Craft Beer Review #4 - To Øl - CPH: Hyggebajer
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| Figure 1: To Øl - CPH's Hyggebajer in can. |
The Brewery
It's probably worth talking about the difference between the breweries "To Øl" and "To Øl - CPH", and then I can stop making the distinction. Founded in 2010, To Øl is a gypsy brewery. That is, To Øl are brewers that do not own their own physical brewery[1], but instead travel around to other breweries, and use the equipment of established physical breweries[2]. Gypsy brewing is a popular, and successful method of brewing, employed by others to much success[3].I won't go to far into the details of To Øl's history, as I think that might make an interesting blog post of its own, but in 2016 To Øl opened BRUS, their own brew pub[4], with a canning line. Hence, To Øl now have their own brewing facilities! But anything made at the BRUS site is actually made under the brewery name "To Øl - CPH", and anything made by the gypsy brewing arm of the company is simply a "To Øl" beer. So, To Øl is still a gypsy brewery, technically.
To Øl take their name from two sources: (a) To Øl means "two beers" in Danish, and (b) it was founded by two high school friends Tore Gynther and Tobias Emil Jensen, so it had their names kind of in there too. The two friends began home brewing[5] out of an anger towards old breweries producing stale, boring lager, but doing so proudly because their recipe is very old. They go on to say "As if a stale lager has ever become less nauseous by the fact that it has been brewed for over 100 years?!".
To Øl take pride in producing world class, cutting edge beers, and to date I've had 52 of their brews. I'm a pretty big fan, and I even subscribe to their Beer Club. So far, I've given their beers an average rating of 3.75/5, with a minimum of 3, and a maximum of 4.75[6]. So, I'm expecting good things here.
First Impressions
Hyggebajer[7] is To Øl's take on a traditional Danish Christmas beer. This beer takes a normal red ale[8] for the base of the beer, but star anise is added to the kettle and English licorice is added to the fermenting stage to make this beer "Christmas-y".
The can is simple, and looks to have been inspired by Ikea, and a 1990's black and white printer. The beer pours with an amber head, and a red/amber body[9]. The head dissipated pretty quickly, but since I'm not a foam enthusiast, I'm okay with that.
The nose is...earthy? Like, the herb and spice rack of a food pantry. Not that there's any real specific herb or spice, just that overall vegetal note. There's a sweet caramel note though, probably because the pale malt is driving the cereal profile, but it's forced to fight with the earthy notes[10].
The can is simple, and looks to have been inspired by Ikea, and a 1990's black and white printer. The beer pours with an amber head, and a red/amber body[9]. The head dissipated pretty quickly, but since I'm not a foam enthusiast, I'm okay with that.
The nose is...earthy? Like, the herb and spice rack of a food pantry. Not that there's any real specific herb or spice, just that overall vegetal note. There's a sweet caramel note though, probably because the pale malt is driving the cereal profile, but it's forced to fight with the earthy notes[10].
The Tasting
It starts with a the flavour profile of a red ale, but a really good red ale. There's that malt sweetness, but it's a little burnt. There's also a mild, probably imagined, English breakfast tea flavour. But then something else happens. I think it's the licorice, but if I'm honest, it's not quite the taste of licorice that takes over. It's more the smell, and by that I mean the smell of a bag of gummi-licorice. Disappointingly, I never really got any star anise, but then I'm not a gifted sommelier[12].I'm not sure what I was expecting from a "Christmas beer", but I think I was imagining something more like Glühwein: spice driven, and warming. However, the flavour profile here was that of a particularly well made English red ale. The key difference is the finish. There's a gentle licorice finish, but it's rounded with a wonderful bitter warmth.
Unfortunately, To Øl don't provide their own tasting notes, so I'm going to journey online to see what others have thought. They all agree that this red ale is a red colour. I'm glad I didn't miss that. Many reviewers have claimed to experience a mild/slight licorice flavour, and a malty/caramel base, but I completely missed the grass and hay notes[13].
Final Thoughts
I like this beer. It's not in my top ten beers ever, but it's an extremely pleasant brew to drink. I think that the mean Untappd score is strangely low at 3.14, so don't let that put you off. I also think that Hyggebajer is in some ways a victim of its own marketing. It's not a spicy/herbal, rich warming Christmas beer in the way I imagined it, and the star anise and licorice notes were very subtle[14].
