Cairngorm - Stag

If you have been following yesterdays posts then you will remember I wrote it was Distortion today in my street and part of town.Well the hipsters have taken over the street, not on my steps *teehee* but enough to annoy me anyway. Anyone for techno electronic jazz ?

It's a call to arms and I've enlisted my son to help me with Call Of DutyFree 5 - Hipster Helles.

Dad I've finished practice, hipsters you say ?

To Arms ! 'We have a bb gun, 2000 rounds, a watermelon, a coconut and a 300 bag of pg tips. We're in this for the long haul son !'

Everything needed for this mission

Hang on a minute, before we go I've a beer to get on with before that fat jazz singer pipes up....

Pours a clear deep amber with a thick creamy off-white head. Roasted malt, mild hops and nutty on the intake with a very mild bitter finish. Very short bitter aftertaste of caramel and hops. It feels pretty creamy in the mouth. I over-chilled this one and it got a lot better as it warmed a bit. I quite enjoyed this as it was better than I thought it would be. Easy drinking, tad above average without any wow factor. My only gripe would be it could be a lot better with a bit more depth too it, though you can say that with heaps of other beer.


This scored  5/10 on my ' Of course I am only joking, everyone needs a hipster friend sometime' beerometer.

Alc : 4.1%
Where to buy : Abigails  have it in their shop in town along with most of the Cairngorm range.

Adnams - Innovation

Yet another wee detour before I complete the Cairngorm range....

Distortion started today in another part of Copenhagen, tomorrow it's where I live so I'll be out at 5 in the morning before going to work and spraying my steps with honey so no hipster sits on them. It's an old carpet shop turned into an apartment with steps to street level from my livingroom. It beats telling people to f-off, politely I may add, every 5 minutes :)

On to the beer...

Not often I mention aromas but when uncapped there is a huge hop and fruit aroma coming from this. This IPA pours a clear gold with a thin white head. Hops, citrus fruit and malt dominate on the intake while finishing bitter grapefruit. The bitter aftertaste reaches right down to the pit of my stomach. Quite a creamy mouthfeel. No alcohol shining through.

If this is innovation then I'm all for it, a very good refreshing IPA. This scored 8/10 on my 'Please sir, can I have some more ?' beerometer.

Alc : 6.7%
Where to buy : Fish & Beer

Cairngorm - Sheepshaggers Gold

My wife, good lady that she is, came home all happy and told me she brought home a new beer for me. Well, what is it ? 'Ehhmmmm... Pabst Blue Ribbon, you want it now as it's cold ?' Sure, as I'd just finished Nessie's Monster Mash.  Ok, so I drank it and the wife could see a totally blank expression on my noggin. 'not good ?' Well a bit of malt and a real funked up aftertaste. Which brings me to a point...

Who in their right mind would buy this slop in Denmark for 10kr a bottle over a whole load of better beers for the same or lesser price ? I just don't get it.

On to the beer which is obviously aimed for the Welsh market :)

Awww no, not again...

Pure dead Continental man !

This Continental Style Blond Ale pours golden with a fluffy white head. I get a light sweet malt and caramel on the intake while in the aftertaste a weird funky sour tasting lemon, and not a particular nice lemon at that. Low bitterness. I'm not impressed at all with this so it's only 3.5/10 on the maybe pabst ain't so bad after all beerometer.

Alc : 4.5%
Where to buy : Unknown

Cairngorm - Nessie's Monster Mash

A bit of trepidation before opening this and wondering who it's aimed at. Either it is just a fun fun fun named beer or just some distinctly average brew aimed at the shortbread tin image tourist market to pick up before heading home. Maybe I'm being a bit harsh but it was the first thing that came into my skeptical warped mind when seeing the blurb...

Clearing the blurb from my head and getting on to the beer itself. Pours dark amber with a creamy off-white head with good lacing in the glass all the way down. Lots of roasted malts and floral hops on the intake while finishing dry and bitter. Lingering toffee in the aftertaste.

Better than I was expecting with my only real gripes being it being a bit watery and over carbonated. Still, a bit above average bitter ale and very easy to drink. This scored 6/10 on my 'what's this tourist pish?' beerometer.

Alc : 4.4%
Where to buy : Unknown.

