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Bättre sent än aldrig sägs det. Mitt i allting som rör Copenhagen Beer Celebration så ska det släppas öl på Systembolaget här hemma i Sverige. På grund utav allt som sker blir den här månadens genomgång något hattigare och mer begränsad, time is running out som Muse sjöng. Det mest markanta för släppet är nog att “Ingrid” åter har flyttats, denna gång på grund utav meck med leveranserna – så hon kommer i juni. En månad dit man även flyttade No-Li ölen, för att sedan få in Epic-ölen nu i maj. Ja, ett himla flyttande. Jag gör så att jag går igenom T5-ölen med korta notiser om vad jag tyckte om den, T6 och T7-ölen går vi igenom lite mer sammanfattande och sedan så kör vi på det för den här gången, tyvärr. Jag ber också om ursäkt för eventuella småfel, är jobb och jobb 24/7 just nu så ögonen går i kors.

Istället har jag satt ut min lilla Manker-rekommenderar sign (®)efter de öl jag tycker att ni borde köpa. De ölen är prisvärda, smakrika och/eller har något som sticker ut, med andra ord är prisvärdhet nu också en faktor jag trots allt väger in ju mer och bättre öl Systembolaget trots allt får in. Man har inte råd att köpa lika mycket, dyr och bra öl längre – på gott och ont.

T5

2013 Bière Nouvelle ®
Fräscha ljusade kakor av mosade mandlar med skön sötma, blött halm och en touch av gröna äpplen. Snäppet torrare och lätt, lätt syra på slutet. Finner också en antydan av fruktighet. Bra kropp, alltid lika lättdrucken och väldigt somrig. Rekommenderas. (Bättre-).

Valeir Blond
Tycker nästan att den får inslag av syrlig trasa med karaktär av äpplen, mjöliga nötter och en lätt estrighet. Bra på alla sätt och vis, men kanske lite kort i smaken. (Bra(+)).

Tjockhult Tjinook ®
Snäll och mild som en lager, men med en humling och smak som en lättare american pale ale. Ren humlearom och smak med blommighet, lite citrus en släng av grape och nyskördade humlekottar. Grym sommaröl till bra pris! (Bättre).

Oppigårds Brewers Brown ®
Maltiga kakor med lite torr bitter chokladkaka för att svänga till det. Stor drinkabilitet, bra pris och en öl som saknats på den svenska marknaden. Känns lagom brittisk, vad det nu egentligen säger eller innebär. En styrka är att den inte falnar i smaken och jag lär ha den här som återkommande öl till mat. (Bättre).

Grebbestad 2013 Lunator
Aningen rökigt inslag, sötad karamell och jästa äpplen, päron och bär. Lite som de sultanrussin och inslag av pappkartong överlagrade belgare kan få. Släng skum baltisk choklad. (Bra).

The sinner Series Lust
Choklad och mjuk mocha med sötade inslagen av choklad i morgonkaffet. Härlig belgosötma med mörkt socker, dadlar och mormors hemkoka kolasås. (Bättre).

Mikkeller Vår/Sommar ®
Melon och grape med mer tropik bakom. Lagom beska för att ge den högre drickbarhet. Inte lika torr som förra vårens utan lite mer fruktighet. (Bättre-).

The sinner Series Envy
Rätt ”rakt-på-sak” humle som kanske ska få stillas lite för att balanseras in mer med övriga smakerna. Lätt citrus, grape och allt det där man förväntar sig i den här typen av öl. Ljus maltbas som mest finns där, på gott och ont. Lagom beska och fräsch blommighet. Nästan mer american pale ale än west coast IPA. (Bra+/bättre-).

Great Divide Old Ruffian ®
Alltid lika fin doft av humlekottar med lite hetta, ren kotte, kladdig kotte. Bär och skön malt som ger den typen av barley wine som jag älskar och har som referenspunkt för amerikanska barley wines. Kladdig och rivig men ändå med rätt balans. (Bättre(+)).

Jämtlands Baltic Stout
Nästan som uppfriskande godisar och energidryck med förhållandevis snäll maltkropp. Kolakakor och och äpple men lika väl kaffe och cigg. Kunde fått ha ännu lite mörkare malt som hade gett mer tryck till smaken, lär vara väldigt god till mat som substitut för en brown ale. (Bra).