My advice would be to approach it is a red ale first, and judge it on the criteria of being a well made red ale. It is malt rich, it is a little herbal, and it is wonderfully smooth on the finish owing to the perfect bitterness. Then, following this, you will be pleasantly surprised that this excellently made red ale finishes a little differently due to the licorice. "Isn't that fun" you'll say to your friends[15], as you experience this interesting red ale. Only then do you realise it's the Christmas season.....
My advice would be to approach it is a red ale first, and judge it on the criteria of being a well made red ale. It is malt rich, it is a little herbal, and it is wonderfully smooth on the finish owing to the perfect bitterness. Then, following this, you will be pleasantly surprised that this excellently made red ale finishes a little differently due to the licorice. "Isn't that fun" you'll say to your friends[15], as you experience this interesting red ale. Only then do you realise it's the Christmas season.....
So who could I recommend this beer to? It's a red ale, so people that like red ales. It is a particularly well made example, and so it would be an easy sell. It's also not so herbal, and not so rich that a normal ale drinker wouldn't enjoy it. However, at 7.50€, it is a little on the expensive side of red ales.
I wouldn't recommend it to someone looking for that "perfect" Christmas drink though, and only because the things that would make it so Christmasy are so subdued. So, definitely don't leave this one out for Santa, but I'd be happy to break into your house to steal your alcohol[16] if it will help.
I wouldn't recommend it to someone looking for that "perfect" Christmas drink though, and only because the things that would make it so Christmasy are so subdued. So, definitely don't leave this one out for Santa, but I'd be happy to break into your house to steal your alcohol[16] if it will help.
| Brewery | To Øl - CPH |
|---|---|
| Beer | Hyggebajer |
| Style | Red Ale |
| Alcohol | 6.0% |
| IBU | No IBU |
| Price | 7.50€ |
| Untappd Global Score | 3.14 |
| My Untappd Score | 3.9 |
Footnotes
[2] Primarily, To Øl brew at De Proefbrouwerji in Belgium, but they also brew in other locations.
[3] A couple of prominent examples of breweries that started life as gypsy breweries are: Mikkeller, Stillwater Artisanal, and Evil Twin, and they're doing okay for themselves. I guess.
[4] They have six 1000L tanks connected to the bar, and they say "You'll find no shorter route from tank to throat"! While I'm certain drinking straight from the tank disproves this theory, I have visited BRUS and can say I absolutely loved it.
[5] They actually began making home brew in their high school cafeteria kitchen under the guidance of their then teacher, Mikkel Borg Bjergsø, founder of Mikkeller. This is much cooler than my high school which didn't even have an oval for sport, and I once got in trouble for "playing too much chess". Really.
[6] The minimum of 3 was given to their non-alcoholic beer "Under the Radar". It is a genuinely good non-alcoholic beer, but.....well, I have nothing against the Toyota Corolla, but I'd rather drive something more interesting....you feel?
[7] A red ale is an ale made with specialty roasted malts that, while not so roasted that they produce a dark beer, still lend the beer a darker hue, and usually a sweeter, butterscotch like flavour. I also swear I always get a hint of English breakfast tea, but that's probably the hops, and my diminished sense of awareness due to years of drinking.
[8] Hyggebajer translates to "fun beer", or more likely "cosy beer". This makes a lot more sense than the first translation I looked up which was "coughing bows". I'd still have bought it even if it was inspired by an archer with a smoker's cough though.
[9] This did not shock me given that it is a red ale, but I'm mentioning it for completeness.
[10] Once when I was on holidays I fought a bear.[11].
[11] Literally none of that is true. I'm tired, and I think my sense of humour went to bed before me.
[12] I am pretty good at Dr. Mario though. Ladies.
[13] I did not check to see if the reviewer was (a) sitting in grass, (b) a horse, or (c) drinking grass accidentally. I politely agree to disagree here.
[14] The star anise was so subtle that one could describe it as "missing".
[15] In my case, my empty lounge room was simply fascinated to hear all about it.
[16] Again.
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