MankerBeer.com

The preparations for one of the most awesome beer event in Europe, or even the world, started many months ago.
With just a few weeks left, things are really coming together. We think. And hope.  Appearance is everything, some wise person told me many years back. Maybe we cannot see the panic behind the scenes right now?  Who cares anyway, if Copenhagen Beer Celebration is even half as amazing as it was last year – this is gonna be absolutely ace.

We were interested in what actually build up such a great and huge event and we thought you would as well so we opened up a few beers together with the very sympathetic project manager Ivan Kiss-Prinzip Jensen and sat down for a chat.

Ivan is gazing at a beer. We think

MankerBeer (MB): Hi Ivan Kiss-Prinzip Jensen, Project Manager for Copenhagen Beer Celebration 2013. Hope all is well with all the preparations for the coolest beer festival in Europe!
We wanna talk to you a little about all the work being carried out behind the scenes for such a massive event like this. But lets start with who the heck you are, so who ARE you and what did you do before this?
Ivan KPJ (IKPJ): I work part time on CBC and I still have my job a teacher. I teach cooking and gardening on a school for youngsters with needs for special attention and have a long history of working in the restaurant business.
I was part of the start up at Nørrebro Bryghus (Anders Kissmeyer, now at Kissmeyer Beers) back in 2003 and worked there for nearly 4 years. I was a bit older than the rest of the waitors and got to teach the rest of the staff about food and beer pairings. Soon I worked as Beer Ambassador, making things like the “Brewers Table” and doing a lot, a lot of tastings and representation of the brewpub.
Also I was in charge of buying bottled beer for NB and I think it was in this work, I first met up with brewers like Mikkel and Keller from Mikkeller, CSA (Christian Skovdal Andersen, Ølfabrikken), Jakob (Amager Bryghus); people like that. Then I moved out of Copenhagen, but still have had close relations with beer raters, brewers etc.; following up on the beer scene from my rural home. I write a blog on food politics, mainly because there are so much bad food out there and so little knowledge.
Of course, I also write about beer here and now, and I was very critical at the beer scene in Denmark, being so big and yet with such a low quality of the products.
I volunteered when needed for Mikkeller amongst other beerfolks, but just feel most at home with this crew of total devotion towards both quality but also at innovation. I myself can´t repeat anything more that once, without being totally bored; I find Mikkeller to work the same way, always on the move.

MB: You are getting some of the world’s top breweries to Copenhagen which we all think is absolutely amazing, what is the whole idea behind this event and where did it start?
IKPJ: The idea of CBC is to make it possible for the guests not to seek for the good beers at a beer event; at CBC you just reach out to the nearest tap and you will get the best beer in the world. In every booth, in every tapline; only the best. For the breweries, CBC aim to be a yearly gettogether, a possibility to meet up and exchange work with other breweries in that high league, that they all are. It is no big secret that the idea for CBC was partly founded when Mikkeller attended “the other festival” here in Denmark and we got fed up with all the crab commercials, crap music, crab beer; just the whole circus surrounding the event, having nothing to do with beer. We keep everything, but the beer – at a minimum.
We want to put the beer as our first, second and third priority.

MB: Last year, project manager Irina Carlén ran the whole thing and she got just a few months to prepare the whole shabang. When and where did you start the work with CBC? Tell us about the process!
IKPJ: I myself started working on CBC in September 2012, getting as much material from the CBC 2012 gathered and sorted out. CBC was made so fast and so much stuff where improvised, so getting an overview and things talked through, was number one. Then getting things out, that CBC 2013 would actually happen, taking volunteers in, contacting the breweries we had thought about; getting people fired up and exited for this. Making the few, but important changes, while keeping the spirit, has really been one of my main concerns, making CBC 2013. A success as it was, it will be harder and therefor even more fun to make the sequel.We might be better in shape time wise, but this is beer and beer people, there will be many hours on coordinating up until the minut before opening the doors in May.
MB: What will be the major changes in the CBC setup this year compared to 2012?
IKPJ: One major change is that we do it again; that was not the intention. Then there are logistical stuff, there will be water rinsing facilities and better toilets. We will have food vendors selling food, instead of the grand seating from CBC 2012. There will not be a printed program, but an updated list, handed the guests on arrival. We might also be working on an app to be ready for the show… We don´t find that any of the changes are major; if it ain´t broke don´t try to fix it, right?

