First Update in Norway

So I have been here 3 months now and I have been busy learning the new brewery and getting a handle on the situation at hand. As we all know good things take time to plan and longer to implement. But there is progress. I have been busy finishing the rest of my brewhouse I began to build with JTMbrew 4 years ago. This included refitting new pumps, the missing hard piping, building the false bottom, a vapor condenser and the steam pipe , etc. All I need to finish is the steam pipes and build the control panel. After that I have to build a new floor drain and its ready to be brewed upon. I look forward to inviting many friends in the Brewing world I have made and will meet to brew some interesting collaboration brews as well as my own idea's which have been lurking in my thoughts over the last few years or longer. I plan on inviting home brewer in the area to brew with me. I think the potential is unlimited what I can do with the little brewhouse! Above is a photo of how it sits today in the brewery. I plan on inviting my brewing friends from Denmark to help me inaugurate the first batch, which will hopefully be sold both here and in DK. More to follow on that.

I have brewed Lervig's first Pale ale a 4,7% alc, light copper colored ale with a plentiful amount of Chinook, Amerillo and Citra hops. Its still bubbling in the fermenter awaiting final gravity for its next load of dry hops...I'm sure this beer will establish a new beginning for the direction of Lervig and represent me as a brewer. I want to show both beer lovers and mainstream beer drinkers that I have both of them in mind when I brew. Should be ready in mid July.

Moving ON.... take 2...

Well its been about 5 years minus 23 days since I first showed up in Roskilde to make beer for the beer crazed danes... I have enjoyed building a brand together with my colleges and seeing the success of the brewery, I have learned a lot in my time here in Denmark, selvom jeg ikke har lært at tale dansk så godt...

In 2008 I had left to Italy to brew with my good friend Leonardo DiVincenzo from Birra del Borgo only to return to Denmark 2 months later, I felt my time in DK was not yet finished. Now again I am planning to leave the residency of Denmark, but I am hopeful to return one day as a future inhabitant. I do feel that my time at Gourmet Byggeriet is finished, and sadly as in every turning point in life I feel I must move forward in my career and try new adventures and start a new chapter. It has been a difficult decision for me to leave DK. My plan is to move to Stavanger Norway. Where I will become the brewmaster for a middle sized brewery named Lervig Aktiebryggeri. Lervig is a young brewery started as a response to Carlsberg's buyout of the towns local brewery, which was subsequently removed to Carlsberg’s Ringes brewery in Oslo. Among other reasons I am also excited and looking forward to the change as the artist in me craves the Norway nature too... Peaked mountains and beautiful fjords...I hope to take Lervig forward in it's new direction to embrace specialty beers and create unique, great products. I believe this opportunity will challenge and excite me and I hope to stay involved in the future beer market of Denmark.

As a final gesture at GB, I have brewed a special brew a 7,5% IPA with loads of US hops which represents the sort of beers I truly have affection for. this Beer is hopefully available in the places I frequent, I wont be pushing the sales so please contact Anders Kleiny at ak@gourmetbryggeriet.dk to get a hold of it. I can assure it this will be the hoppiest beer to ever be brewed at Gourmet Byrggeriet! It will be available only on draft. Just ask for Mike's Hoppy-Trails IPA...It will not be a disappointment...until you run out of it...

Skål!

the 240 hl brewhouse of Lervig....

I am still alive, just nothing new to talk about...

Mike

Beer Drinkers For Obama

On the 19th of October at a new beer bar in KPH I will with a few other brewers (including Shaun Hill of Nørrebro) offer 1 keg of beer to support a fun event known as, "BEER DRINKERS FOR OBAMA" , I will bring a cask of a dry hopped American Pale Ale. I hope to see alot of friends there to support Obama and perhaps have a beer with me as you may have heard I am out of here at the end of the month...

I cant think of a better way to promote US politics and beer at the same time!

here is the link to the event: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gshs8y

Location: See www.blackswan.dk

Moving back to Italy...

Finally I am able to announce that I will be moving to Italy the 1st of November. I will be joining my friend and fellow brewer Leonardo DiVincezio of Birra Del Borgo- http://www.birradelborgo.it/ I will be taking over as brewing Director and will be responsible for the day to day productions and the brewery expansion, as well as a new product line. I have been eagerly awaiting my return to Italy and at the same time look forward to a continued involvement at Gourmet Bryggeriet in Denmark as a project consultant.

Hopefully I will be frequently seen in and around Copenhagen in the future and I always have a few more irons in the fire. As I said when I left Italy "I will be back"... I hope the same is true for Denmark.

I will miss seeing my coworkers at Gourmet Bryggeriet, I will miss seeing my Danish friends. I welcome any one traveling to Italy to get in contact with me for a beer!

(hopefully this will turn into a Rome - winter / Spring, Denmark Summer / Fall....;-)

Ungstrup's Reserve Release Party!

So if you can recall we made a special beer for a special person, Jens Ungstrup has achieved 10,000 beer ratings on ratebeer.com So I invited him to come and brew a special beer with me and we will try to make it something special for his tastes. He was interested in a smoked beer with over 10% alcohol, hence Smoked Barley Wine. The beer was brewed back in early march, left to mature a bit and now ready to let the public try it and hopefully they can give it a good rating!

Thursday night at Brewpub Køpenhaven after 17.00 the beer will become available for consumption. I will be there along with I hope many other Local beer lovers. So I look forward to that.

This beer's proceeds have been promised to Jens's friend who helps remove land mines in Angola. Here is more info if you can understand it in Danish: http://www.noedhjaelp.dk/sider_paa_hjemmesiden/her_arbejder_vi/afrika/angola/det_goer_vi

Here is Jens's announcement:
Ungstrup’s Reserve
Ølfabrikken/Gourmetbryggeriet har brygget denne øl i anledning af at Jens Ungstrup 8. Marts 2008 blev den første ølanmelder i verden til at offentliggøre 10.000 ølanmeldelser. De 10.000 anmeldelser er tilgængelige på www.RateBeer.com.
Øllen blev brygget 8. Marts og har lagret siden for at modne, men bør kunne holde sig mange år fremover.
Øllen er en Smoked Barley Wine brygget af: Pilsner malt og røgmalt, såvel Bamberg som peated, brun farin og Mt. Hood humle. Den holder 10,3% alcohol. Ølstilen er valgt af Jens og har været et flerårigt ønske fra hans side om at smage en røget Barley Wine.
Dog har der så vidt vides tidligere været brygget noget lignende 2 gange i verden, også begge gange som en specialøl tilgængelig i et begrænset tidsrum.
Der er brygget 1000 liter af øllen, som vil være tilgængelig på nogle af landets bedste barer og i nogle af landets bedste ølbutikker henholdsvis på fad og flaske.
Al overskuddet fra salg af øllet går til Folkekirkens Nødhjælps arbejde med minerydning i Angola.
Baggrund
www.Ratebeer.com er verdens største øldatabase med over 80.000 forskellige øl fra 8400 forskellige bryggerier registreret, som har næsten 1,8 millioner anmeldelser, foretaget af mange tusinde brugere fra hele verden. Danmark er det næstmest aktive land på RateBeer kun overgået af USA. Det skyldes blandt andet den eksplosion af nye danske bryggerier og nye danske øl, som vi har set over de seneste år, men også at internet penetrationen er blandt verdens højeste og at der findes et meget stærkt netværk blandt de danske brugere af RateBeer.