The Commons at Paulie World

I attended the European Beer Festival at the Carlsberg Brewery. It is a big festival; there were 93 booths with two to seven brewers per booth, usually four to a booth though. I bought the ticket that gave you 15 tokens for samples; this comes to about five beers, as each sample was ten centiliters or approximately one third of a beer. The festival ran for three days starting Friday 12 September. I went on Saturday 13 September. Entrance was easy as they had a tent set up and there were ten entrance lanes, so everything moved fairly quickly. As one entered the tent one gave their ticket to one person the next person gave you a glass with your tokens in it, and as you passed out of the tent one received a book listing all the beers and brewers. The line was long, but everyone was in a festive mood, some had started drinking early and had bottles of beer, I guess priming the engine for what was to come. I had the best Pilsner Urquell I ever drank. Now I had decided to not drink anything I had tasted before or could get here in America. However, my friend Heidi wanted to try the Pilsner Urquell so we stopped at that booth. While she had her sample, which she liked very much, so much so that she purchased a bunch of them a few days later, I chatted with the guy who was dispensing the samples, and worked for the distributor. As we chatted about the beers he told me I could share Heidi’s sample, telling me that the keg had been delivered that morning and was tapped about an hour before the doors opened. While I drank and chatted with him about beer the crowd thickened and one could see he was on the verge of being swamped, but before we left he gave me his card and told me that if I were to get to the Czech Republic to send him an e-mail and he would have the brewery hook me up, pick me up at the airport and give me a tour, meet the brewer, etc. what else it entails I didn’t ask, why be greedy, you know? But I tell you I am going to do what I can to make sure I follow through on this, by e-mailing him every few months. Was at the festival for about five hours, walking around drinking, and catching up with my friend, I hadn’t seen her in four years. They had food tent set up out side the Carlsberg warehouse, food was okay had some Mexican, the only thing I knew as everything was written in Danish. At the end of this post will be a partial list of the beers I drank and a short description of the beer as provided by the brewer. I was able to do this because of one book, mentioned earlier, telling which brewers were in attendance and what beers they were dispensing, indexed by booth so it was very easy to keep track, but as I drank more it seems I neglected the list, so I only have thirteen listed. Also, Heidi couldn’t drink all of her samples and gave me three of her tokens. So, by time I left I was suffering from what the Danes call round feet; six beers will start to do that to you, as a few of them were a bit high octane. Copenhagen, and for that matter Demark itself is going through a craft brewing surge, if you will. Last time I was there I could find only one brew pub, the Apollo near Tivoli Gardens across from the Central Train Station There are micro breweries, and brew pubs all over the place. Within a ten minute walk of my hotel, Hotel Ansgar, near the Central Train Station, there were three brew pubs. The Apollo next to Tivoli Gardens, which makes a nice malty larger, I didn’t review, the Brew Pub a few blocks away, the review of their beers will come at the end, and the Vestebro Brygett, near Tivoli, and right in the heart of a block of nightclubs. I didn’t get in there but I did have one of their beers at the festival.

Copenhagen is a beautiful city, with a lot of old buildings. They tend to keep the old ones, rehabbing and modernizing them but the façade remains the same as it has for sometimes hundreds of years. Also, it is essentially flat which makes for easy walking, or if one prefers bicycling of which it seems everyone does. Copenhagen is a large city, with
various sub-divisions or neighborhoods so someone may say they live in Fredericksberg, while still a resident of Copenhagen. The city has many castles, there is the Kings, or
as they call it Kongs Haven, and the Queens or the Dronnings Haven, which has a residence. Haven means park or garden. Then there is Fredericksberg Slot, or Castle. The King of Denmark who had this castle built also had a new design installed. This design allowed for music to be piped from the basement so the musicians were out of sight. Apparently the guests at the first state dinner in the castle thought they were going crazy when they heard, but couldn’t see the source of, the music. The King had ducts installed throughout the castle for this purpose. Then there is the Kasslet a fort and active army post with an large earthen berm approximately fifteen to twenty feet high running around it. They allow the public to walk through the fort, or around the top of the berm. Then there is the Round Tower, it is about 250 ft. tall and one is able to walk to the top, well one has to walk to the top actually. If one is interested in churches the city has some incredibly beautiful churches, such as the St. Albens Church near the Kasslet, or the Gold Church, which as its name I implies has a lot of gold fixtures, and is attached to the Round Tower. As one leaves to Round Tower and walks toward the pedestrian mall, or the Stroeget (sp?) one will find a bust or Tycho Brahe a noted Danish astronomer who died, after a state dinner Because it was impolite to leave the table before the King, so he sat a the table until his bladder burst, but he did get a planetarium with his name on it out of the deal. Near the St. Albens Kirk (Church) is the Danish WWII museum which is a must see if one is in Copenhagen, there are free guided tours every fifteen minutes which one only has to follow behind. I took the tour on another visit and the tour guide is very knowledgeable, and there are a lot of things one would find interesting, if one is interested in such things. The museum contains photos, documents, letters, radios, firearms, artillery clothes, uniforms, whole rooms of furniture from resistance members with the equipment used by them. One may also purchase books and literature on WWII from the Danish perspective. Near the Museum is the statue of the Little Mermaid, which is a few yards off the sea wall, I guess so it can’t be vandalized as it has been in the past. One is able to see Sweden from this point, it is a town called Malmo. I guess this is where they walked to Sweden from, it would be a nice hike but possible without, I think, too much difficulty.

