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This is not only the story about Copenhagen Beer Celebration 2014, about bearded brewers and wild beers but also a story of a wildcard for a brewery and one of the latest additions for the 2014 line-up at CBC – Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co. When they were announced among the last breweries to be added to an already exiting list of breweries I honestly had no idea of who they were, so much Rate Beer for me.. With no doubt AWBC has been the hottest brewery in Arizona and evidently one of the best new breweries in 2013 as they were awarded best new brewery in Rate Beer’s annual overview, not to forget that three of their beers managed to end up on the top-50 best new beer list. The bearded trio Jonathan Buford, Brett Dettler and Patrick Ware are on to something great and for all European beer freaks CBC is the place to meet, drink and learn more about them.

Jonathan, formerly running a window cleaning business from his home garage decided it was time to do something else and teamed up with old friend and steakhouse owner Brett. While still running their businesses a successfull Kickstarter campaign helped them raise funds and rally investors which together with hard work and total dedication helped open the brewery in September last year. Jonathan has explained their vision to local news station KTAR; “Our vision and goal is to not only bring craft beer to the city of Gilbert, but we want to represent Arizona around the world,” Buford said. “It’s a great tie-in to the award, because people can now say ‘Hey Arizona is making some of the best craft beer in the world.'”

We managed to catch Jonathan during another busy brew day to check what is happening and what we will can look forward to at CBC.

MankerBeer (MB): You raised a successful Kickstarter campaign to raise the funds for AZWBC, what would have happened if you didnt manage to meet the goal?
Jonathan Buford (JB): The Kickstarter campaign was nice, but it was essentially for a different business plan. We were planning a 3.5 bbl production brewery in another town. It was a night Kick in the rear, but we raised 15 times that to get this started. It was a great PR boost if anything, and we are grateful for that.

MB: Among 2.600 new breweries in 2013 you managed to rank as #1 in Rate Beer’s Best New Brewery awards – what effect did that have on you all,  both as individuals but also for the brewery? Does it put more pressure on you or does the attention help?
JB: Pressure, no. You’d be amazed how much pressure we put on ourselves. What it did was put a huge swell of new visitors upon us. In 6 weeks we expanded from 17 staff memebers to 44. We grew 150%. We sold 5 times the amount of beer. It pushed us to work harder and keep the quality as high as possible. We have a core value system and we made sure it didn’t affect that, so we hired a GM to run the restaurant and get that under control. That was a great turning point.

MB: What kind of brewery would you like AZWBC to be, now and in the future?
JB: A local pub with world class beer. Expansion will be limited and not very timely. We enjoy the unique environment that we are establishing. Come to AZ, come to Gilbert!

MB: Arizona is not really known for being the craft beer state of the US, how does the raft beer scene look like today?
JB: We are rockin’. I mean the craft beer guild meetings are doubling in size. We have quite a beautiful thing going, and all of our beers are selling at high rates. That is helping quality too, if your neighbors are brewing great beer, well, you had best improve! There are breweries high and low brewing incredible beer, and solely focusing on their local area, not so much outside of the state.

MB: As a young and aspiring brewery, the Rate Beer nomination set aside, how difficult is it to make a living within the brewing industry today with small breweries opening daily and taking their share of the already limited market?
JB: If you live a modest lifestyle…it’s simple. Dedicate your heart and sole to what you do, it will repay in many ways monetary and non monetarily. On a busy Friday night only 1-2 of our total customers would even know about other breweries in the area. Now, for production breweries, I am sure that is a tad more competitive.

MB: How does it look with distribution and capacity growth for the next couple of years?
JB: It looks like a 27 foot dark wood bar. Maybe a keg here and there to friends.

MB: CBC is not only a celebration for the beer lovers but also for the brewers who gets a chance to meet and talk about the shared passion, what breweries and/or brewers do you admire the most?
JB: First off I really admire Mikkel. He seems to have a knack to pull this craft thing together into a cohesive effort. I love people like that. Anyone who does this for a living is a badass. I love meeting all of the brewers/entrepreneurs young and old. So much wisdom, and we are all idiots. Dont try to out drink us, that’s dangerous!

