"So Lervig's having a homebrew competition" that
is what I heard, well before being able to do anything about it I heard it was
over booked. So what to do? Rogaland got a really active home brewer scene so I
guess I had to go and watch the show without being able to bring any brews of
my own. Other breweries have had the same kinds of arrangements, with great
success so it's really cool to see Lervig starting up to, I hope it's gonna be
an annual tradition. Anyway it was the 1st of February 2013...
 |
| Kjetil & Haffy at Lervig |
When I came to the brewery, to my surprise they where serving the new
Lervig batch of Beer Geek Breakfast. And you don't have to ask me twice not to
dig in on such an event; you actually have to ask me twice not to, minimum
twice... Kjetil was late so, I and my good friend Erik (Photographer
for this post) got into the mingling and extensive beer testing of the Beer
Geek Breakfast...
 |
| Haffy & Kjetil at Lervig |
Kjetil got some words on this:
I'm driving home from work. Speedometer says 60 mph in a 35
mph zone. I don't care, got to get moving. Harder. Faster. I can't afford to be
late. I finally get home, but I'm not where I need to be yet. I grab a Konrad's
Stout out of the fridge, break the bottleneck on the kitchen sink and pour it
down, almost giving myself a forehead lobotomy. No time too loose. I call the
cab and get moving. "Where you wanna go sir", the taxi driver asks. I
pull out my 44' Magnum Colt Anaconda and stick it in his face. "Take me to
Lervig Aktiebryggeri and make it snappy punk! I got a date with the new
Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast so put a cork in it and drive dirt face!"
 |
| Atle proud of a new product! This photo by Haffy |
It's not fresh news, but if you haven't heard the word on
the street yet, Lervig Aktiebryggeri, located in Stavanger Norway, is now the
official producer of that bastard of an oatmeal coffee stout known as Beer Geek
Breakfast by Danish gypsy brewer Mikkel Borg Bjergsø aka Mikkeller. Not your
average "whatshisname" Stout you have tasted a hundred different
times, but THE oatmeal coffee stout in the world in my opinion. Rated as the
best stout in the world according to Ratebeer, and still going strong as ever
after all these years. Yet now it has made full circle, as the first brewer who
made it commercially many years ago now brews it again. Mike Murphy used to
make this back when he was brewing in Denmark, and now he's doing it again as
head brewer and master of alchemy at Lervig Aktiebryggeri. With all respect to
Nøgne Ø, who previously made it, and still is one of the best breweries in the
world, period. They have certainly played a huge role in the success story that
this beer is and has proved themselves over and over again to be among the best
there is. But it seems like the time was right and Mikkeller and Mike have
known each other for a long time, and the brew flew over the mountains and
landed here in Stavanger, where it now belongs.
 |
| My friend Vidar happy with the Beer Geek Breakfast! |
The beer has made some remarkable changes, and the first
thing you notice is that it now comes in a 0,33 l. bottle compared to the 0,5
l. that Nøgne Ø is famous for. The label also has a new artistic look and the
design looks pretty frikkin awesome. Given a new design and a new package it
only comes naturally that the beers gets an upgrade too. First notice is how
the coffee flavor is so much more present now that in the previous version.
Though it is almost straight from the storage tank at the brewery and very
likely will mellow out and become smoother with time, I still think this
behemoth kicks you in the teeth just like grandma likes it. The espresso aroma
and flavor is magnificent. Too me it takes an already awesome beer and gives it
the luxury feeling to it. It is smooth, and the mouth feel is silky and creamy.
The coffee is very much present, but does not give you that old/cold coffee
taste that some stout's tend to give you. It's fresh and you kinda expect the beer
to be warm when you smell it. Chocolate, toast, roast and an awesome mouth feel
profile contributes to the sensation of drinking this brew. This beer has
definitely grown. It is better, without saying that the old one was any worse
at all. It is just different, in a very good way. It has a new touch, a new
twist too it. It is the effect of a new brewer with a different brewery using
other ingredients, or just using them in another way. It is perfect, well
almost. It gets pretty close to perfect.
 |
| We prefer Beer for Breakfast! |
I had several that evening and probably too many. It was
from the first batch and all of it is being shipped out of the country. I bet
people in San Diego, Copenhagen, New York and London are going to be zipping
this one from their sniffers way before we get it here on the marked in Norway.
We'll probably have to wait for batch 2 or 3, if we're lucky. This is one of
the best sellers from Mikkeller and I bet the demand is gonna sky rocket when
it hits the marked. Get one, get drunk and die in the snow. It's THAT good.
Thanks Kjetil for making all the readers thirsty and
jealous, but I'll get back to the home brewer days...
More than just that one, there were more surprises, a
tasting of the new Barley Wine, a 13% monster, recently just released from
serving a year on Maker's Marks bourbon barrels. And god damn has the
rehabilitation worked, it's so much smoother than Lervig's 10% Barley Wine
released back in 2011. This time they brewed 1800 liters and they are hoping to
get some into Vinmonopolet. I really recommend this brew and hope you will be
able to get some. All of you who likes to taste something, this dark gem is for
you! Expect bourbon, wood, dark fruit, roasted flavors and general dark
deliciousness.
 |
| These casks were used for deliciousness... |
But possibly the biggest highlight was Mikkeller's George
brewed at Lervig. A 12,12% ABV gourmet dessert. So sweet and roasted, with
vanilla and chocolate flavors, it's candy time and I'm the candy man in candy
land! And now the Maker's Mark barrels that used to hold the Barley Wine is
holding a barrel aged version of George! I'm not sure this beer can better from
it, but I'm excited about finding out. There might even show up more versions
I've heard, head brewer Mike is considering finding space for more barrels. And
with the quality of the two first Mikkeller brews he's made and Mikkel's barrel
age craze I think it's going to be sooner rather than later. And of course it's
the rest of the Beer Geek series too, with the success of the mentioned one and
the smoked malt in the storages shelves that holds witness to my theory that
Beer Geek Bacon is next. Sausage and coffee in one anyone?
 |
| Some of the people! |
The home brew competition that were the reason 60-70 people
gathered at Lervig this day was won by Kim Odland with his home brewery
"Black Cat". Known from the first Norwegian Gypsy brewers ABC
Brewing, the B & C stands for... ...yes you guessed it! (Check out the
interview we just had with ABC brewing here.) Reading this article and the latter
will unleash a little Easter egg of an conspiracy theory in your brain, that I
nether can spell out in words or actually think is true, but it's still funny! Anyways Kim
brewed a American Rye Pale Ale and the judges was impressed with how
technically well the beer was brewed. Kim just won the Norwegian brewer of the
year award at ratebeer.com with his fellow ABC man Gahr Smith-Gahrsen. The
winner of the first price will brew 1.000 liters of the beer at Lervig and
hopefully that will hit some of the craft beer pubs of Norway. The second price
was sponsored by Norway's very best brew store bryggselv.no, so if you wanna
start to brew that's a good place to begin.
 |
| Mike, Magne & the winner Kim Odland. |
Mike Murphy and up 'n' coming brewer Charles Magne Melhus both held speeches, Mike came straight from the airport to attend, that's dedication, jet-lagged and all! A lot of what he was talking about (his story) is what he said in the interview we did with him last year, you should check that out here, and while your at it check out the interview I did with Mikkeller last year if you haven't seen it! (Here) So now that you have enough to catch up with it's time to wrap it up!
 |
| Mike in action! |
 |
| Magne with his hat on... |
Lervig this was a great arrangement and I hope you do it again,
thanks for a great night and cheers!
- Haffy & Kjetil (Lervig supporters)
No comments:
Post a Comment