The sinner Series Pride ®
Mörkt men fint. Välbyggt mörkt lego med mörkt kaffe som inte får mycket bitterhet i sig trots inslag av tjära och lite eldat. Viss fruktsötma och upplivande fruktighet ger lite variation och komplexitet. Rekommenderas. (Bättre(+)).

Bland T6 och T7 ölen finner vi rätt blandade öl. Mikkerller Spontan Cherry Fredriksdal är ett utsökt “frukt/bärvin” med rejäl körsbärssaft, viss syra och en kärnsträv bitterhet, väldigt rödvinsfruktigt och gott. Lite mer speciell är i så fall Nøgne Ø Tindved som med en annorlubnda syrlighet som drar åt urinoar först ger avsmak, innan havtornen kommer fram tydligare. Torr och lite syrlig ena stunden och mer sötsyrlig (tänk fizziga godisar) den andra. Båda rekommenderas om ni gillar lite spännande och annorlunda. To Øl Sans Frontière White Wine ed. provade jag i Köpenhamn tidigare i år och här ger inslagen av vitt vin en perfekt ram för de belgiska inslagen som fått lite mer humlesting, men framförallt så är brettanomyces och vitt vin en lyckad kombo. Lite dyr, men väldigt god – så har du lite pengar över så prova en.

I T7-modulen har vi en trio öl från amerikanska Epic, inte bryggeriet med samma namn från Australien. Hopulent är en dubbel IPA med en robust maltighet, grape och toner av mörk melon och udda tropiska frukter (Bra+) medan Smoked & Oaked är en udda belgisk strong ale som dels legat med körsbärsträ och sedan fått mysa till sig på whiskeyfat. Rökt fläsk, höstbrasor och söt rök – annorlunda och en sån där öl man antingen gillar eller tycker är lite för galen (Bra-). I så fall är den tredje ölen, Imperial Red (®)mer i min smak. Brännande humlekottar och rejäl torrhumling med toner av humlekåda och vörtkok. Det här drar åt kraftig amerikansk strong ale som har humlebettet av en mysig barley wine – men där maltkroppen är litem mildare. Rekommenderas! (Bättre(-)).

Då det inte är varje dag vi får bra saisons på bolaget så vill jag slå ett slag för De Rankes Saison de Dottignies, en frisk öl med bra örtighet, lite hampa och inslag av en syrlighet som för tanken åt brettanomyces eller gueuze. Lite lime, lite sweetygrape, stramat åt sådär lagom. Frisk våröl! (Bra+). Något jag trots priserna som är lite over the top vill lyfta fram är CAP, Mattias Hammenlinds nya projekt efter det att han slutade hos Sigtuna. DIPA’n är god, det är den med tropisk frukt och grape – men den är kanske inte värd 199 kronor, tyvärr. Dock är den värd att prova om ni är en 2-3 stycken som delar på en flaska. Däremot så är hans imperial stout grym, så jag hoppas att vi får se även den på Systembolaget framöver. Boulevard Grainstorm bör ni prova om ni gillar mörk IPA med lite extra i; här är det rågmalt som i sig ger än mer krydda till ölet – jag provade ölet i Göteborg på ölmässan där och även om det inte var en fempoängare så är det av lika bra kvalitet som alla andra öl från Boulevard.

T5 11052 Old Ruffian Barley Wine 2012 USA 650 79,90 3228
T5 11080 Brewdog Hello, My Name Is Ingrid Storbritannien 330 34,90 6816 (flyttas till juni)
T5 11087 Amager The Sinner Series Envy Danmark 500 44,90 10080
T5 11093 Amager The Sinner Series Pride Danmark 500 58,60 6000
T5 11094 Amager The Sinner Series Lust Danmark 500 58,40 4200
T5 11095 Jämtlands Baltic Stout Imperial 2013 Sverige 500 28,20 8000
T5 11096 Nynäshamns Tjockhult Tjinook Sverige 500 33,30 13500
T5 11606 Mikkeller K:rlek Vår/Sommar Internationellt märke 330 29,90 45000
T5 11687 Grebbestad Lunator 2013 Sverige 330 25,90 15000
T5 11690 St. Sylvestre Bière Nouvelle 2013 Frankrike 750 72,90 3780
T5 11729 Contreras Valeir Blond Belgien 330 26,00 6000
T5 11740 Oppigårds Brewers Brown Sverige 330 19,70 25000