MB: What beers will be poured at CBC?
JB:
1. American Presidential Stout – 11% RIP with AZ smoked jalepenos and cacoa nibs.
2 Pappy Van Winkle Barely Wine
3. Chirichaua Common aged with AZ wild Brett
4. Wet Beaver Wit brewed with organic beets and dryhoped with Amarillo.

That is the most kegs we’ve ever sold.

Thank you Jonathan, beer geeks, freaks and cheeks – do not miss Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co!

Äntligen är det dags att ladda om igen för ännu ett Copenhagen Beer Celebration. Årets CBC är inte bara det tredje i ordningen utan har också haft en grym line-up, som med Wakefield och Sante Adarious avhopp blivit något försvagat. Dock har de ersatts med grymma namn som B.Nektar och de lite mer okända Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co. och Boneyard Beer. Ett par öllistor har redan hittat sin väg ut på interwebben där ni nu kan se vad både Evil Twin och Hoppin Frog kommer att ta med sig, ni hittar dessa längst ned. Vi har också fått tjuvkika på Brekeriets otroligt spännanse öllista men mer om det senare.

Förutom Brekeriet så ser vi svenska inslag i form av Närke Kulturbryggeri och Omnipollo och det är också de senares öllista vi nu ska stifta bekantskap med. Förutom ölen nedan så hälsar Henok att även deras remix på Stillwaters Premium och Stillwaters remix på Nebuchadnezzar finns hos Stillwater samt att Potlatch US version serveras hos Prairie.

Session 1
1. Fatamorgana IIPA (8%). Saison-inspired Imperial IPA.
2. Schiuma Party (6,8%). Wine barrel aged spelt saison. Collab with Stillwater Artisanal Ales.

Session 2
3. Hypnopompa Grönstedts Cognac BA Imperial Stout (11%). Brewed with 100kg of marshmallows & Tahitian vanilla beans.
4. Nebolution Imperial IPA (10,2%). Mash-hopped, first wort hopped, kettle-hopped and dry-hopped, demanding more than 30 pounds of hops per barrel of finished beer.

Session 3
5.  Potlatch farmhouse ale (7%). Exclusively hopped with Mosaic. Collab with Prairie Artisan Ales.
6. Nebuchadnezzar Imperial IPA (8.5%). Homebrew recipe scaled up 1:1. Simcoe, Centennial and Columbus.

Session 4
7. Hypnopompa Bourbon BA Imperial Stout (11%). Brewed with 100 kg of marshmallows & Tahitian vanilla beans.
8. Astral fresh keg IPA batch 2 Amarillo/Simcoe (8%).

Tidigare publicerade listor

Hoppin Frog

• Hop Heathen Imperial Black Ale [?]. 8.8% Black IPA.
• Barrel Aged B.O.R.I.S. 9.4% Imp. Stout.
• Cafe Silk Porter [?]. 6.2% Porter.
• D.O.R.I.S. The Destroyer. 10.5% Imp. Stout.
• Goose Juice. 7% IPA.
• B.O.R.I.S. The Crusher. 9.4% Oatmeal Imp. Stout.
• Karminator. 9.3% Doppelbock.
• Cafe BORIS. 9.4% Imp. Coffee Stout.

Evil Twin

• Table Beer. Only keg in Europe. Friday 10am
• The Mini Dingo. 9.5% Imp. Stout. Only keg in Europe. Friday 10am
• Blanca Biere. 4% Berliner Weisse. Blanca Restaurant collab brewed at Westbrook. Europe premiere. Friday 3.30pm
• Ryan & The Gosling. Gose? Crooked Stave collab. Only keg in Europe. Friday 3.30pm
• Single Doughnut Series – Imperial Doughnut Break Raspberry. Imp. Sweet Stout. Only keg in the world. Saturday 10am
• Single Doughnut Series – Imperial Doughnut Break Peanut Butter. Imp. Sweet Stout. Only keg in the world. Saturday 10am
• Joey Pepper. 7% Belgian Ale. Sante Adairius collab. Only keg in Europe – poured by the man himself, Mr. Joey Pepper! Saturday 3.30pm
• Single Doughnut Series – Imperial Doughnut Break Apple Bacon. Imp. Sweet Stout. Only keg in the world. Saturday 3.30pm