Cairngorm - Cairngorm Gold

Heading to halfway down this range trail I come to..sorry I can't help myself.

A small annoyance, why do some, this one included as it's on the blurb the bottle, write and it normally means a lager/pils etc 'continental styled beer' ? To me, that could mean anything,  I'd ask which continent for one then which style ?

You would not go into a shop and reply if asked what you were looking for 'ohh I'm right in the mood for a continental styled beer'. What an utter nonsense it is ! Just tell me on the bottle what the beer style is and if it's a German, Belgian, American, Scottish, Danish, English or Timbuktuan inspired brew then let people know.

On to this Blond Ale, if someone said this was a lager I would not even argue...Pours golden with a medium white creamy head. Light malts with a discreet fruity background. Next to no bitterness and hardly any aftertaste to make you think about it. Not a whole lot going on with this, it's easy to drink and a bit too watery. A bit of a duffer, very average and only reached a limp 4/10 on the beerometer.

Alc : 4.5%
Where to buy : Unknown at time of writing.

Bernard Cerny Lezak

A wee diversion..Bad day at work, well mondays always are so hopefully a good beer to cheer the mood up a bit ?

This dark lager comes in a swing top bottle with an aroma of sweet malt when opened. Pours a deep clear dark ruby red with a two finger tan head. A lot of  roasted,  medium sweet malt and a bit of coffee on the intake while it finishes dry with a light bitterness.

Not a whole lot going on with this and a bit watery in the body although it is very drinkable. It reached a grumpy 5.5/10 on the beerometer. I think if I was going after a readily available Czech dark lager then I would buy a Kozel Dark which costs a lot less and in my head is a lot better.

Alc : 5.1%
Where to buy : Fish & Beer

Cairngorm - Blessed Thistle

Carrying on with the Cairngorm range, range...get it ?

As it happens I used to go a lot of camping up in the Aviemore area when I was a young lad. Great memories of hiking for miles a day where it could pour down with rain, shelter from a full scale gale, get a brief snow shower and still end up sunburnt at the end of the day..in June.

Blessed Thistle is a reddish brown ale according to the label.

This pours as the label says, reddish brown with a creamy beige head. Looks stunning when poured.  I get sweet malt, caramel and some herbs on the intake while it finishes dry, mildly bitter and with a ginger spice.

I quite like this one though it's not one that gave any wow factor. It's a decent above average bitter that I'd have no problems sitting drinking a few. It climbed to 6/10 on my pre scottish cup final beerometer.

Alc : 4.5%
Where to buy : Trying to track the supplier down.

Mikkeller - Åarh Hvad ?

Another Mikkeller from fridays trip to Kihoskh, though not a 'brewed for', just Mikkeller.

It seems like there is a new Mikkeller beer out each week, well there is and a bit more according to the local beer news site. Last year Mikkeller released 91 new beers, 87 made their way to the Danish market which is an incredible amount.

Årrh Hvad ?, eng: pronounced like Orrr -val(very soft l) -putting it together sounds like Orval, is a Belgian Pale Ale. So is it a clone of Orval ? Pours cloudy amber and with a soapy off-white head. Lively in the glass when poured. I get pine, caramel, orange peel and sour gooseberry on the intake while the finish is dry and tangy with a warming from the alcohol which lingers in the mouth a good while.

I'm very moody when it comes to Belgian ales, either I love them or they can become overpowering and too much very quickly. I did enjoy this one but doubt I would bother buying another though I would not say no if offered one. This scored 7.5/10 on my lazy sunday beerometer.

Alc : 6.8%
Where to buy : Kihoskh, Sønder Boulevard 53, Kbh V

Amager Bryghus - The Sinner Series - Greed

If you have followed before I was off to Irish Day At the Races today instead of the Copenhagen Beer Festival. So I chose a day where the not so cheap bad draught Guinness served in plastic was flowing, ' look mate, if you put a shamrock on that head i'll....bloody for the tourists that trait is, stop it'. Never picked a winner all day, wife managed to pick one and my wee lad even picked one as well... Anyway, a fine day out and good crack but bad beer, so I have some making up to do before the champions league final ko and the boxing later. I'm waffling, on with the show...