Copenhagen also has what they call the Museum Erotica, which is an intellectual study of pornography. Amsterdam has one also, but theirs caters more the prurient side then the one in Copenhagen. The Museum Erotica is more a history of pornography; the proclivities of famous people are discussed. Well actually a short description is posted on the wall with a picture of the person. Some of the people listed are James Dean, Mae West, Groucho Marx, Howard Hughes, Marilyn Monroe, and on, and on. There must be two hundred such biographies posted around the museum. They also tell the history of prostitution, in Denmark. But, I must say the one time I was in there, back in 1994 the first time I was in Denmark, the whole affair was handled rather tastefully. However, there are some things that will make you do a double take and shake your head in amusement.

Not far from Copenhagen is the town of Roskilde, home to the Viking Ship Museum, and the Roskilde Cathedral. The Viking Ship Museum houses five Viking ships recovered from the Roskilde Fjord. These ships are not whole but rather pieces of the ships they were stabilized so as to stop any further decay of the wood. The museum has erected a frame for each ship showing the entire length and height of the ship. Viking ships are not as long or tall as one might think. The longest ship in the museum, I paced off at a hundred twenty five feet more or less, and approximately ten feet, more or less, high. There is Viking town, with a working woodshop, boatyard and other chores of daily Viking life. The museum shop has replicas of Viking jewelry, and such. The Roskilde Cathedral is very old in fact some of the sarcophagi in the Cathedral date to the 1000s. The granite steps to the ante rooms with the sarcophagi are about two inches thick but over the years the center of the steps have been worn to about one inch, that is a lot of feet on them. I was asked once what I thought of the Roskilde Cathedral, and one of the things I thought of when asked , other then the beautiful architecture, and craftsmanship, was that was that their old stuff was old when ours (America’s) was new. Getting to Roskilde from Copenhagen is fairly easy, just take the train. The clerks in the station all speak English so that helps, and will direct one to the proper track, then one has to watch the signs, which tell one when the next train is due and where it is going, and the train so one gets on the correct one as trains going to different places use the same track in the station. Although it is very easy to get to correct train mistakes are possible, so be careful. Almost everyone in Denmark speaks English for that matter, but I always try to ask in the language of the country I am in, “Do you speak English”, I just think it’s respectful to the citizens not to assume they speak English. I have found that people are a little more helpful and friendlier.

As for food one doesn’t have to worry about that, as one is able to find any kind of cuisine one prefers, Italian, Chinese, whatever. There is the Danish equivalent of the ubiquitous NYC hot dog cart all over the place. These carts, and sometimes store fronts sell hot dogs, burgers, and such. I had one on another trip to Copenhagen, they are rather good, they are about 8 to 10 inches long and thin with a brighter red color then one would see here. There are also various condiments available, and beer is also available for purchase at the carts. There are also sidewalk cafes throughout the city where one may sit, have a beer, a bite to eat, and watch the crowds, which I always enjoy. I can say this about the Danes; for the most part they are trim. I think this comes from the fact that almost all of them bicycle somewhere or another. One can walk down any block in the city center and count hundreds if not a thousand bicycles, chained to racks. They also walk a lot; I guess this is why I saw very few overweight people. There is also a very good public transportation system, buses and trains, and a few taxi cabs; the word for taxi in Danish is the same as English. The trains and buses are clean efficient, and relatively cheap, and easy to use. The trains and buses run frequently so one doesn’t have to wait for very long, I think the longest I waited was 15 minutes, and that was about 11:30 PM., going back to Copenhagen after visiting my friends one night. I also stayed with my friends for a few days. I also noticed, while watching the crowd, that there are a lot of blondes, while this is typical of Scandinavians, blond, tall, and beautiful. While there are plenty of them, there are also brunets, and redheads. I mean the blondes are really blond, almost painfully blond. Some of them have hair that is almost white, now I know that there is dye to achieve such results but I also know that some of it is natural, I asked my friends about that, their daughter has snow white hair, while I was told I may darken, it doesn’t always.

