Tag: Bjór

70th EBCU Delegates Meeting – Norwich, 2024

“A Pub for everyday with a Church for every Sunday.”- Describes the city of Norwich perfectly with its 365 pubs. As someone coming from a city with a comparable population and a third fewer bars, this city is quite the treat to visit. Bjórmenningarfélag Ísland was luck enough to visit Norwich for the 70th Delegates meeting of European Beer Consumer’s Union (EBCU).

Cask ale from Chalk Hill Brewery, Norwich, UK

After arriving in Norwich we headed to a few of the older pubs in Norwich, The Coach & Horses, Lollard’s Pit Pub and Adam and Eve. We had some great cask ales and experienced some great pub culture and atmosphere. After enjoying a few pints we headed to Bier Draak to meet up with the rest of the EBCU group. There we were treated to a workshop by Pete Brown on the effect of music on our taste buds. It was incredible and very educational to experience how different music can draw out different notes of beer.

Birna and Beth in hi-vis at Crisp Malt

The morning after we headed to the Crisp Malt facility in Great Ryburgh, Fakenham to have the first of two EBCU meetings. After a general discussion about the status of the Union and voting on board members and new associations joining, we had an interesting and eye opening panel with Pete Brown about climate change and the beer supply chain. The status of agriculture is, as most of us are aware of, dire due to climate change which effects production of food and drink. For beer enthusiasts the effects of climate change will have on the taste, quality, price and other aspects of beers are immense and worrying.

After the climate change panel, we got a tour of the Crisp Malt, a malting company, before heading to Barsham Brewery for some excellent cask. Even though it was a long day, the thought of not visiting a few more pubs seemed like an absolute waste, so we headed to The Mad Cat and The Fat Cat. No cats in sight ,but quite a few wonderful ales. We ended the night at Hop Rocket for a few more ales.

The second meeting was held at the Forum in central Norwich. Some great discussion was had about the future of the EBCU and the status of workshops and projects that the Union has in the works. A short brainstorming workshop produced more great ideas and possible future projects. After the meeting and a nice break, we met up at the White Lion – an excellent place to visit for good food beer and bar billiards. Our group then toured small and micro-sized pubs around Norwich before ending the night

The Leopard, Norwich, UK

at The Leopard for a few more cask ales – and real Bass Ale from a cask – and said goodbye to our lovely hosts from CAMRA and the other EBCU delegates.

It was a great weekend and the city of Norwich is fantastic! Staying for a few more days would have made the whole trip even better since we didn’t even have time to visit a fraction of the many great pubs that Norwich has to offer as well as restaurants, scenic places that give Norwich a great overall character and atmosphere. Truly a city that beer nerds and lovers need to put on their bucket list.

14/11/2024
69th EBCU Delegates Meeting – Vienna, 2024

Recently, Bjórmenningarfélag attended the 69th EBCU Delegates Meeting (March 7-9) and this time we travelled to Vienna, Austria. The meeting was hosted by BierIG who planned a very fun and busy schedule full of wonderful beer and lots of Weiner schnitzel!

The meeting unofficially opened on Thursday, March 9 at Bräuhaus Ten.Fifty. (https://www.tenfifty.at/) where BierIG graciously shared their regulars table. The official opening took place the next day with a meeting at Del Fabio Kokarik (https://delfabrokolarik.at), a drinks distributer and the exclusive importer of Budweiser (CZ) in Austria. The major business of the day included the adoption of the EBCU Code of Conduct (https://www.ebcu.org/code-of-conduct/). This was in important step in recognizing the diversity of people and voices within the EBCU and member organizations. Our delegation also shared some of what Iceland’s craft beer scene has to offer – Grugg og Makk! A crowd quickly formed at the close of the meeting to sample the wild ales and the bottles were emptied within minutes!

EBCU delegates sampling Icelandic wild ales from Grugg og Makk

Following the meeting, BierIG organized three different activities to choose from – a guided city walk through Vienna’s 1st District, attending a Raspberry Cheesecake IPA release for International Women’s Day at the Schnauzer & Beagle (https://www.schnauzerbeagle.com/), or a visit to the wine tasting room at Heurigen Kierlinger (https://www.kierlinger.at/). Bjórmenningar’s Secretary Valberg chose the Raspberry Cheesecake IPA release and Co-director Beth chose the guided walk. Valberg also got a slice of cheesecake with the IPA. Beth got tired feet!

Saturday’s meeting was held at Brauerei Schwechat, home of Weiner Lager. Before we could take a beer and pretzel break, delegates discussed the potential for sharing member benefits between member organizations. For lunch, delegates enjoyed Weiner Lager and Weiner schnitzel at Brauhaus Schwechat. After the meal, Brewmaster Andreas Urban provided a tour of the brewing facility.

Beer and pretzel break at Brauerei Schwechat

Following the tour our hosts had one more treat for us – an antique tram ride through Vienna with two rounds of beer tasting! In one round we sampled newly developed lager from Ottakringer Brauerei (https://www.ottakringerbrauerei.at/en/) and their Brauwerk Porter (https://www.brauwerk.wien/). In the other round we tried Strizzi Weiner Lager and Schani Golden Ale from Rodauner Biermanufaktur (https://www.rodauner-biermanufaktur.at/).

Antique tram tour through Vienna

On Sunday, even though our meetings were done, we had one last beer with our hosts and EBCU friends at Salm Bräu (https://www.salmbraeu.com/home/). There we were treated to a tour by Salm Bräu ’s Czech brewmaster Jakub and he gave us a close look at the brewing equipment which Salm Bräu also manufactures and sells to other breweries.

The 69th EBCU Delegates meeting proved to be a thoroughly enjoyable event and we’re looking forward to the next meeting in Norwich, UK in October! Skál!

13/03/2024
Reinheitsgebot – Stutt yfirferð

23 apríl, 1516 setti Duke Wilhelm IV Reinheitsgebot lögin sem eru ein elstu matvæla lög í heimi, eða yfir 500 ára gömul. Lögin voru upprunalega ætluð til að vernda neytandann fyrir hráefni sem gat verið skaðlegt og voru þá þau hráefni sem voru leyfð aðeins maltað bygg, humlar og vatn (geri var bætt við síðar þar sem ekki var vitað um það á þeim tíma).

Lögin sögðu einnig til um hversu mikið bjórinn mátti kosta, en einn Mass (sem er að mér skilst um 1069ml) mátti einungis kosta 1 Munich Pfennig, eða 2 Pfennig sem jafngiltu því (fór eftir hvar í Þýskalandi verslað var) og er mér sagt að það sé jafngildi €0,02 í dag. Brugghús sem segjast brugga eftir þessu er tæknilega skilt að fylgja þessu eftir.

Þessi lög voru einstaklega mikilæg því þetta tryggði að hráefnið væri fyrsta flokks, eða því sem næst því bjórneysla var mikil á þeim tíma og skipti engu um aldur, kyn, stöðu í þjóðfélaginu og s.frv, það var oftar öruggara að neyta bjórs en neysluvatnsins og bjargaði það því mörgum mannslífum.

Þó löginn séu yfir 500 ára gömul og voru ekki fyrstu neytendalögin sem sögur fara af, þá eru þau svo sannarlega ein veigamestu og ein frægustu lög sem sett hafa verið, og allt er það að þakka bjórnum. Það er vissulega margt annað hægt að segja um þessi lög og hvetjum við því öll um að kynna sér það nánar hér.

23/04/2023