This is actually the last one I had to taste to complete the series as I've tasted all the others before starting this blog. The six others being Lust, Wrath, Gluttony, Sloth, Envy and Pride with Envy and Pride the stand outs of the series for me.

Greed is brewed as a no nonsense German Pilsener according to the blurb. Pours cloudy yellow/gold with a fluffy white head. Floral, herbs, grass, malt and bitter hops on the intake while leaving a grapefruit and slightly dry short aftertaste. Very fresh tasting, I could easily sit and session with this. 7/10 on the beerometer.

Alc : 4.6%
Where to buy : Fish & Beer

MIkkeller Kihoskh - IPALOT

The latest offering in the range brewed for Kihoskh.

A lot of florals, mango and hops coming off when uncapping. Pours cloudy orange gold with a thin lasting white head though I got taken by surprise by the amount of carbonation when pouring, have I mentioned before my concentration level is around zero ?

 On the intake I get, you know dried mango and the syrup like taste you get off it when chewing, well that's it and floral hops while in the aftertaste quite a medium to heavy bitterness with a citrus background. No alcohol shines through.

A cracking IPA which once again with this 'brewed for' range and considering how cheap it is it's a lot of quality for the price...like ordering a rump steak and getting brought a chateaubriand by mistake, a steal.

This scored 8/10 on my beerometer.

Alc : 6.3%
Where to buy : Kihoskh, Sønder Boulevard 53, KBH V

Bayreuther - Aktien Zwick'l Kellerbier

This one is another I picked up at last weeks trip out to Fish & Beer last week.

I have a soft spot for swing top bottles, so classy and old fashioned looking. They still bring back memories of nutter trendies using the Grolsh swing tops in their shoes copying the utter dross Bros. Probably the only reason why Grolsh became so popular.

So this beer pours cloudy amber with a small lasting white head. Sweet malt and caramel dominate on the intake leaving more caramel, a bit of lemon and a light bitterness in the aftertaste. Feels a bit watery in the mouthfeel.

All in all,  this is very average, not one I'd bother with again. It scaled 5/10 on the beerometer.

Alc : 5.3%
Where to buy : Fish & Beer

Mikkeller Kihoskh - IPA

I think I should give a demographic of where I stay as it is a bit of a hotbed in Copenhagen in relation to the availability of good and great beer. Within a 500m radius I have the Mikkeller Bar, his brothers beer shop Ølbutikken, the already mentioned Kihoskh and Fermentoren Bar,  not the worst place to stay :)

On to the beer, another of Mikkellers brewed for Kihoskh selection. IPA pours hazy amber with a fluffy off-white head. Lots of floral hops and citrus on the intake and finishing sharp with grapefruit, herbs and pine. No alcohol shines through. Decent and above average as you would expect IPA that scores 7.5/10 on the beerometer.

Alc : 6%
Where to buy : Kihoskh, Sønder Boulevard 53, KBH V

Mikkeller Kihoskh - Døszt?

Døszt, english pronounced 'Doo -sht'..The sound made when thowing/landing a punch kung fu movie soundtrack style.

This beer is a Premium Lager that actually is Premium. It's quite shocking to think that I can choose to buy a bottle of this for 22 Danish Kroner or buy a so-called 'Premium' Euro industrial lager for just a couple of kroner less.

Brewed for my local corner shop Kihoskh, which have had eight others brewed for them over the past few years. It's one I always pick up when in there and was my favourite summer beer last year.

Big aroma from the bottle once uncapped of a big bowl of oranges and lemons and tropical fruits. Pours hazy golden with a lasting creamy head. A lot of pine, citrus and tropical fruit, I'd say mostly pineapple on the intake while leaving a dry mildly bitter aftertaste with citrus and hops that leaves your mouth running.

A belter of a beer considering the price though not really surprising as every Mikkeller beer I've had has been a cut above. This one reached 8/10 on the beerometer.

Alc : 5%
Where to buy : Kihoskh, Sønder Boulevard 53, KBH V

Pivovary Vratislavice - Konrad Svetly Lezak

Taking a break from the Scottish beers and back to a beer that has regularly landed in my shopping basket the last couple of weeks, probably due to being on offer which is always a bonus.

Konrad as I will call it is a Czech pilsner... Pours golden with a white head. A lot of light malt, bread, a bit of hay and a mild saaz hop bitterness on the intake leaving a lingering malty sweetness in the aftertaste.