My friends live in a town called Taastrup, a small town, with a main street about three or four blocks long. There were three bakeries, and three butcher shops in those four blocks. The bakeries sell everything one would expect from fresh bread to pastries. But, there were always people in any bakery I walked past, in Tasstrup, or Copenhagen. As for the butcher shops these would be shut down in America, some of the meat was left in the window with no refrigeration. Yes, they sold it as I watched people purchase some. The butcher shops also sold pre-packaged meals for lunch, and one could mix and match items in the cases to make their own meal.

While wondering around Copenhagen one day I walked by a store, that some will tell you doesn’t exist in Europe. While it was Sunday, and the store was closed I decided to return on Monday and see if I could chat with the clerk. Well, upon walking into the store, CITY GUNS, yes, you read that correct, I noticed that the firearms they were selling were ones that any 2A supporter would recognize. There were Uzis,H&K MP-5s, MAC-10s and TEC-9s, the thing that caught my eye about them was the length of the barrels. While a 2 A supporter knows that those weapons are required to have a barrel of a certain length, the ones hanging from the ceiling, with price tags on them had the short barrels one sees in movies. Also for sale were, Colt Python cal. .357 Magnum, Desert Eagle cal. .50. There were also posters advertising Smith and Wesson, Ruger, Marlin, and even Barrett. I didn’t see any AR style weapons though. While waiting for the clerk to finish with the customer he was dealing with, I looked in the display case. There were various items of historic significance, items from WWII, pins, medals, uniform tabs, armbands, rank and unit patches, etc. I asked if the clerk spoke English, which he did, I asked about what one had to do to own a firearm in Denmark, and that I was under the impression that it was illegal to own firearms. He chuckled and said, “No, it wasn’t illegal”, but I was informed that it was similar to one having a Class Three Federal Firearms License here. Automatic weapons were illegal, completely. Also there was a limit as to the number of weapons one could legally own, and magazine capacity. However, reaching back to the counter behind him, as we chatted, he told me that before 2000 there was one thing they could legally buy that Americans couldn’t, and laid a Silencer on the glass counter. He did say that non-functioning silencers were still legal. Our conversation was cut short as a few people entered at the same time. I browsed a couple of more minutes, looking at the air pistols and rifles, dart and blow guns, and the archery equipment on display, and sale before leaving.

Friday evening, 12 September, the first night in town, I stopped in a little bar called Brew Pub, they make some very good beers. I had the sampler just to be able to try as many as possible in one sitting. They had seven beers on tap when I was there, but a sampler contained five. I chose to exclude the lightest ones. The pub was a nice cozy place. A long seating area was in the back, tables on one side were for couples while the ones on the other side were for small groups. There is also a beer garden out side in the building courtyard, which most, if not all, of the buildings in at least Copenhagen seem to have, there were about fifteen tables of various sizes seating from two to ten people. Food was not available outside, I didn’t ask if this was do to it being night, or policy, I think it was because it was night, as most restaurants have outside seating. But, because they didn’t have samplers outside, and it being a bit chilly I opted to sit inside. The food was the normal pub fare with a European twist. While I didn’t eat there the food did look rather tasty. It was bright, bit not overly so, one could read a newspaper if so inclined. The glasses were of the sort I found in all pubs, and bars there, a goblet, or wine glass style rather then a pint glass. I found most places also rinse the glass before they fill it. When I asked about this I was told it was to assure that there was no soap residue left in them after washing, or dust. I noticed this also cut down on the head, and lacing around the glass. The beers listed and described below are the ones from the Brew Pub, the description is from their menu, and I found it to be pretty much on the money, there was no alcohol content listed. I settled on having a glass of the Coltrane Stout after the sampler.

1- Pastorius, a classic German lager, it was crisp, clean, with a dry finish, a very subtle smoky malt taste.

2 – Elhorn, a pale ale made with elderflower, slightly sharp flowery taste, they use cascade hops, the elderflower gives this beer a nice flavor, different, but nice that lingers on the tongue with hops at the back of the throat nice amber color similar to Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. The bar tender said most people seem to become addicted to it.

3 – Amarillo, an American Red Ale, deep amber color, a bit more hops, they use Amarillo hops, hence the name. They use good malt for a nice counter point to the hops, very drinkable.

4 – Pacific, India Pale Ale, deep amber color, very slight malt taste with a big hop taste a the back of the throat. I found it very good, and would process quite a bit of it if I lived in Copenhagen, as they sell Growlers.

5 – Coltrane, Imperial Stout, good rich velvety black color. Nice coffee aroma, with a chocolaty, smooth taste, hoppier then any stout I had tasted before.

The Coltrane was the best of the lot, and had a mouth feel very similar to a nitrous stout (a stout with nitrous oxide instead of nitrogen in the keg). A very big taste, that I thingk would go well with a steak, or any food with a big taste. Also, I am sure it would be a nice compliment to a full bodied cigar. I stopped in one night just before I left and had a Cole Porter which was new on tap. But not having any thing to write with or on I didn’t review it, but I can tell you it was a very nice porter, a bit high octane though.