T6 11869 To Øl Sans Frontière White Wine ed. Danmark 375 119,00 1080
T6 11870 Nøgne Ø Tindved Norge 250 69,00 1260
T6 11871 Mikkeller SpontanCherry Frederiksdal Danmark 375 129,00 1800

T6 11061 No-Li Born & Raised IPA USA 650 69,90 (flyttad till juni)
T7 11051 Holgate Emptress Australien 500 158,60 480
T7 11060 No-Li Crystal Bitter USA 650 69,90 (flyttad till juni)
T7 11062 Epic Smoked & Oaked USA 650 115,90 1068
T7 11063 Epic Imperial Red USA 650 73,40 1068
T7 11064 Epic Hopulent IPA USA 650 75,00 1068
T7 11613 CAP I’m Curious Double IPA Sverige 750 199,00 240
T7 11854 Saison de Dottignies Belgien 750 66,00 1500
T7 11857 Boulevard Grainstorm Black Rye IPA USA 750 149,00 588

Vad betyder T-indelningarna

B = Beställningssortiment
BAS = Alla butiker
T1 = Tilläggsmodul (butiken hyllför BAS samt T1)
T2 = Tilläggsmodul (butiken hyllför BAS, T1 samt T2)
T3 = Tilläggsmodul (butiken hyllför BAS, T1, T2 samt T3)
T5 = 30-tal butiker (egentligen 40 butiker inklusive vinkällarbutikerna)
T6 = Mer eller mindre samma som T7, men med mer information på Systembolagets hemsida
T7 = Vinkällarbutiker (Göteborg, Malmö och Stockholm)
T9 = Valfritt för butik att hyllföra. Kan av kund beställas styckvis i samtliga butiker

Jag tänker hålla mig kort idag – se det här klippet, starta från runt 9.20 in och se frammåt. Det är från TV3 programmet “Kniven mot strupen” och ger ett rätt bra exempel på hur “vinpersoner” egentligen är. Vinpersoner kanske ni säger frågande nu, är inte det att generalisera? Jo visst fan är det så, men å andra sidan får man ju både en dumstämpel och snea blickar bara man ber om en annan öl än en ljus lager till maten om man gillar öl. Den här samligen översittare visar ju bara återigen hur öppet och trevligt ölsamhället kan vara och visst lär det finnas de som frågar om en IPA med fruktigare toner – men inte fan sitter någon och ber om en IPA med Simcoe från en viss gård eller en ale där malten ska vara av ett visst slag – eller för den delen blir till sig då någon vågar rekommendera vad hon själv anser är gott till en viss rätt. Säg istället att det kanske inte var ditt val, men att du i så fall väljer något annat.

Nu skulle de visserligen provocera något, men attan så dryga de verkar och förstår de inte själva att de inte direkt bidrar till en positiv dryckeskultur är alla får tycka vad de själva vill? Om folk kritiserade Den Stora Ölresan och klippet där man tog personal från Ölrepubliken och The Rover för att låta dem framställas som snobbiga så var det gär tio gånger värre. Fy och skam på dem!

Photo: flickr.com/photos/chrys/

Tomorrow we head for Copenhagen to stroll around until Friday and the start of Copenhagen Beer Celebration. Before we properly can start celebrating we have to complete our interview series, so here is one of the two last interviews – this time with Edward Westbrook, the young and ambitious home brewer how decided he wanted to start his own brewery and who then made sure it was built from scratch. Last year they celebrated their 1 year anniversary and this second year in the business have started off well. For being such a young brewery it’s amazing to be able to find beers such as their White Thai (love it with food) and IPA all the way across the water pool and over here in Sweden. So, fellows, time to get your CBC groove on, meanwhile – here is Edward!

