Craft Beer in Northern Europe Part 3: Norway

The beer scene in Norway is fairly similar to that of Sweden with what kind of beers that can be sold & where they can be sold being tightly regulated by the government. The end result being that beers under roughly 5% can be sold at supermarkets but anything over that can only be found at Vinmonopolet the government alcohol monopoly. As can be deduced from the name they have a heavy bias towards wine seeing it as a "sophisticated" drink and beer as being somewhat low-class and encouraging binge drinking + youth drunkenness.

The service at these Vinmonopolets was non-existent, I never had any staff approach me when wandering through the beer sections. Actually, I rarely saw staff beyond the cashier who was usually dealing with some kind of rush or the shop was totally dead. The selection varied a lot from branch to branch & could sometimes have an impressive array of Norwegian beers, others from across Scandinavia, the US and for some reason quite a few Italian craft beers. Prices were of course high as taxes on alcohol here are among the highest in the world.

At supermarkets you could sometimes find decent craft beer selections, possibly slightly less extensive than in Helsinki but superior to those found in Sweden. These tended to be Norwegian craft, plenty of British & US under 5% beers as well as other beers from Northern Europe.

a great low ABV beer

The big difference between Sweden & Norway's beer scenes lie in the fact that while Sweden has some very famous beer bars Norway does not, I didn't go to any bars I'd consider world class there. However, Norway compensates for this by having world class & very well-known craft breweries like Nogne O & Haandbryggeriet. So Norway wins out on the production side whereas Sweden wins out in terms of beer bars.

I started my trip in Bergen but alas wasn't able to really go out drinking at night. I was only able to check out the local Vinmonopolet which had the best selection I saw during my time in Norway. I was surprised to see a HUGE selection of Nogne and Haanbryggeriet beers that I had never heard of before. I guess they're not widely available outside Norway so I picked up Haandbryggeriet's wild berry Seabuckthorne Ale & Nogne O's Aurora Australis Double IPA.

After Bergen, I took a ferry up to Flam which is a fantastic town nestled among green valleys dotted with many waterfalls. It is also home to Norway's other big craft brewery: Aegir. They aren't widely known outside Northern Europe but are making a name for themselves by putting out a high quality product with a solid line up of basic low ABV beers as well as higher ones sold through Vinmonopolet plus many seasonals. I was lucky enough to meet the head brewer Vegard & get a tour of the production brewery as well as go out for a great dinner in their Viking Hall style brewpub by the port in town. Great stuff! Look for my article in the upcoming issue of Beer Zen about my visit to Aegir's brewery.

Aegir Production brewery

beautiful Aegir brewpub + hotel

standard low ABV line up

low ABV Christmas beer

Vegard brewing a rose pepper Christmas beer

I then rode up the historic Flam railway and took the train down to Oslo. Here's where I visited a few Vinmonopolets, a couple of supermarkets and a bunch of beer bars. In Oslo, most of the beer bars seem to be brewpubs. They get high marks for atmosphere, knowledgeable service, decent selection but unfortunately the beers ranged from below-average to average. It is a promising start but they have room for improvement.

I went to three brewpubs in Oslo: Amundsen Bryggeri & Spiseri, Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri and Crow Bar & Bryggeri.

Amundsen Bryggeri & Spiseri

This place is located in the heart of downtown Oslo right near the Opera house and just a short walk from the beautiful port area. I found the atmosphere was nice enough with an attractive terrace outside and a fairly typical pub feel inside. The staff were pretty gruff & not all that friendly while the tap selection was just ok. Prices were about average for Oslo (i.e. high) but their tasting set was decently priced at 65 NOK but the beers were somewhat disappointing, not to style, sub-par but passable.

Schouskjelleren Mikrobryggeri

Located in the Schous Bryggeri complex's (itself an ex-brewery) B building's basement is this highly atmospheric brewpub. It had vaulted brick ceilings & low lighting perfect for chilling out on a cold winter evening. The staff here were friendly, knowledgeable and outgoing with tasters being possible which was great. Their own beers seemed hit or miss. The hoppy blonde was nice, the stout was ok but the triple tasted of off-flavors... then again maybe I got a bad batch. It is still worth checking out.

their tasting set

Crow Bar & Bryggeri

This was a huge busy bar with an industrial feel which I like, it was pretty packed & noisy on a Friday night but we were still able to find a table. Their 20 taps up on the blackboard provided lots of styles + breweries to choose from. However they didn't have tasters which for me should be standard at any brewpub, the 200ml glasses were 40-60 NOK and the staff were friendly & knowledgeable though busy. This was the best brewpub of the three with the most consistent beers which tasted decent as well as lots more craft beers to choose from.

the beers I tried

In terms of brewpubs in Oslo for beer selection + taste go to Crow Bar, for atmosphere go to Schousjkeller, for convenience is staying downtown go to Amundsen.

Actually my favorite place in Oslo was Oltorget a small bar in the very cool Mathallen food hall. This place was great with a wide range of stalls selling high quality foods. The setting looked fantastic and it was easy to persuade my wife to pop in.

Øltorget - Mathallen Oslo

My best bar experience in Oslo, the market was a hit with my wife, the staff was exceptionally friendly & very knowledgeable. He wasn't only able to recommend beers he was happy to talk about beers & give the stories behind them which was really great & entertaining. The prices were decent enough for Norway (half-pours at half-price if you want a taster), a fairly nice bottle & tap list though when I went it was dominated by Danish beers without a single Norwegian beer on tap.

A special bonus is that as it is in a market you can pop in for a drink during the day or with your lunch rather than be stuck waiting till the evening for it to open.

Verdict: Great breweries making good to fantastic beers. They tend to focus on exporting their beers due to high prices in the domestic market(caused by taxes meaning the breweries don't benefit from them) and limited distribution channels. There are a growing number of beer bars though none have truly reached a world class level though they are fairly solid. The recent explosion of brewpubs in Oslo bodes well for the future but they need to focus on perfecting their beers on offer to deliver a consistently made beer where the only issue would be "It's not my style but it's a well made beer". It's definitely worth visiting beer-wise with amazing breweries in amazing locales. Be sure to be prepared to spend a lot though, prices here were the steepest I saw in Northern Europe.