If you do any tour in Copenhagen, I can guarantee that you will either hear about the Carlsberg Foundation or the Jacobsen family at least once. Carlsberg is probably one of the biggest breweries in Copenhagen, and it is definitely one of the oldest. But more importantly, they are huge benefactors of the city, and I mean HUGE!!! Almost every historical building or statue you see was either:
1.) Donated by the Carlsberg Foundation
2.) Sat in ruins for years before the Carlsberg Foundation came in to buy it, restore it, and donated it back to the city
3.) Currently owned and maintained by the Carlsberg Foundation.
Carlsberg was founded by J.C. Jacobsen in 1847, and later joined with his son, Carl’s, brewery in 1906. There’s so much incredible history behind this organization and fun facts, like that they have the world’s largest collection of bottled beer, that I would love to share with you. But unfortunately, since they will be temporarily closing on December 22, 2018 for a year of renovations, this post will be focusing on the beer. All I can say is that, assuming they still offer the historical tour upon their reopening (which I am pretty positive they will), DO IT! It was seriously the most interesting tour I did on my entire trip!
(But don’t worry, I fully intend on returning in 2020 so I can compare and contrast the old and the new…I just hope it doesn’t change too much…)
Now onto the beer!
Thankfully, for everyone’s sake, I took my tasting notes as I went along because after going almost all day without food I’m not sure I would have remembered all the details after walking out of there… (If you get yourself into an unfortunate situation like I did where you get to the bar just as the kitchen closes, I would highly recommending sobering up with a pizza or a kebab.)
With the historical tour (which had been included with my Copenhagen Card), I received a voucher for either their classic pilsner or their new-ish, dark lager called 1883. I had tried the 1883 a couple nights prior after buying a 6-pack at the 7/11 near my AirBnB and, while I enjoyed the pilsner, I had fallen in love with 1883 (the pilsner is also readily available in the states so I thought it would be silly to get that as my free beer).
First off, let me tell you that this free beer is no small pour. You get a nice, full pint full of dark amber goodness. 1883 looks like it will be a super heavy and filling beer, but it is surprisingly light and relatively easy to drink. It is super malty with a hint of caramel. Honestly…I didn’t think it could get any better for me…
Next I ordered a flight, which comes with four 0.15L samples. Maybe I’m crazy, but these “samples” seemed to be significantly bigger than the ones they typically serve in flights in the States…
(Google tells me that, if anything, they were smaller. But in my defense this had been the most I had had to drink in a single setting my entire trip so far.)
First up, in order of lightest to darkest, was Blanche.
Blanche is a white beer at 6% alcohol. I had kind of expected this to be more like a Blue Moon, but it definitely wasn’t. It has a sweet, almost floral smell to it and the taste is much sweeter than I expected. Clove heavy, but absolutely delicious! (So delicious that I brought a bottle home.) Although I will say that, for a white beer, it is much heavier than I would have expected.
Next, the Jacobsen Extra Pilsner.
Described as “hoppy and bold”, I really didn’t think I would care for this beer. I thought it would just be a hoppier version of the Carlsberg Pilsner. Boy was I wrong! It has an unexpected heavy malt smell and ended up being a warmer, more well-rounded version of the Carlsberg Pilsner. All ingredients for this beer are sourced from the Nordic region and honestly…this may be my new favorite beer. Need proof? I took home two big bottles of it and am absolutely devastated that it’s not sold in the States.
Third was the Jacobsen Brown Ale, which is only made and sold at Visit Carlsberg. This is a rich brown ale…but pretty spicy…I was pretty indifferent too it, so it didn’t make the cut for beers I was bringing home. Not the most robust description, I know, but other than a spicy and rich brown ale I really didn’t think there was much else to comment on.
Finally, I had the Double Amber. Let me start off by saying that by this point, I was starting to feel the effects of drinking a fair amount of beer in a very short amount of time on an entirely empty stomach (it’s not my fault the kitchen had closed 30 minutes before I got there!) The following description is mostly a direct quote from the description I wrote in the moment in my travel journal:
“The Double Amber has a warm, yet surprisingly spicy smell and tastes like a barrel-aged brown ale with all that alcohol content and some cardamom undertones.”
Now a couple disclaimers about the Double Amber:
1.) As far as what I can tell from the website, this is not a barrel-aged beer. It is only 6.5% alcohol but it did have the highest content of all the beers I tried, so I guess that’s where Tipsy Jenn got that from.
2.) Prior to tasting all of these beers, I had gone through an exhibit that “taught” you how to pick out all the different flavors used in the Carlsberg beers, so obviously I was instantly an expert. Though I will say that I definitely tasted cardamom despite not being specifically mentioned, I was correct in stating that it is a spicy beer. If you like spice, then you’ll love this beer. I, unfortunately, was not a huge fan.
Carlsberg is truly an insane place, filled with delicious beer but also a ton of history! There is just so much to see and learn about, like artwork and the Carlsberg horses! And while I would love to tell you all about it, I don’t want to fill your dreams with visions of something that may potentially be totally different a year from now. So I’ll leave you with this:
Any time you see Carlsberg on a menu or on a shelf, buy it!!! You’ll most likely be helping to support your next favorite historical landmark in Copenhagen.