MankerBeer (MB): Being relatively young and with little experience of commercial brewing you decided to build and open your own brewery, Westbrook Brewing Company – tell us about yourself and how you ended up building your own brewery.
Edward Westbrook (EW): I started homebrewing in college back in 2006, continued all through graduate school. After that I decided that I wanted to open my own commercial brewery, so I somehow (still not really sure how!) convinced my family that I wouldn’t lose all their money if they invested in me. That was in 2009, then we started planning the construction and everything and finally opened in late 2010.

MB: You attended last year’s Copenhagen Beer Celebration and quickly became one of the breweries on everyone’s lips with a mixture of rather uncommon classic beer styles and high class hoppy beers as well as one of my favorites Mexican Cake. What is the process when coming up with the idea of a new beer; is it driven by your own preferences at the time or any personal brewing philosophy?
EW: Mostly it’s what we want to drink! Our favorite beers are really fresh hoppy pale ales, sours, saisons, and of course weird barrel-aged stuff, so that’s pretty much what we brew! Some beers like the White Thai and Mexican Cake are based on flavor combinations found in our favorite foods.

MB: The brewery opened just a few years ago – how has the experience been so far and what are the goals for the future?
EW: It’s been awesome! Our goals are to expand a little bit (but not get too big) and keep brewing really cool stuff.

MB: Back in November I read that ‘Westbrook’ were to be distributed in Georgia and in Denmark we can find the IPA and White Thai (both available in Sweden) as well as some of the rotating beers such as Vanilla Tree Dubbel and Dark Helmet. In relation to the brewing capacity, how much is exported and what room is there for new markets?
EW: Last year I think about only 3% of our production was exported. Last summer we doubled our cellar capacity which really gave us a lot of room, and right now we are distributed in SC, Alabama, Georgia, and NYC, in addition to Europe

MB: CBC is not only for the beer drinkers but also a meeting platform for the brewers – what were the peaks of being here last year?
EW: Meeting and talking with the other brewers, and of course getting to experience the Danish craft beer culture! It was surprising to me how many of the beer fans at the festival already knew about us.

MB: You have already made collaborations with Danish/American Evil Twin, Brian Stillwater and Charleston Beer Exchange but if you could choose any collaborator and beer to brew – what would they be?
EW: Tough one, I don’t really seek out breweries/people to collaborate with purposely, but if somebody has a good idea and they want to do something I’m all for it!

MB: South Carolina is neither that big, nor populated with tons of breweries – what is the beer scene like in South Carolina?
EW: It’s growing really fast, but still a long way to go! Until 2007 there were only around 3 breweries in the whole state, now we have somewhere around 12, with 4 or 5 also planning to open soon. Unfortunately the laws in SC are really bad for breweries, for example we can’t even serve pints to our customers that come here – it has to be in tiny little 4 oz glasses!

MB: What advice would you offer everyone who are dreaming of opening up their own brewery?
EW: Make sure you have a lot of money to spend and that your beer is really really good. If it can’t stand up against the best beers already out there, you’re going to have trouble!

MB: What should beer fans at Copenhagen Beer Celebration really not miss?
EW: Besides the beers, they should definitely try and talk to the brewers as much as possible. A lot of us are traveling a long way to be there and we want to hear from the fans!

Thank you Edward, now lets check out what he is bringing to Copenhagen!

Westbrook CBC Beer List:

• 2nd Anniversary Cap’n Skoon’s Ballistic Stout
• Brandy Old Time
• Grumpy Old Time
• Funky Old Time
• Bearded Farmer: Thomas
• Comrade Appleseed Apple Brandy BA Imperia l Stout
• Shane’s Big DIPA
• Bourbon BA Quad
• Mexican Cake 1st Anniversary Imperial Stout

I remember how I felt last year, what the hell – half a year is way too much time to be spending on not drinking awesome beer. It was not that I had made a vow not drink craft beer for 6 months, it was just that I had bought tickets for Copenhagen Beer Celebration and suddenly came to awareness that it was months and months until it would take place. Some readers might question my enthusiasm for CBC, but for Swedes and probably other Europeans as well this is a chance to experience something we usually only read about. We do not get the brewers from the coolest craft breweries in the world to come and pour beers that we only have read about. So for me, this week will be one awesome week of relaxing and socializing with great beer lovers from all over the world.