Nästa helg släpps biljetterna till det mest upprullade, uppskattade och uppvisande inom Nordisk och troligen Europeiskt ölnörderi – Copenhagen Beer Celebration. Nu kan vi släppa två bryggerier till den lista som CBC crew redan har släppt, en lista med namn som Surly, Three Floyds, Närke och Alpha State nämligen Funky Buddha och Hopping Frog. Vi pratade med Ryan Sentz både innan och under Great American Beer Festival och efter att ha blivit inbjuden till de båda tidigare åren är det nu dags att göra debut på CBC. Ryan, bryggmästare på Funky Buddha ligger bakom flera av de högst rate’ade ölen på exempelvis Rate Beer och Beer Advocate och på GABF förstod vi verkligen varför, ölen höll världsklass! Läs intervjun här ovan om ni vill ha bättre koll på honom och bryggeriet. Ryan sa i alla fall att han var riktigt taggad.

Det andra bryggeriet har varit med de båda tidigare åren men 2014 är det comeback för den omåttligt supertrevliga Fred Karm. Vi träffade Fred uppe hos New Belgium härom veckan och han berättade glatt att han själv åker över till CBC 2014 och vem vet, kanske dyker de upp även i Sverige med lite flax? Vill ni ha mer koll på Fred så kan ni läsa fjolårsintervjun här.

Två riktigt bra bryggerier som båda kommer göra sig väl på CBC 2014!

För mer information om CBC 2014, biljetter etc. kolla in hemsidan eller Facebooksidan.

EDIT:
Kornmalt & Humlekottar och Malt, Jäst, Humle och Vatten har nu presenterat ytterligare ett gäng bryggerier som ligger med på listan nedan. Håll utkik på 99 Bottles för ännu ett par!

Klara bryggerier just nu:
Hopping Frog
Funky Buddha
Alpha State
Brewdog
Freigeist Bierkultur
J. Wakefield Brewing
Kernel
Loverbier
Mikkeller
Närke
Three Floyds
To Øl
Kuhnhenn
Alvinne
7th Sun
Baird
Cycle/Pegs Cantina
Westbrook

Äntligen! Äntligen? Eller så nöjer vi oss med att konstatera att Copenhagen Beer Celebration 2013 nu är över. Efter att ha varit i skandinaviens ölcentrum nummer 1, Köpenhamn i dagarna fem så är det med all rätt man får känna sig lite sliten. Kikar jag i mitt excelark så ser jag att jag provat närmare 300 nya öl, bekantat mig med 10-15 nya bryggerier och tagit en hejdundrans massa foton. Jag har mött nya och gamla vänner, jag har skålat i öl med några av världens bästa bryggare och jag har planlöst strosat omkring i Spartahallen och bara njutit av hur galet allt är.

När jag skrev min förra, något kortare sammanfattning så handlade det mest om de första spontana intrycken efter fredagens session. Då hade jag ingen aning om hur galet lördagen skulle bli, två pass skulle betas av, folk skulle vallas in ut, runt, tillbaks och slutligen om igen. Likväl flöt allting på tämligen bra och jag såg väl inte direkt några ledsna miner hos alla de som vi mötte – eller har jag fel?

Det coola med CBC är hur det knyter ihop den internationella ölscenen på ett sätt ingen riktigt gjort förut. Jag satt och drack öl med Todd Haug (Surly Brewing) och hans trevliga fru Linda på torsdagen och någon dag senare så ropar Linda glatt att jag måste träffa den grekiska ölbloggaren de just snackat lite med. Kort därpå kommer ett gäng brasilianska ölentusiaster förbi och undrar vart de bör gå för de bästa ölen, följt av ett möte med en spanjor jag träffade i Köpenhamn förra året i samband med Pearl Jams konsert i staden. Med andra ord – alla finns representerade på CBC.

Det svåra är väl att välja ut mina favoriter. För många provade öl, för mätta smaklökar och fokus på att umgås med galna vänner stod föra i kön. Däremot vill jag lyfta fram To Øl’s “Fuck Art – Lets Dance/This is advertising/This is architecture” som inte bara hade galna labels utan var hiskerligt bra! Lika fantastiska var Mikkellers “X“-öl, de öl han började med runt 2006/2007 och som idag är mytomspunna och beryktade – men Imperial Stouten och Big Tony var å andra sidan just så bra som legenden sagt. Att hans Spontandoubleblueberry troligen är den vackraste ölen som skapats är kanske upp till var och en at tycka men det rosablå skummet, den härliga färgen på vätskan och att ölet är makalöst gott gör att den nog kan placera sig som 1a på min lista.