MB: Let us in on the secrets, there has got to be a few drawbacks in the planning/things going straight to hell – have there been and what where they?
IKPJ: I really, really wanted to have an online program, where we could post everything going on; what beers are on right now, what beers has run out, the surprises, beers not making it after all; all the stuff that a printed program can´t do. That didn’t happen, and I really regret it, but the venue did not have efficient wifi and was not able to meet the demands needed.
Another thing is letting breweries go after announcing them in the first place, either by their own choice or because they didn´t meet our requests for number of beers, the request of having the brewers them self attending; things that we find only help in profiling both the breweries, importers/distributors, retailers and CBC.
I find that these deditcated brewers, also tend to take their business very personal and they can take requests or demands pretty damn close in. It´s business, never personal, to me, some people really need to learn that difference.

MB: What requirements does CBC have on breweries that want to attend in order to pass as suitable for CBC?
IKPJ: I don´t think that is a big secret that CBC is Mikkels idea and that it is people that he has worked with or know personally, who are attending CBC. A man of his talents know a lot of people, so we invite, we don´t wait for breweries to apply. That said, we also want CBC to be a place for the guests to find new stuff, the odd beers, the up and coming. That part is more tricky to work out and we can always improve in this area.
MB: When the breweries have passed your approval to attend, what are your requirements at the actual festival?
IKPJ: They most bring their most outrages beers, we take experiments and one offs, before the brews made for a broader audience. We ask for as many new releases as possible and we need them bring at least 9 different beers in total for CBC 2013. Another key point is to have people who are actually involved in the brewing, the innovation, the reason the brewery is at this level of brewing. We don´t want the usual kind, but not-knowing guys, girls in short dresses just pouring beer at CBC; we want dedication.

MB: Everyone having the good taste to get their hands on a pink session bracelet (All sessions included) are quite excited to know what will happen in the paus on saturday, any chance you could give us a teaser?
IKPJ: It will be loud. And there will be beer.

MB: We have gotten the question numerous times so lets ask the man n charge: will there be WiFi available in the Spartahallen
IKPJ: There will be wifi, as we had it in 2012, with the problems that made, it´s not top of the line. But, a lot of people have better phones, better connection than a year ago, I´m told.

MB: We love everyone coming to CBC, but you gotta have some favorites amongst the breweries, can you tell us about that?
IKPJ: My favorites are the ones I don´t know; and there a few breweries that I haven´t tasted any beers from; Mountain Goat, Baird, even Surley. I really like when the brewers experiment, so the ones with mot fucked up ideas; I´m your man.
I did hunt Kuhnenns Raspberry Eisbock for a few years, so having them in, will be interesting. And Lervig. I have a feeling with Lervig, it is just my intuition, not something I’m hiding

Happy Ivan At Mikkeller Bar Stefansgade

MB: What is the absolute dream guest brewery at CBC?
IKPJ: My personal? That aren’t coming this year? That would be Hill Farmstead. And yes I liked their beers and attitude before everyone else did, ´cause I´m so cutting edge I split my tongue some times 😉

MB: Can you name 3 breweries and 3 beers that you absolutely CANNOT miss at CBC?
IKPJ:I can´t, but off my head, where I am right now; it would be Siren, Stillwater and Firestone Walker. I´ll take 3 of any of their beers right now.

MB: With a festival pouring almost 1300 litres of some of the best beers in the world, there’s gotta be an after party like nowhere else seen in Scandinavia, where you reckon the after parties will be held on Saturday?
IKPJ: I will close CBC, send people of to “Mikkeller and Friends” or “Mikkeller Bar”, urging them to have a blast there. (Or, I know few underground places with pierced girls, if you´re interested) Then I will turn around and look at 30+ of the best brewers in the world and shout, “Let´s get shit faced”.

MB: CBC starts at the 2nd of May, but your work will probably not end until a week afterwards. How do you ‘close’ such a project? Kicking back with your favorite beer?
IKPJ: I will go on a small vacation to Lübeck in Germany with my family, celebrating my 40th birthday. At one point down there, sitting with some mediocregerman brew, watching my kids fighting over the toys and my wife smiling at me; at that point I will know if we did it allright at CBC 2013. I both fear and look forward to that moment.