Very tasty pils and way above, to borrow a phrase just this once, poxy McLagers. Excellent pilsner, good value for money and hit 6.5/10 on the beerometer.

Alc : 4.8%
Where to buy : Føtex

Cairngorm - Black Gold

The Copenhagen beer festival started today though I'm going on saturday..or meant to be as my sweet talking brother convinced me that the annual Irish Day up the at horse racing track was a better idea.

Hmmm get to sample a lot of good different beers or probably lose a crapload of money, drink crap guinness and get soaked just to top it off. Well, I reasoned with myself I can get good beer anytime so I chose the latter option..Begorrah.

Carrying on, Black Gold is a stout. Pours black with ruby red tints and a thin tan head once settled that leaves lacing all the way down. Slightly sweet with roasted malt and brown sugar on the intake while finishing dry in the mouth with hints of milk chocolate.

I quite like this one and would have no problem drinking or buying another if I could find it though for a Scottish Stout in its price class it would be up against the easy to find Belhaven Scottish Stout which I rate highly and will no doubt blog about sometime. Black Gold climbed to 7/10 on my beerometer.

Alc : 4.4%
Where to buy : See the Autumn Nuts post.

Cairngorm - Autumn Nuts

See that lovely beer banner above ? I took that pic after my lovely-caring-hardworking-understanding wife bought all them beers for me at Roskilde Kræmmermarked (Fleamarket) from a stall run by a guy connected to the YNWA, yep as the Scouse song and pub/beershop in Kolding, which is a reservation many many miles from Danish civilization, that far out they don't have a website I can give you.

Anyway, as you can see there is nine brews from the Cairngorm Brewery and four from Heather Ales otherwise known as Williams Bros. Where to start ? Easy, A !

Starting off with Autumn Nuts which according to the blurb this a red ale. Pours russet red with a tight creamy off-white head. Taste is dominated by malt and nuts on the intake while a citrus bitterness is left in the aftertaste.

Easy drinking beer though I'm not sure I like it enough to buy another. Above average bitter ale that reached 6/10 on the beerometer.

Alc : 4.8%
Where to buy : Well some Liverpool supporting bloke from Kolding that has stalls in all the big Fleamarkets, otherwise I've not seen it in any of the CPH beer shops.

Porterhouse - Celebration Stout

I have a confession to make...I don't normally drink stouts or porters in the summer months and tend to go for lighter beer though an occasional pint of Guinness hits the spot. Well today it's been absolutely hammering down with rain all day so I got soaked going to work, at work and going home from work so what better than a good stout or porter to warm up a bit and chill out ?

An Imperial Irish Stout on the label ? Never had one before until this... Pours black with small tan head, actually I lie as I made an absolute arse of it pouring this and had to wait ages until the head fell ! :) So, well lasting and good lacing head. On the intake roasted malts, coffee, lightly smoked and some licorice  while finishing slightly dry with mild hoppy bitterness in a long aftertaste. Smooth and easy to drink, no alcohol shining through.

I don't know about the Imperial bit but I enjoyed this one and it reached 8/10 on the beerometer. One thing that bugged me, whats with the ring pull top ? Just put a nice crown cap on it, bloody hipster-like move that.

Alc : 7%
Where to buy : Fish & Beer , Amagerbrogade 143

Carlsberg - Carls Porter

Here is a bit of a shocker for some. Don't faint or start screaming at this blog in disbelief.. a cold hard fact, Carlsberg CAN make good beer ! The only problem is most don't get exported, well last time I was in the UK there was nothing of the now defunct Semper Ardens series or the still on the go house brewery Jacobsen range, both containing some cracking beer you would never think of when hearing the name Carlsberg.

This Porter pours pitch black with a small tan head. Lots of roasted malts, brown sugars, hops on the intake finishing with licorice and a very slight taste of honey. Hardly any sweetness and no alcohol shines through. Nice creamy mouthfeel.

Very good value for money porter and reached 7/10 on my internal beerometer. It's a bit of a shame most of the world will never know that Carlsberg can made a decent effort like this.

Alc : 7.8%
Where to buy : Almost all supermarkets.