We have 3-4 interviews left for you and I must say that it has been a lot of work getting them all done, edited and published but it has been a lot of fun as well. The last non-US brewery that we will focus on is Danish To Øl. Since 2010, Mikkel‘s former students Tobias Emil Jensen and Tore Gynther have travelled wide and far on their quest to brew great beers. To Øl started of easily with only a few beers but now only 3 years later they have gone from brewing light hoppy ales to all kinds of weird, hoppy, dark, abstract, minimalistic and blue. We tend to bump into these two polite lunatics every now and then so we felt that we had to check what was happening in preparation for CBC and with the brewery at large.

MankerBeer (MB): In 2010 To Øl came from nowhere and but managed to produce 5.300 liters of beer, in 2012 the production had grown to 124,300 liters. How have it been so far? Has it been an easy adaptation to go from home brewers to become one of the most known Danish breweries?
TEJ: It’s a really good question. From the beginning we were homebrewers and you might sat that we still are. Because our friends liked our concoctions, we decided to go public back in 2010. Today, friends like our concoctions and therefore we decide to expand. Do you get me? The picture is the same, only the scale has increased. So far, it’s been a ever increasing demand and passion for the beer, for which we are really grateful. Any day, if people won’t buy our stuff anymore, me and Tore will camp in a summerhouse with some friends and empty our stock. It’s as simple as that! But we hope that people will continue searching for our beers.

MB: How did you and Tore meet and decide it was time to start home brewing together, did either of you home brew before that?
TEJ: In the beginning we were just gymnasium friends who was hanging out at school. Brewing sounded interesting when Mikkel and some other students started the small brewing comitte in 2005. Me and Tore became friends when we were 16 years old. Back then, craft beer might not have been our highest priority 🙂 But the brewing science we learned later in gymnasium was attractive and fun. So we have always brewed together… When we left school and Mikkel had turned into Mikkeller, it was just obvious to continue by our own house.

MB: Along with the growth of production the To Øl range of beers have grown, when you started what were the long term plans? To start small and see where it leads you or were your aims set high already at the start?
TEJ: Me and Tore have been ambitious about this. But that’s one thing…. Putting numbers and sales forecasts on that is the tricky part. So far, we have only been doing plans one year ahead. With the present growth, it doesn’t make sense to plan any further. But I guess our ideas on To Øl is pretty high esteemed, that’s for sure :).

MB: Together with Mikkel of Mikkeller you co-own the new Mikkeller & Friends Bar, when was the decision made to be partners in the bar?
TEJ: About the same time when we were considering to invite Mikkel into our company and expand our plc. It was pretty simple. like: Hey, now that we would work together we could do even more things together! We had been searching for some while for a good place and the joint at stefansgade just popped up in the same period we were discussing things.

MB: The opening party was great (thank you) and it seems like the bar has started off just like expected, how will the bar differ from other beer bars?
TEJ: Yeah, that was a blast. If you invite swedish people, you always know it’s gonna be fun! I don’t know exactly how this bar should be different, I just know that’s it our bar. It’s really not about creating the bar yourself, it’s about the gathering the best forces. If you take Denmarks coolest interior designers, make them build a bar, install 40 taps and provide these taps with the best beer available. That’s one thing. Then you headhunt the bar manager from Sweden and together with him pick the most passionate, beer loving, serviceminded staff you can find.

MB: With all the new To Øl beers, which one/-s are you most proud of?
TEJ: That’s a really tough and good question. You might aswell ask Tore about this because we do have different. My opinion changes all the time, but right now, in this moment, it would be Dangerously Close to Stupid (IIPA). I think it’s a delicate hop bomb….

MB: Several Danish “gypsy brewers” have focused more on the US and tried to set up brewing there, any plans to follow?
TEJ: We are an open minded brewery, brewing beers for an international beer scene. So yeah, I mean why not? But the settings need to be just right and we need to trust the people we are working together with.