MB: Ivan, thanks for the beer, thanks for your time – don’t sit there and enjoy it too much, get Copenhagen Beer Celebration going!

Många är de som spekulerat i allehanda rykten som omedelbart startade efter att det blev känt att Mattias Hammenlind, bryggmästare och en av de drivande krafterna på Sigtuna Brygghus sedan flera år tillbaka, valde att lämna brygghuset.

De två mest populära ryktena var troligen de att Hammenlind skulle börja på Nya Carnegiebryggeriet som just nu byggs i Hammarby Sjöstad i Stockholm samt att han skulle arbeta med det gamla bryggverket Sigtuna Brygghus sålde till Darren Packman som sedermera blev Beer Studio, också ett bryggeri under uppbyggnad. Det senare ryktet dementerades dock ganska snabbt av Mr Packman.

Man vad är det då som Mattias ska hitta på?

Ryktena, från en för oss väldigt säker källa säger att Mattias ska dra igång ett eget bryggeri, där man redan nu håller på att få ihop sin första öl. I  dagsläget är det inte klaart var vare sig ölet eller bryggeriet ska heta, inte heller var bryggeriet faktiskt ska ligga/ligger. Det enda vi med säkerhet kan säga är att ölet blir klart till En Öl & Whiskymässa i Göteborg som går av stapeln om några veckor.

Mattias Hammenlind kollar på en bira

Mattias Hammenlind startade efter avklarad bryggteknisk utbildning i Ludvika på Sigtuna brygghus 2009 och har på många vis drivit den svenska ölkulturen ett par rejäla steg framåt dels med bredden på sortimentet på öltyper bryggda under hans dirigentpinne. Bland annat har han bryggt sina värstingar i serien Ace Of Spades, mottagit stipendie från Sveriges Bryggerier, konstaterat att öl jäser bäst till AC/DC och nyligen släpptes också den första svenska craft beer på burk av Sigtuna.

Lycka till Mattias Hammenlind säger vi på MankerBeer och ser med späning fram emot ditt nya projekt!

Goda nyheter för den BrewDogfrälste, eftersom priset på en av deras storsäljare på Systembolaget från och med 2 april sjunker, från 36,00 kr till 29,90 kr. En procentuellt ganska rejäl prissänkning, men framförallt ett bevis på vad som händer i ölsverige idag – efterfrågan på craft beer är fullkomligt enorm och leverantörerna anpassar sig efter marknaden i takt med allt högre konkurrens. We like. 

Hardcore IPA har funnits tillgänglig i Sverige i drygt 2,5 år och kammade hem en guldmedalj i World Beer Cup i kategorin Imperial India Pale Ale 2010.

Brooklyn Brewery är alltid aktuella men än mer aktuellt blev bryggeriet tack vare deras rejäla satsning i Stockholm där en form av öl&mat-komplex just nu håller på att byggas tillsammans med Carnegie och Carlsberg Sverige i form av Nya Carnegiebryggeriet Många i ölsverige blev naturligtvis helt till sig i trasorna av denna storslagna nyhet och så även vi, detta är ett ställe som vi kommer att hänga mycket på när det öppnat, vilket planeras till senare delen under 2013.

Det har rapporterats en hel del kring detta så vi ska inte kika så mycket på det idag utan helt enkelt åter ta en pratstund med Brooklyn Brewery’s head brewer, Garrett Oliver.

MB: Hey Garret! Nice to chat with you again, we had a blast when we met in Stockholm over food, great beers, stories about you trying to steal trains after GABF and the great Cheese Wars afternoon at Restaurangakademin!

We have seen you around in Sweden a few times now, which we think is awesome, it is quite unique for a head brewer at an American craft brewery to come here outside of Stockholm Beer & Whisky Festival – but what are the reasons that you visit us so often?

GO: Magnus, what happens at GABF stays at GABF! Anyhow, that was a long time ago, and I was only going to borrow the train. Yes, I’ve already been to Sweden so many times that the antique glassware dealers in Gamla Stad all know me! And you’ll see a lot more of me soon, that’s for sure. We started in Scandinavia with House of Beer in Denmark after I won the Semper Ardens Pris for Beer Culture in 2004. House of Beer eventually went off the rails in Denmark, but Sweden has become a second home for us. Stockholm has a lot in common with Brooklyn, and you speak better English than we do.

