Mikkeller Bar, 10 May 2010

Today is the first birthday of Mikkeller Bar in Copenhagen. This time last year I was in Copenhagen for a few weeks of work. We missed the bar’s opening night but over the following two weeks we became their first regulars, thanks to the bar being 100m from our hotel and, of course the incredible beer selection. Fifteen taps (now twenty!) constantly rotating through the huge Mikkeller range and a few guests from around the world, plus many bottled beers, including my favourite: the barrel-aged Mikkeller Nelson Sauvignon.

One night two big Mikkeller fans, one from Denmark and one from the USA, made a short movie while we were drinking there. The Danish fan, “Dr Ericschon”, is famous in the Danish beer world for making so-bad-they’re-good fan adverts for Mikkeller. This one is my favourite. The American fan is actually a big fan of the fan, so much so that he re-makes the same ads. The movie below shows them meeting at Mikkeller Bar.

If you look closely at about 0:19 you’ll see my colleague Pete and I in the background, alongside Kristina Bozic, co-owner of West Lakeview Liquors in Chicago (They stock a good range of NZ beers, including Epic and 8 Wired, if you’re ever feeling homesick in Chicago).

Here’s a photo I took during rehearsals: Dr. Erik Schon meets Not Dr. Erik Schon, May 11 2010.

Happy birthday, Mikkeller Bar! I wish I could be there to help with celebrations and see what other bizarre things are happening. Maybe I’ll pop down to Hashigo Zake for a Mikkeller toast.

Extreme beers evoke extreme reactions. Everyone remembers the first time they tried Rodenbach Grand Cru, and anyone who has tried one will have mischievously given one to an uninitiated friend (or enemy, depending on your appreciation of the beer) just to see the look on their face. It was the thought of these looks that had me grabbing my camera and heading along to the launch of Yeastie Boys Rex Attitude at Regional Wines and Spirits last Saturday.

Rex Attitude, Yeastie Boys’ new all-year-’round beer, is an extreme beer. It is brewed with malt that has been smoked over burning peat. This peated malt is what gives Islay whiskies, such as Laphroig and Bowmore, their distinctive smokey, medicinal flavour. When common lore says that a beer brewed with more than 5% peated malt would be undrinkable then it’s not hard to push the limits towards the extreme. But when The Yeastie Boys announced their new beer would be made with 100% peated malt many suspected they had lost their common sense.

It only takes one sip to decide whether this beer is genius or folly. Either way, hopefully someone will be there with a camera.

These are my photos of what I call The Rex Attitude. I’d love to see yours. Post links to your photos in the comments.

Here’s a photo I took of Rex Attitude to help you find it.