MB: Earlier this year, you and Tore were over to visit Against the Grain with the result being poured at CBC, any new collaborations on its way? If not it’s the perfect season for a To Øl/MankerBeer collaboration 😉
TEJ: Hehe, you’re damm right Manker. Travelling is always fun, so we always look for something nice. We are going in late may to England, to brew together with two of the ratebeer top 100 breweries. And I think that your devotion to beer in Sweden might cast off a little brew in the future…

MB: How do you and Tore set your own individual flavor on To Øl? Do you ever disagree on things and what it is you want to do?
TEJ: Me and tore have a very good friendship. So for the development of new beers, it’s kind a like a laidback discussion about whats good and whats bad. And we both have these spontaneous ideas shooting up at one point or another and they should also be followed. Even if we did disagree on one beer, it’s not that hard, because we can just decide to brew two different beers instead. Numbers is not limiting us.

MB: After the Friday and late Saturday CBC sessions – where should one enjoy the best grub?
TEJ: A lot of small places are shooting up in the area around jægersborggade and stefansgade. I live there myself, and i really like the area. It’s low key for sure, but it’s comfy.

MB: You were at last year’s CBC, what were your favorite moments?
TEJ: Whooo, tough one. I’d guess it was when the boys from three floyds decided to use a smoke machine at their table, without noticing any official at CBC. We were standing next to 3F. Suddenly the manager came rushing, with really open eyes, asking what was happening or if there was a fire. But it was just 3F who had covered the area in smoke and playing loud on their stereo. And besides that, I guess all the beer was pretty good!

MB: What should beer fans really not miss at Copenhagen Beer Celebration?
TEJ: The product of our experiments with some of the best bartending dudes in Copenhagen. That’s gonna be exclusive!

Thank you Tobias! Now let us see what To Øl will bring to the celebration, changes may occur and not all bottles, kegs or random fun will be available at all sessions.

To Øl  CBC Beer List:

• Fuck Art – This Is Advertising
• Fuck Art – Let’s Dance
• Fuck Art – This Is Architecture
• I’ve Seen Bigger Than Yours
• Liquid Confidence
• Sur Mælk
• some surprises for red session

Photo: Surly Brewing

With only a few days left until Copenhagen Beer Celebration 2013 kicks off the events and random craziness that will take place at the Celebration and around in Copenhagen are slowly being announced. We hope to be able to give a summary of it all later tomorrow, but until then we continue with our pre-interviews. Today we give you Todd Haug, head brewer at Surly Brewing Company – creator of wicked beers such as Furious, Darkness and Abrasive. Less background and more talk, all in!

MankerBeer (MB): Most beer geeks with knowledge about top US breweries are likely to have heard of Surly Brewing – but many have not, how would you describe the brewery and your role there?
Todd Haug (TH): I’m in charge of recipe development, raw material procurement, process flow design,fabrication and metal.

MB: Before starting your brewing career you were playing guitar in the metal band Powermad touring the US and releasing EP’s – have your background as a musician had any impact on you as a brewer?
TH: Powermad is still together,new record coming out this year mixed by Daniel Bergstrand!I discovered the beauty of local beer while on tour at the age of 19.That drove me into home brewing which ultimately got me my first brewery job at the age of 21.

MB: Breweries using cans instead of bottles are sometimes questioned when it comes to the ability of aging darker beers. How well does a beer like Surly Darkness?
TH: We package our beer that is designed to be consumed as fresh as possible, in cans. What we feel is “ageable” beer, we bottle in 750ml.I don’t however think there is any problem with aging beer in cans.

MB: In a 2010 interview with Serious Eats you were asked about future expansion plans, with the answer that none were likely in the near future. In 2011 the “Surly Bill” was passed – a bill permitting Surly to sell beer on its premises but also to be able to expand. How important was the change of legislation for the growth of the brewery?
TH: Very important,without it we wouldn’t be building new facility!

New production brewery is in the planning design phase.A 100 Barrel brewhouse from ROLEC shows up in early 2014 with plans to be brewing in June.The new brewery will have a beer hall,restaurant and gardens.

MB: Are there any new future expansions or plans to add new markets for distribution?
TH: Yes but only after we satisfy Minnesota’s thirst!