MB: When will we get the chance to see you again in Sweden?

GO: I will be in Stockholm and Göteborg in April, and I’m looking forward to it. I haven’t visited Göteborg, which is hear is a very cool place.

MB: Gothenburg is quite nice, loads of herring and extremely poor puns everywhere.
The beer world in Sweden recently got a lot larger (or smaller?) when the news about the collaboration with Carlsberg/Carnegie and Brooklyn Brewery hit us early January and it became a huge news story both in Swedish and in US media. We already know that Sweden is Brooklyn Brewery’s second largest market after Manhattan, NY, but what else actually triggered these plans and how did it start?

GO: Reviving the Carnegie brand and starting a small brewery has been a dream for Carlsberg’s Joakim Losin for years. He is good friends with our owner/General Manager Eric Ottaway, and they started discussing it seriously over beers more than a year ago. Slowly the whole thing came together, and here we are. Everyone here is really excited about New Carnegie.

MB: Can you let us in a little on the journey from the idea to the press release of this collaboration? How did the process look?

GO: Ha! That would be a very long answer. But Joakim Losin has been the driver of this project from the start. Once he found the site, real planning started with Eric Ottaway. Of course I was mostly concerned with the brewing side, but we’ve been discussing every aspect of the operation there. I want to make sure that we can do some really fun things at New Carnegie, so I’m looking to make sure that our equipment and space are very flexible.

MB: You will have an experimental kitchen at the new brewery in Stockholm, and you are one of the worlds most renowned beer/food pairing evangelists. What is the most common mistake people do when they pair craft beer and food, and what makes a truly great pairing?

GO: Certainly there will be some elements of the “experimental” in the kitchen, but we also just want people to be able to come to New Carnegie, hang out, and enjoy some great food and beer. As for pairing “mistakes”, I do think that beer is usually more forgiving than wine, and it’s easier to find truly great pairings with food. Beer always provides some contrasting elements to food flavors – malt sweetness, bitterness and carbonation are the main elements that contrast. We can stick with contrast, of course, and that can be very pleasant. But the best pairings also contain elements of harmony – parts of the beer’s flavor that echo flavors in the food. And because beer is far more varied in flavor than wine, those harmonies are easier to find.

MB: Other craft brewers we have met and spoken to are usually quite impressed over the interest and knowledge of the Swedish craft beer consumer, what’s your thoughts on this?

GO: Well, the Swedish beer consumer has had access to great beer for a long time now, and it’s getting better fast. The Stockholm Beer and Whisky Festival, Akkurat, Oliver Twist – these are institutions that anywhere in the world would be lucky and proud to have. So I’m not surprised that Swedish beer drinkers know their stuff. And having perfect English doesn’t hurt – Swedes have access to a lot of English-language beer writing online. I’m starting to be able to read a lot of Swedish, but I can’t pronounce anything!

MB: There’s a debate, or what you wanna call it, in the US right now in regards to ‘craft beer’ and ‘crafty beer’, where ‘crafty beers’ are basically a copy on craft beer by the huge brewery giants (AB-InBev, Budweiser, Millers) and trying to replicate the craft beers available – what do you think of this and how are the US craft beer industry react to this? [a topic we discussed with Garrett in 2011]

GO: This argument is highly emotional for craft brewers, but it may be producing more heat than light. The basics are simple: there are international brewing conglomerates in our markets who are masquerading as us. They hide their true identities because they know that people like craft brewers and they don’t feel the same about, say, AB-InBev. We find this offensive, but the big brewers say “it’s all about the beer, so let the consumer decide.” I think that the marketing is plainly deceptive, and that bothers me. I am not bothered, however, by the fact that big brewers want to make craft-style beer. In fact, you could argue that they have a responsibility to their shareholders to make craft-style beer, because there will not be any growth in industrial beer. Craft beer is winning, and when you’re winning, people are going to copy you. But that’s not the same as pretending that you’re somebody else.

MB: Brooklyn Brewery suffered from a great loss in 2012, the brewery cat Monster passed away to cat heaven and is probably sipping Brooklyn Brewery Monster Barleywine there instead, any plans for a cool Monster Tribute version or similar tribute?