Brewdog / Flying Dog - International Arms Race

After finishing work early on friday I had a wander out to Fish & Beer on Amagerbrogade, the name making no sense nowadays as they do not sell fish anymore. Perhaps a name change is in order so why not Beer & Beer ?:)

 I have been before as it is a nice little shop with around 400 different beers so finding something different every visit is no problem. I settled on a few, one of which I have already drunk which was the excellent Ayinger Brauweisse, an outstanding weisse...

Moving on, Brewdog's International Arms Race is according to the blurb an ale brewed with berries and herbs, no hops, a zero IBU IPA. Not often I mention the smell after opening but this one gives off wafts of ginger, cloves and berry fruits.

Pours amber with a medium white head. A whole heap going on with this, mainly ginger, cloves,  strawberries, thyme and blackberries which ends with a slightly bitter finish. Quite an oily beer in the end and has a very long lasting aftertaste, mainly ginger.

An interesting experiment, though an IPA ? I don't think so. As this is a one-off I left the batteries out of the beerometer.

Alc : 7.5%
Where to buy : Fish & Beer, Amagerbrogade 143

Bryggerigaarden - Kælder Bryg

After a public holiday yesterday it was back to work today, at least it is now a short working week. Big weekend coming up with the Copenhagen Beer Festival....

The last in the series is a keller bier, which once again is a style you don't see a lot of by unless by micro's or imported German.

This beer pours a pale yellow with a big lasting white head. Mildly malty, a bit of caramel and almost a sweet honey like taste then finishing lightly bitter. Nice almost creamy mouthfeel. It climbed to 5.5/10 on my internal beerometer though that might be due to the circumstances that I found it very refreshing with the sun beating down.

 Definitely one I could drink again though if blindfolded I doubt I could tell the difference between this and Braumanufaktur Potsdamer Stange, which is always available from the very good for interesting beers corner shop Kihoskh on Sønder Boulevard.

Alc : 5%
Bought in : Føtex, Vesterbrogade

Bryggerigaarden - Sorte Nat

Still recovering two days after from the trauma of being forced to watch the eurovision song contest, it's time to hopefully cheer myself up with a beer...

The second from this series is a Schwarzbier , a style which I do not seem to find a lot of unless going to dedicated beer shops, perhaps I'm looking in all the wrong places ?

This one pours black with a thick beige head. A lot of roasted malts, brown sugar and a touch of caramel on the intake leaving a bit of sourness in the aftertaste. I thought it was a very nice looking beer in the glass.

This one scored 6/10 on my internal beerometer and I would have no problem drinking another.

Once again, this was better than I expected it would be and a good Danish Schwarzbier, which as mentioned you don't seems to find a lot of. The only other I can think of not by a micro is Willemoes.

Alc : 5%
Bought in : Føtex, Vesterbrogade.

Bryggerigaarden - Mørk Hvede

The first of three from the Bryggerigaarden series. There is no mention on the bottle that it is brewed by Vejle Bryghus just a 'brewed in the eu for united beverages', who ? Other older Bryggerigaarden beers have been brewed at Randers Bryghus.

As is ever the case when shopping after store offers they never seem to have what is advertised, which in this case was a blessing or I would never have spotted the three new beers of this series hidden on the bottom shelf amongst Belgian brews like Leffe And Chimay, why put them there ?

Mørke Hvede which is a dunkelweizen pours a dirty amber with a mostly lasting off-white head. Malty, yeast and a hint of cloves on the intake while leaving hints of banana and caramel in the aftertaste. Very little bitterness at all throughout this one.

All in all, quite a nice refreshing beer on a warm day and a good start for this blog. I would have no problem buying another. 6/10 on my own beerometer.

Alc : 5.1%
Bought in : Føtex, Vesterbrogade.

Lift Off !

There are numerous other excellent Danish based beer blogs to read so why bother ? Well, I woke up one morning and thought 'hey, you like beer so why not try writing about it ?'..so here I am to give an insight on my own thoughts about the beers I buy and my own little takes on life in general. I would never call my musings 'reviews' as all taste is subjective in my view. One mans nectar is another mans urine.

In supermarkets beer aisles have always been mans great escape, a place where one can find solace from the trolley hell which surrounds them. If you see some guy in a trance like state reading the beer labels then it might just be me.


ps. Ignore the crappy look for now.