Now for a list, partial, of the beers I had at the beer festival. The list starts at the front of the book as I didn’t put them in order, just marked which ones I sampled. I will give the brewer, country, the beer name, style, alcohol content, and the brewer’s description. I can’t give my own review of them as I knew by the time I had about five or so I wouldn’t really be able to discern with any accuracy how they tasted, and there was no place to put one’s drink down and write out a review, so I didn’t try. The description may sound a bit disjointed, but this is due to the translation, which they did word for word and uses their, the Danes, syntax, and grammar.

1 –Hussbryggereit Jacobsen, Denmark, Jacobsen Extra Pilsner, Spiced Pilsner at 5.5% alcohol. The beers fullness is created via an especially developed mash profile. The taste is medium full, and the after taste one experiences is notable bite of bitterness from the fine German hops Spalter Select and Hallertau Tradition.

2 – Bryghuset Braunstein, Denmark, Heritage 2007, Dopplebock at 10.5% alcohol. A special brew of the finest, Heritage 2007 is a strong dark dopplebock stored in Bourbon casks.

3 – Gronland Ice Cap Beer, Greenland, Ice Cap Dark Lager, American Dark Lager, 4.7 % alcohol. Dark lager has a nice dark brown color with plenty of visible carbonation, feeding a persistent head. The flavor is gently sweet and, predominantly malty, with some cereal qualities to be noted, with a light moderate amount of bitterness that comes in about mid-point, finishing a bit more fruity and peppery, but only gently so. Effervescent, and clean on the palate with a medium body.

4 – Warwick Brewing Company LTD. The Old Brewery, Glooucestershire, United Kingdom, Station Porter, 6.1% alcohol. A smooth ruby brown ale with an aroma of roast malt, coffee, and rich fruit. It has a similar, complex, and spicy, rich bittersweet taste, and a long smooth warming roast finish. A multi-award winning Porter which was awarded Supreme Champion Winter Beer of Britain 2008, at CAMRA’s National Winter Ales Festival, and winner of the bronze award in the CAMRA Champion Beer of Britain 2008, Cask and bottle.

5 – Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery, Tadcaster, Yorkshire, United Kingdom Organic Lager, Pale Lager, 5.0% alcohol. A full bodied lager with lots if malt and hop character.

6 – Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery, Tadcaster, Yorkshire, United Kingdom, Yorkshire Stingo, English Strong Ale, 8.0% alcohol.

7 – Czech Republic, Pilsner Urquell, Pilsner, 4.4% alcohol. The mother of all pilsners, brewed in Plzen, Czech Republic for more than 150 years. Pilsner Urquell has a golden color and develops a fine foam. The Saaz hop brings the beer bitterness and adds the unique taste and fresh aroma which characterizes a real Pilsner.

8 – Brockhouse Aps, Denmark, Brockhouse Old Ale, Special Ale, 6.5% alcohol. Bubbly fresh due to the high level of carbonic acid, and light despite the relatively high alcohol percentage, it is complex in terms of taste and aroma. The aroma is strong fruit like with notes of apples and flowers, taste wise the balance between the sweet and the bitter is interesting.

9 – Indslev Bryggeri, Denmark, Spelt Bock, Weizenbock 7.0% alcohol. The new Spelt Bock is created for a rich experience of tasting and enjoying it’s a complex recipeof spelt , wheat, and darker malts and three varieties of hops. The sweetness is balanced by a subtle bitterness from roasted spelt. As an alternative to red wine it’s perfect for cheeses and rich dinners. Serve lightly chilled in a big glass to fully appreciate the beautiful beer and the fullness of aroma.

10 – Randers Bryhus, Denmark, Randers Pale Ale, 5.6% alcohol. Best Europena malt found; Generous with the English hops, and American aroma hops. Fermented on English yeast.

11 – Kvajj, Denmark, Kulsoen, Imperial Stout, 8.7% alcohol. Imperial Stout with a very rich flavor, in this full bodied beer you can taste chocolate, coffee, and liquorice.

12 – Svaneke Bryghus, Denmark, Svaneke Sejler Ol, Pale Ale, 3.3% alcohol. Champagne beer, yellow white-color with a hazy appearance. Very big white lacing head. Strong citric aroma of fruit, flowers and hops. Some sweetness with a dry finish of hops. High carbonation. Fermented on champagne yeast.

13 – Vestabro Bryghus, Dnenmark, Vestebro Bryghus Red Ale, Irish Ale, 5.3% alcohol. Refreshing ale. Taste is light bitter with a good malt aroma.

I hope this post was entertaining and informative, and at the same time helpful if one were to travel to Copenhagen. Thanks for reading. The Swamp Fox.