Sedan är man väl en bov om man inte nämner hur fin Kuhnhenn Raspberry Eisbock var, bröderna och bryggarna Eric och Bret stod stolt och hällde upp ölet under fredagen.  De lyckades även knita till sig 5 glas av den som de i smyg hällde upp under början av lördagen, generöst och ödmjukt – själv hade jag förstått om de glupskt smaskat i sig de sista glasen. Annat amerikanskt som bör lyftas fram är Lagunitas Sonoma Farmhouse Hop Stoopid som såhär färsk och god piskar många andra dubbel IPAs. Against the Grain kanske inte hade bästa ölen men Sam, Jerry och de andra var de skönaste bryggarna att hänga och snacka skit med – helt galna. Att Chad från Croocked Stave gästspelade hos dem med lite av sin öl under senare passet på lördagen var en bonus jag hoppas att många fick ta del av, sympatisk och trevlig och jag hoppas att vi får se hans öl i Sverige i v/-år… Likaså är Firestone Walker likställt med otroligt hög klass och allt från Pale 31 till Sucaba, Parabola och Double DBA var inget annat än toppklass. Att Matt Brynildson själv stod och hällde upp ölen och verkligen tog sig tid att snacka om ölen, om bryggeriet, om deras nya lagringsprojekt och om öl i allmänhet visar hur passionerade deltagande bryggerier är.

Här låg kanske det enda stora minuset jämfört med i fjol. I fjol var det mer snack och mindre verkstad, bryggarna kunde lättare hälla upp ölen och snacka lite med ölfanstaterna som på grund utav att  ölen kostade behövde begränsa sig något. Nu när det var “free samples” så sprang de flesta, jag inräknad runt och ville prova allt det goda som fanns. Wayne Wambles på Cigar City som hur trevlig och snäll han än må vara fick därför mest fokusera på att hälla upp öl än att snacka om dem, lite synd. Sedan kanske det är bättre i längden än att hantera poletter likt i fjol men jag skulle nog velat ha något mellanting just så att det blev mer socialt även för bryggarna.

Ser vi istället framåt så hoppas jag verkligen att CBC återkommer nästa år, det här behövs för den europeiska ölscenen och många bryggare fick nya kontakter både med andra bryggare men också med importörer och andra, vilket kanske underlättar framtida import. Det jag hoppas är att CBC då får ett management som kan hantera den press och den stress det är, vare sig Irina 2012 eller Ivan 2013 hade riktigt tiden att tänka på varje tänkbart scenario – men så är det inget heltidsjobb heller och ingen har riktigt tiden att göra riskanalyser eller se till så att ölen faktiskt levereras i tid. Där kan man ta hjälp av andra, likt vad vi erbjöd oss i form av införrapporter och annat. Jag tror och hoppas att CBC kan växa och bli bättre för varje år, men då måste man mötas och försöka ta till sig från alla håll och kanter – och här vet jag att kritiska röster hördes innan CBC. Nu ska vi däremot vara positiva. Maten var topp (allt från korvarna till den fantastiska chilin och den fina risotton och fiskkakorna), ölen behöver vi knappt nämna, vädret var bokstavligen strålande (trots att jag hade velat sitta ute i solen likt i fjol) och nu finns inget mer att kommentera på – CBC, tack för i år!

Three days of partying in Copenhagen have passed, one more to go and then it is time to sum up this year’s experiences from Copenhagen Beer Celebration. Except for minor, and major changes in teh structuring and format of the celebration much is the same as last year – this, is, not, an, ordinary, festival. This is something more and this is something different. The friendly brewers, the great beer lovers and all the warmth and open arms you find everywhere. Beer are uniting people more than ever and CBC is great proof of that. One second you are speaking to Todd Haug of Surly and the next they have introduced you to a greek beer writer. Suddenly you share a beer with Chad from Croocked Steve and the next one you discuss the fruity lacto greatness of berliner weisse.

