A weekend in Copenhagen - Guest Blog

My Father in Law spent some time travelling in and around Northern Europe so I asked him to write a "Guest Blog" on one of the many towns of his travels. Thanks Steve!  



Think of Denmark and you probably think of LEGO, Bang & Olufsen, 
Skype or even Velux Windows?  You will almost certainly think of 
high end minimalistic furniture that exemplifies functionalistic 
Danish design. The Dane Jørn Utzon even designed the Sydney Opera 
House. However you probably do not associate Denmark with craft beers.
Come to Copenhagen and it is difficult to miss the huge Carlsberg and Tuborg 
brewery and, if you come from the UK, to get the tagline “Probably the best 
beer in the world” out of your head but do not blame the Danes for that but 
Saatchi & Saatchi. However if you look carefully you will also find a healthy 
craft beer industry which shows that Danish design even produce good beers 
today.  

Navigate your way to the BREWPUB, Vestergade 29, in the city centre.  As you pass through an archway you will know you are in the right place as you can see the fermentation vessels that have given birth to some excellent beers very much in the US style. In the summer a bar is set up in the courtyard rather than having to go down into the permanent cellar bar. This summer the beers boast some international titles.  I started with a Pale Ale called Hurricane (after the aircraft) which was very refreshing after a full day of sightseeing. This top fermented golden beer uses fruity New Zealand hops combined with malt and caramel so had a light bitterness and moderate sweetness.  I then tried the US India Pale Ale, Geronimo.  This 6.5% beer proved to be very tasty with significant bitterness moderated by the caramel malts and by being mashed at a higher temperature. You could also detect citrus from the use of the American hops Zeus and Chinook.  If you like IPA you should also try the 6.2% US PowerPils ZEUS.  This is a single hop golden bottom-fermented strong larger made from the American hop Columbus and is said to have the distinctive flavour of apricot-peach and a fresh rich aftertaste. Not tried there was also a 5.6% Dark SCHLAGER which is a dark bottom-fermented lager and a 6.6% Rosebud Porter

BREWPUB have not neglected wheat beers.  Jackie K 5% is their 
new American-style wheat beer which is more aromatic and 
moderately bitter than the usual wheat beers.  Jackie K is dry-
hopped with American Citra introducing notes of mandarin and 
passion fruit but in the opinion of my wife it was no match for the 
4.9% VesterWeisse.  This refreshing, thirst quencher is ‘unclear’ 
as the high content of protein in the wheat malt makes this beer 
appear cloudy.  In my wife’s opinion this is ”Probably the best 
wheat beer she has ever tasted”.  I told you it is difficult to get a 
tagline out of your head!