MB: Several breweries with limited distribution but with a high (inter-/) national demand have seen their beers frequent on the internet, either on E-bay or on trade forums at Rate Beer and Beer Advocate. What is your take on not being able to control the freshness of the beer and how it is sold, stored and handled?
TH: It is a problem for all breweries regardless of size, once the product is sold its very hard to dictate how they should re-sell it or store it. We date code all of our cans to give the consumer the power to decide to buy or not based on the age of the beer. The power of the “sale” should get the message to re-sellers….don’t sell out of date beer!

MB:  Instead of the traditional pairing beer with food question I thought I’d let you pick your favorite Surly beer as well as one non-Surly favorite to each pair with a song of your choice. What song with what beer?
TH: ArchGoat-“Blessed Vulva” paired with Surly-“Darkness”
PigDestroyer-“Permanent Funeral” paired with Three Floyds-Permanent Funeral”

MB: Speaking of music and beer, what would you rather do – listen to Justin Bieber for a full hour or drink a case of Miller Lite?
TH:Miller Lite all the way!Fuck Bieber

MB: What should beer fans at Copenhagen Beer Celebration really not miss?
TH: PENTAGRAM!

Thank you Todd! The complete beer list will be updated and changed tomorrow, but as not everyone has seen Surly’s crazy line-up we will present it an extra time below. Changes may occur, rock n’ roll, metal and beery craziness might flourish so think Pink and try them all.

Surly Brewing’s CBC Beer List:

• Pentagram
• Abrasive
• Mild
• Darkness
• Furious
• Coffee Bender
• Bender
• Cynic
• Sÿx
• Hell
• Smoke
• Seven

Photo: www.youstayhoppyaustin.com

It is soon time to pack my bags and head for Copenhagen and the Copenhagen Beer Celebration! Days, weeks and months of waiting is about to come to an end, but no sleep ’til Brooklyn and more pre-cbc interviews to come (Surly, Westbrook etc). Today we put focus on one of the newer American breweries, a small farmhouse brewery located in Texas Hill Country – Jest King Craft Brewery. We had a quick Q&A with Jeff Stuffings, who started up the brewery together with his brother Michael Steffing. Today Jester King is made up by the two brothers, along with fellow brew connoisseurs Ron Extract and Jordan Keeper and aesthetics director Josh Cockrell. Some of their beers have shown up in Europe, impressive as they are still focusing on their core markets in the US and many american beer geeks have a hard time finding their beers.

MankerBeer (MB): Jester King is a fairly new brewery but has received a lot of attention and appreciation among beer lovers, how come you and your brother Michael decided to set up shop and open a brewery? Did you have any prior experience with brewing and beer?
Jeffrey Stuffings (JS): I think our reasons for opening a brewery are pretty similar to the ones that motivate a lot of other brewers. We love the brewing process, creating and shaping flavor and aroma, and attempting to guide fermentation in interesting ways. Our prior experience comes from homebrewing. We’ve also had a lot of help from other professional brewers such as Real Ale in Blanco, Texas and Russ Beattie formerly of Dark Horse Brewing in Marshall, Michigan.

MB: Your beers sell out immediately and by every week the demand appears to be increasing – how do you handle the pressure from bars, beer shops and beer lovers who want to sell/try your beer?
JS: One thing we’ve been pleased to see is that a lot of the retailers we work with understand that we don’t make very much beer and that our beer takes a relatively long time to make. Very few retailers have dropped us because we don’t have a particular beer available at a certain time. I think beer lovers appreciate openness and good communication from a brewery. We’re an open book about our process, ingredients and recipes, and we try to keep people well informed with the latest news about our beer.

MB: The brewery is situated in a beautiful old farmhouse, which you yourselves brought from Victoria, Texas. It really adds something extra to the brewery. Do you have any expansion plans and how would they be integrated in the current brewery?
JS: Our expansion plans involve adding more temperature controlled space for the oak fermentation and maturation of our beer. We also seek to find a permanent location for our coolship and build a cellar for our spontaneously fermented beer. Any expansion we do will be certain to protect the beauty of our surrounding land.