GO: Yes, we miss Monster greatly, but he had the best life of any cat on the planet, so we try not to be sad about it. He had a great run! I have a few ideas about a tribute, but I will keep them under my hat for now.

MB: What’s your predictions for the beer year 2013? What will be the trends locally and globally?

GO: I get to travel a lot, and what I see is craft beer ascendant all over the world. What people should understand is that the rise of craft beer is not a trend or a fad – it’s a return to normality. The weird period was the middle of the last century, when the United States had only one kind of beer, and Sweden was hardly doing better. Now things are simply returning to normal, and there’s a long way to go still. I think you’ll see continuing interest in IPAs, but also a lot of interest in very flavorful session beers, sours, barrel-aged beers, and beers made with wild yeasts. Of course, all of these are things from brewing’s past. Brewing is like writing music. You have a lot of inspirations, and most of creativity is in dynamic recombination of elements to create something exciting. I’m looking forward to finding new inspirations in Sweden!

MB: Thank you so much for your time, Sweden looks forward to see you again in April!

GO: My pleasure! See you soon!

Garrett kommer till Sverige (Stockholm och Göteborg) i slutet av april, vecka 17. På agendan för Stockholmarna står ännu en härlig tap-take over på Akkurat, ölprovning och middag på Urban Deli samt American Table på Clarion Hotel Sign och i Göteborg blir det, om allt går som det ska, ett Brooklyn Brewery event på Clarion Hotel Post.

Hon är mytomspunnen, vacker, sensuell, sexig, oanständig och ständigt aktuell. Dessutom kommer hon 9860 gånger samma dag. Angelina Jolie? Malin Åkerman? Megan Fox? Pfft. Hmpf. Humbug.

Hello, My name is Ingrid

Jag pratar självklart om vår älskade Hello, My Name is Ingrid från BrewDog. Hon släpps i 9860 flaskor på Systembolaget den 2 maj 2013, 34,90 kronor styck, vilket borde räcka till ett par flaskor även för den som inte tänker slå upp ett tält utanför Systembolagets butiker när resten av stan demonstrerar mot någon ny arbetsreform, är Valborgsbakfulla eller vad folk nu gör den Första Maj. Manker har nyss varit i London och smakat på hennes frukter och kan garantera att hon är elegantare än någonsin, så det blir minst en låda även detta släpp.

Ingrid och alla andra nyheter som släpps den 2 maj hittar ni såklart här.

Sitter du och har lite ångest inför vad du ska ta dig an att svänga ihop något riktigt tokimponerande till vem du nu vill imponera på, på Alla Hjärtans Dag?
Gör du som jag och tar i från tårna och börjar förbereda flera dagar innan med din 3rätters och såklart ett par amouse bouche, provlagar och smaksätter, provlagar  igen, misslyckas med ankconfiten eller hummer bisquen och får inte tiden eller spisplattor att räcka till?

Släpp all det. Play it cool. Stek kött.

Till 2 portioner:

• 2 st riktigt fantastisk fullkomligt fenomenala bitar kött på ca 200-250 gr styck. Snåla inte, fråga din lokala slaktare eller saluhall om rekommendationer om allt från styckningsdetalj till tjocklek och ursprung.
• Flingsalt
• Svartpeppar från kvarn
• En klick riktigt smör
• En skvätt olivolja

Se till att köttet är rumstempererat, det är absolut essentiellt, annars kyler du ner stekpannan och köttet kokar istället, ingen god idé om man spenderat 400 spänn på två köttbitar.
Sätt spisen på nästan maxläge och klicka i smör och olivolja. Klappa in salt och ett par rejäla vrid med svartpepparkvarnen på båda sidor innan stekning.
När smöret slutat fräsa så ska köttet läggas i, använd med fördel en stålpincett. Låt steka i 2-3 min på varje sida. Rör inte runt köttet under stekningen. När du steker andra sidan kan du känna lätt med fingret på köttet, använd muskeln under din tumme som referens.
Låt köttet vila i 4-5 minuter på skärbrädan, innan du lägger upp det på en tallrik tillsammans med en enkel sallad på machesallad, finhackad schalottenlök, plommontomater och balsamvinäger.
Servera med en enkel APA och låt köttet stå för smakexplosionen. Den fantasifulle väljer såklart Mikkeller/Brill K:rlek för att förhöja kvällen ytterligare
Nu är du hemma.