to seek them out. I found, however, a pub serving a pleasant bottle of Dreher Bak – the tap version was not available that night. A very nice bock. Dry and toasty, no toffee or cocoa aroma in this one. Alcohol content at a proper level for a bock, 7,3 %, and of course you can taste that. Apart from Dreher, there seems to be lots of Austrian beer around, often with names referring to imperial times. I dragged home some samples of their canned and bottled beers, and will report on them as soon as I have the time to taste them!
One important note: While many countries where the beer tourists flock tend to have very high prices in pubs. I had a Pilsner Urquell with a collegue the next afternoon before we left for the airport, and it cost around 1,50 Euro for half a liter. This was on a sidewalk cafe in central Budapest, so I am sure you can find even better bargains if you go out of your way!
I have praised Young's of London repeatedly, but I have not written much about their quality competitor, Fuller's. 
A good opportunity is that the magazine of their Fine Ale Club, First Draught, arrived in my mailbox the other day. They now mail this abroad, and it gives some interesting uprate on their ales.
Fuller's have recently launched a new "blonde" beer - note that the term lager is not used. Available on tap at 3,9%, and it is said top be the first permanent addition to their beer range for a quarter of a century.
They have had Hoch - a cask conditioned mild - available in thir pubs during spring. No big loss that I didn't get to try it - I would prefer a bitter to a mild any day.
Fuller's have launched a new web site for promoting London Pride, their flagship ale. They also advertise a sampler pack of "Classic Strong Ales". I'll look for that one - I have never tried their IPA.
Biere brune de degustation, says the label, and the only information in English is that it calls itself a strong ale on the back label. Web site: www.pelforth.fr . A taste of coffee, some toffee and a hint of toast in there, too. The hops linger pleasantly in the mouth.
The beer is more on the sweet than on the dry side - a very decent ale. I even brough home a few cans to enjoy later.
A man on the next table drank this beer with a shot of what looked like blackcurrant liquor, making a sort of kir coctail. Weird, if you ask me, but I have met Germans who mix their pils fifty-fifty with orange juice as well!
The selection in this ordinary street corner cafè includes an abbey -style ale (Grimberger), a Belgian wheat beer, Carlsberg elephant and a few domestic lagers, including the ever present Kronenbourg.
Tested: Blanc de Bruges (draft)
Now, this is as far from a blind test as can be. A sunny day in early June, lunch at a sidewalk café. A plate of duck confit which is just about perfect. And a cloudy, refreshing Belgian wheat beer, served with a slice of lemon. 
Perfectly refreshing, what more can you ask for?
Expensive enough at 10 euros, but that is the price you have to pay for a prime location. Garcon, could I have another one?
Hen's Tooth from Greene King, a "sister brew" to Old Specled Hen. Bottle conditioned English beer. A malty taste, and you can also feel the 6,5% strength . It says on the bottle it reachest its fullest flavour in 12 monts. My bottle says 29.12.05, so it has probably spent about 5 months in the bottle.
A yeasty sediment - as it should be in a proper bottle-conditioned ale - so keep it upright for some time if you want to avoid the yeast in your glass. A nice beer, but there are similar ales with more flavour.
Well, it's a milestone. You are welcome to add comments - you're not all web indexing robots, are you? Coming up: Beers from France, Hungary and the UK.
For something completely different: Svyturus Extra, Lithuania. Looks like a lager, but with a more smokey flavour. This was much more pronounced when I tried another bottle a few weeks ago. Probably smoked malt, anyway it's a nice change. Not much hopped, so the smoke aroma works welll in balancing the malt. 5,2% alcohol. Try this out if you find it. Not a great beer, but interesting. For some reason available in Norway (probably because the brewery is owned by Carlsberg!).
Another Norwegian micro is born as traditional soft drink manufacturer Berentsen in Egersund at the Southwestern end of the country expands into brewing, according to Dagens Næringsliv. They aim for one million liters per year, similar to the beer that has been brewed for them by Aas brewery in Drammen. They will brew both top fermented and bottom fermented beer, I look forward to trying it out. I assume they will concentrate on the local market, but I hope there will be some national distribution as well.
Even giant Carlsberg has launched its own micro line "House Brewery Jacobsen". They offer four beers in nicely designed bottles, Saaz Blond, Brown Ale, Barley Wine and Dark Lager. They have had a series of limited edition beers avaialble at a limited number of outlets for a few years, so I suppose this is a follow up to this. The micro is established in an old building on the premises of the main Carlsberg brewery in Copenhagen, and their new visitors centre is probably more useful for public relations than just showing industrial brewing on a large scale.
Black Sheep Ale, Black Sheep Brewery, Masham, Yorkshire.
Another good bottled bitter, but I would be hard pressed to tell why this stands out from the crowd. While it is nice that the range of bottled bitter is large, one gets to wonder if the ones with the names from Monthy Python are the ones that get the attention. (Yes, these are the brewers with the Holy Grail ale as well!) It is hard for the drinkers to distinguish one beer from another, and it will then be the packaging that is decisive. This one has 4,4 % alcohol. It could be interesting to sample their whole range of bottled beer at one time, and from the presentation on their web site, I will certainly try their cask ales if I ever get the opportunity..
I would particularly recommend this to first time travellers to London, as a companion to the two guide books by Ted Bruning (Historic Pubs of London and London By Pub).
Ms Osborn covers the areas of London and beyond where you can find Young’s pubs, and gives the history of each pubs, whether they are from the middle ages or a part of a new housing development. A great read if you sit in your armchair with a nice glass planning a trip (as I am doing at the moment). The book also covers recent acquisitions like the pubs aquired from Finch’s and Smiles.
I even have a proposal for the next volume – what about a collection of old and new pub signs with a presentation of the artists? It is obvious that Young’s put a lot of effort into the signs (some of which are prettier than the pubs!), and it would be great to get to know more about them. 
Helen Osborn har previously written two books on the history of Young’s brewery in London and their pubs – Inn and Around London and Britain’s Oldest Brewery. She has a third book out now, Forever Young’s, which is more or less an update of the first, but this time with splendid colour photos by Jim Ballard (puzzlingly not properly credited until the end of the book, more or less in a footnote).
I would still want even more precise information on how to get there, perhaps with maps outlining pub walks in various areas, but this book is a welcome addition to a beer-lover’s bookshelf anyway.
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