MB: I feel that almost every US state have their own weird and often contradictory laws on alcoholic beverages; How come Texas wineries but not breweries can sell their products on (or even off site)?
JS: The double standard that allows wineries to sell their wine directly to the public but does not allow breweries to sell their beer comes from the fact that the Texas beer market is dominated by a few very large, very powerful players. The big brewers and big distributors in Texas have traditionally made it clear that they intend to fight small brewers for every bottle and pint sold, even though small brewers in Texas only account for a very small percentage of the market. The large, powerful players have thus far had the financial resources to make sure that no political change happens. Although, we’re now seeing signs that their position may be softening as large distributors are seeing that craft beer isn’t going away.

MB: Recent changes in the Texas beer bills (SB 515-518, 639) were discussed just some weeks ago and if 515-518 would be passed – how would that change the settings and possibilities for Jester King?
JS: We’d be able to sell beer to people who come to visit our brewery. We have hundreds of visitors each week. We’d love to be able to sell them bottles and glasses of our beer. We’re also excited about the possibility of having bottle releases at our brewery. Basically, just the prospect of being able to operate a real bar or pub like breweries can do in most other parts of the world is very exciting to us.

MB: You have Ceres Park together with Stanley’s Farmhouse Pizza, except for giving you the possibility to sell your beers through them – any pizza and beer combos we should try? Or any other food and beer pairings ones must try?
JS: I’m a fan of Stanley’s Beatrice pizza, which has Bechamel sauce and goat cheese. It has some delicate flavors that I like to pair with our table beer called Le Petit Prince. As far other pairings, I tend to defer to people with better culinary minds than me. I also prefer for food and beer pairings to include a recipe if possible.

MB: As a Swede I was happy to see that you were brewing Gotlandsdricka, a traditional Swedish beverage (which we unfortunately won’t see at CBC) – what is the story behind the beer? Why make a weird traditional Swedish beer?
JS: Broadly speaking, we’re fans of the farmhouse brewing tradition, which tends to yield very dry beer with complex flavors and a few rough, rustic edges. We also have interest in these beers because they were brewed before the discovery and widespread use of pure culture brewer’s yeast (Saccharomyces Cerevisiae). Given our broad interest in the farmhouse brewing tradition, we like to explore how different parts of the world historically made these beers, which led us to our interest in Gotlandsdricka. That and we thought “Viking beer” sounded cool.

MB: I read somewhere that you try to limit your collaborations, why is that?
JS: It’s not so much that we try to limit our collaborations, but that we want our collaborations to be meaningful. I’ve had many collaboration beers that were very good, but left me wondering what each individual brewery actually contributed. I’ve also had collaboration beers that left me thinking that brewery A could have just as easily made that beer without brewery B. When we take on a collaboration, we want it to clearly have an element from each participant and hopefully be better than the sum of its parts.

MB: Texas haven’t been famous for their breweries, but a lot has happened lately? What up and comers do we have to try or know about?
JS: I’m a big fan of Live Oak Pilz and Hefeweizen. I think it’s hard to find American breweries doing these styles better than them.

MB: How would you explain the rising interest in craft beer all over the US and do you see any risks with it?
JS: I’ve heard Garrett Oliver of The Brooklyn Brewery say that what we’re currently seeing is a return to what used to be normal in the United States. Prior to Prohibition there was a rich culture of local and neighborhood breweries. We’re getting back to that. One of my theories is that as information becomes more easily accessible and people become more aware of great culinary and beverage traditions, it’s more difficult for mass-marketed, lowest common denominator products to completely dominate. When people become more and more aware of the amazing diversity of flavor that’s out there, they’ll embrace new things and tend not to revert to a one size fits all approach.

I don’t see a risk in what I just described, but I do see a threat imposed by the future scarcity of resources like barley and water given our changing climate and increasing population.

MB: What should beer fans at Copenhagen Beer Celebration really not miss?
JS:The beer we’re sending that I’ve been drinking the most of is our RU-55 Barrel Aged Sour Red Ale. I like the combination of lactic acidity and dark fruit.

Thank you Jeff! Below is what Jester King will bring to CBC and for the full list of beers, check out this post. Changes may occur and not all beers are served at all three sessions.

Jester King CBC Beer List:

• Black Metal
• Das Überkind
• El Cedro
• Funk Metal
• Noble King
• RU55
• Salt Lick
• Das Wunderkind!
• Le Petit Prince