After trying about 100 different beers in three days, maybe 40-50 only yesterday it is not easy to pick a favorites. Rather I would like to give cred to the people behind and at the celebration. I saw south americans and asians with MankerBeer lists of the beers, old and new friends went up and said that they liked what we had done so far and others were just interested in the Swedish beer scene and whats is happening here.

Two sessions remain but already this year has prooved to be better, and well, at some occasions worse than last year. Worse due to the ticking mania most beer lovers experience when they see this great amount of craft beer, new beers for all sessions and some of the most inspiring brewers out there. I prefer to have a beer, sit in the sun and enjoy it – and yes, the weather has been perfect. Better due to the great food, the open areas and the atmosphere.

Now it is time to leave the hotel for some pre-CBC strolling around, I hope to see some of you out in Spartahallen today. Let the celebration continue. We will try to upload more pictures and small articles on our Facebook page so check us up on Facebook to see whats happening. Party on!

The days are passing slower than ever and beer lovers from all over the world are packing their bags and heading for their transportation of choice to get to Copenhagen. It is finally time for Copenhagen Beer Celebration 2013!

Many of the beers are basically exclusive in one way or another to CBC and I think I speak for everyone that managed to get tickets that we are really looking forward to these two days of beer heaven! For the few but lucky beer gees who will attend Sour & Bitter 2, the Thursday will be as packed with beer love as the Friday-Saturday bonanza. Before starting our quick tour on the stuff you need to know and all the practical things lets see what else is happening these days in Copenhagen.

What else is happening this week?:
(Changes may occur and most likely there will be more events)

Tuesday: Sour beer Festival @ Mikkeller & Friends (runs tuesday – end of the week/out of beers)
Wednesday: Chicago Beer Event @ Mikkeller Bar Viktoriagarde
Thursday: Sour & Bitter 2, Event with Mikkeller label genious Keith Shore @ Mikkeller & Friends,
Friday: CBC 2013
Saturday: CBC 2013
Sunday: Mikkeller Bar Viktoriagarde 3 Year Birthday Party!

Practical stuff:

The celebration run over three sessions, all with their specific beers;

• Yellow Session on Friday the 3^rd, running from 15.00 to 20.00 (3.00 pm to 8.00 pm).
• Red Session on Saturday the 4^th, 11.30 to 16.30 (11.30 am to 4.30 pm).
• Blue Session on Saturday the 4^th, 18.00 to 23.00 (6.00 pm to 11.00 pm)

Apart form the above session “Pink ticket” holders gets access to all three sessions including the between-sessions event on Saturday.

There will be a wardrobe, run by a local non-profit organization. Your money will help them a long way and you don´t have to worry about carrying stuff around.

There is a wifi but its not the best; still, it is free, it exists and the rest is up to you.

An amount of master classes will be held during the days;

Yellow session
15.30 – 16.30 Sours – Chad Yakobsen and White Labs (Talk and tasting)
17 – 18 The Swedish Brewscene – Jessica Heidrich
18.30 – 19.30 Panel(Firestone Walker/Kuhnenn/Founders/Cigar City) – Session IPA

Red session
13.30 – 14.30 The Swedish Brewscene – Jessica Heidrich
15 – 16 Sours – Chad Yakobsen and White Labs (Talk and tasting)

Blue session
20 – 21 Panel(Firestone Walker/Kuhnenn/Founders/Cigar City) – Session IPA
Bathrooms and tap water will be found outside the celebration hall (so same spot as 2012).

Food and non-beery drinks?

Braunstein, creators of the Mikkeller Spirits line are coming with some of their stuff.
Unika, a research facility of the diary giant Arla, has been making cheeses with Mikkeller; which they will bring, there will be a plate with a range of cheeses to buy at their table.
Coffe Collective; the crazy gang from last year are coming with some great coffee this year as well.
Frederiksdal kirsebærvin; the guys with the cherries in the Spontan Cherry, they are bringing sweet drinks.

There are 4 vendors of food; they will each sell food at 40-50 DKR (5,50-6,75 EUR).

“Rødder” will be serving a chili con carne, based on locally produced food.
“Johns Hot Dog Deli” will be serving…..hot dogs….
“Pony” will bring fishcakes, ryebread, pickles and so forth.
“Rock ´n´Risotto” will have two dishes; a vegetarian asparagus- and a lamb risotto.

There will be benches located along the food vendors, they can be used for eating great food and drinking the Mikkeller brew we have paired with the different dishes.

Getting to the CBC area:

Copenhagen Beer Celebration will take place in in Copenhagen, where the mysterious character Skumberg bought his ‘wienerbröö me schokelääää’ and tried to smuggle into Sweden with various success.

In more details, CBC will be held at the running club Sparta’s historic facilities near Fælledparken in Østerbro, Copenhagen. You will probably not be going there by car so I will skip the directions, instead go there by the City of Copenhagens fine network of transportation. The easiest way to plan your trip at www.rejseplanen.dk – aim for this address: Gunnar Nu Hansens Plads 7, 2100 København (Østerbro Stadion). The easiest way to get to the venue is by the S-train to Østerport Station, catch the bus 1A bound for Hellerup just outside the station and get off at “Gustafs Adolfs Gade” or phonetically: [Guustaeuu Eedolf gaee] and go in the bus’s direction, head left after the stadium and follow the lovely smell of malts, hops, insane ingredients and equally insane brewers for about 100 meters. More or less – THIS – is where you want to end up.

Available Beers

Through this link you can find a downloadable version of the beer list, complete as of 30/4. The full list of beers, sessions etc can be found through this site – although it doesn’t give you a great overview, so use them together to edit the full list for your liking. Changes may occur and it seems as if changes have already been made, so do not take anything for granted but come and enjoy the great beers that are there!

In this list you will be able to mark your own comment of the beer and/or tick them of (Or to “Blafa” them). Due to the magnitude, quantity and the quality of what brews that will be offered – this is what it will look like, now I will focus on partying and not preparing for CBC.

Buying  stuff

Bring cash, just less than last year! You will be able to food and drinks (water etc) at the venue. Although this year the beers are included in the ticket, so you do not need to bring extra cash, tokens or small amounts of myrr to celebrate. You will receive one ounce pours of the beers. At the venue you will also be able to buy food from a variety of places (see below) and merchandise from some of the breweries, cash is king.

Though you will not be able to purchase bottles of beer to bring with you at the venue, you will be able to get pre-access to Mikkeller & Friends Bottleshop. You can also buy other great beers from places such as Barley Wine, Kioskh, Ölbutikken and Fish ‘n’ Beer all weekend.

Some of the beers will only be available on Friday and some only on Saturday, are you as smart and handsome as us at MankerBeer and have got yourself tickets for both days? Pink all the way!

The after parties

A whole bunch of international, awesome brewers at the same place, which happens to be in the Mexico of the Nordics – what do you think will happen? For obvious reasons, the venues and themes are kept secret and will only be revealed on a need-to-know basis but rest assure that you will meet us on, what we expect, one of the more awesome’y of them all. Head for places such as Fermentoren , the Mikkeller Bars, Bishops Arms Copenhagen and Ørsted Ølbar.

Learn Danish!

In order to make your way around the lovely streets of Copenhagen and on the actual festival, we have put together some useful sentences that will assist you in your quest for hopiness:

• Drive me to Mikkeller bar at Viktoriagade!  = Kør mig til Mikkeller bar i Viktoriagade!
• This is probably the best beer I had today  =  Dette er nok den bedste øl jeg havde i dag
• Do you have any idea who that guy is?? He’s head brewer of xxx… = Har du nogen idé om, hvem den fyr er? Han er brygmester af xxx …
• Im sorry/Excuse me = Undskyld
• Well do you think I’m cute when I’m sober then?  =  Jamen tror du jeg er sød, når jeg er ædru så?
• You ate a bar of soap?!   = Du spiste en bar af sæbe?!
• Well, I thought it was cheese    =   Nå, jeg troede det var ost
• Drive me to hotel xxx, please – no more beer for me today  = Kør mig til hotellet xxx, kan du – ikke mere øl til mig i dag
• Hello, a large pizza with everything on it, three burgers, 3 sausages, extra french fries and a few litres jolly cola = Hej, en stor pizza med alt på det, tre burgere, 3 pølser, ekstra pommes frites og et par liter Jolly Cola

Time to get the party starting!