Øl, Øl, Øl…Copenhagen Øl Diaries!

Dear København,

I’d like to express my thanks for opening your arms to us this weekend. You made us feel welcome, you quenched our never-ending thirst for great craft beer beverages, you gave us the taste of a normal life and made us feel alive once again.

We’ll be back (please don’t take it as a threat).

Yours sincerely,

Some very happy beer heads from Ireland.

P.S.: We are leaving with empty wallets – but with full bags of memories (and some thankfully unexploded beers too.)

Tak.

‘Twas a love at first sip.

We all know the world’s story. We can’t travel as much or as comfortably. We are all exhausted and dog-tired after the last year and many months of we-all-know-what-but-let’s-not-say-its-name. I am sceptically grabbing my suitcase that is prepared to travel to Denmark for the last 2 years and sadly put on hold many times ever since. Getting to the airport, almost missing our flight and perfectly replicating the airport running scene from Home Alone 2 (or any other movie, really)…sure why would you not spice it up and mix in some adrenaline to it?!

Here we are, Copenhagen. We made it. Finally. And we are ready to experience what you have to offer. And dear, oh dear, you sure do have a lot in your pockets!

Øl, Øl, Øl…

Pubs? Holy Moly! It’s like having Underdog (miss you, guys!) in every corner of the town. When you are walking into a pub and can’t close your mouth over the selection your face is constantly slapped with. Impressed, overwhelmed, very thirsty and jealous.

Copenhagen = MUST visit and will certainly visit AGAIN.

Here are some quick highlights of our city beer wanderings:

After our first skål in Bootleggers, we are hitting the Aslin’s tap takeover in Peders. 61 different draft choices in Taphouse – where flashing the lights is not a sign for the last orders, but for a new beer freshly tapped. Nice & cosy family atmosphere in Godt Øl as our refreshment station after walking through the Copenhagen streets, being tourists as you do, sucked into a traditional craft place Lord Nelson, heading to check out Skaal with yet another impressive 48 draft beers available. To Øl’s BRUS has to be included (at least the brewpub visit, but the brewery is already on the list for next time!). Crowd of MBCC survivors hangovering together and jumping back on the horse in Warpigs on Sunday (the weather is just amazing, imagine one of those sunny days in Ireland!), moving onto Fermentoren and having to pay a visit to Viktoriagade which is the very first spot of the Mikkeller’s bar imperium. Oh let’s not forget the Kihøskh – an innocent-looking shop that hides its real gems in the downstairs cellar. Just go in if you are in Copenhagen. Just do it. And while you are there, drop in to their Rbaba’rrab pub just across the road too.

And when you are about to realize that your beer trip is nearly over, the airport will warmly hug you with one last taste of crafty Denmark in Mikkeller’s airport location. You can quietly enjoy your final drink while crying inside, planning your beer detox for the rest of the year, and whispering your last skål to the country that won over your heart in such a short period of time. I’ll be back, Denmark, I will. This is not a farewell, this is just a healthy little break for our passionate relationship.

Sláinte – Cheers – Nazdravie – Skål!

October 25, 2021 by RaduzaKopriva Categories: Pivné novinkyTags: Beer Diary, Beer Travels, Copenhagen, Craft Beer, Denmark 2 Comments

Going down the Wickla’ Way!

Here I am… Summer 2021. Writing this little diary and still not knowing when we can freely jet-off and land somewhere nice, somewhere far away, just for a few days… Crying out loud as always, because we can’t do this and we can’t do that and it all sucks! (pardon my English, or not.)

How about, let’s make the most out of it?

Speaking about holidays we are all by now familiar with all the hashtag #staycation – that can honestly make your wallet feel like chopping the onion – full of tears (and they are not those of happiness, believe you me.)

Let’s explore more and see what we can do to kill (read: honestly enjoy) our time within my area!

It is so close and maybe somehow not – it is a destination.

It has got to have something to do with beer. Come on. If you read this, you know yourself.

Wicklow Wolf, beer heads.

I am actually super embarrassed by not visiting this brewery up until now since their big movement in 2019. At the same time – I’ve never been to Cork, I’ve been to Galway only once in my life and so on and so on… and there is a pandemic riding on, let’s just not forget that please.

Here I go, jumping in the car from the Dublin roads packed with the traffic as usual, shaking-off the uncomfortable feeling of not being behind the wheel for a while (sure where would I be travelling to in the middle of pandemic anyway?!), singing my favourite songs and all of a sudden: I am here. In front of the brewery, being navigated perfectly by the higher power of technology…and not getting confused at all. Here’s one of the benefits for the lost souls like me (that can get lost on the straight road with no problem): It is super easy to find. Even easier if you actually park in the brewery area, not a car park down below….(let me have at least that one!)

Have you seen that place?!

It’s massive!

It’s amazing!

My little (but long) speech is over now, go on and enjoy the pictures!

I’d like to thank very much to all the crew at the Wicklow Wolf! From the point of coming in through your Tap-Room area I felt warm and welcomed, big shout out to Cath! (Sorry for misspelling your name in advance!) Following up with John who showed me around the brewery and introduced me to the whole operation, having chats and samples fresh-off-the-tank (Spolier-alert-not-a-spoiler-alert – there are some AMAZING brews coming down the line and they are not finished fermenting yet but they are amazing already…keep your eyes peeled, they’ll also be a limited edition so once you snooze, you’ll lose). And Quincey? Quincey is the energizer bunny – pumping up everyone around with his endless energy and it’s always a pleasure to chat to this guy!

Clapping.

Multiple by hundreds.

I am genuinely super excited to see all WW’s future adventures, because I will be the first one to queue – not because of the corona restrictions (fingers crossed), but because of the amount of people.) Best of luck to the Wicklow Wolf Team, there’s some amazing stuff to be looking forward to!

P.S.: If you are around and about – whether you are driving or drinking – pop in to say hello to them. They are currently open and offer plenty of a great stuff to enjoy in their cozy outside area! (Including the coffee and hot drinks, some pastry to bite and whatever you want!)

P.S.2: Raindrop is a drop (that you don’t want to drop) and works perfectly as a refreshener in a humid weather like today/maybe tomorrow/maybe the day after tomorrow

The very last P.S. I promise: I got a can of Mammoth fresh off the canning line and it is unbelievable.

And the very very last one: I’m bad with names. I actually met lots of lovely Wicklow Wolves in action and please do forgive me for not mentioning your names, but this whole experience is all about the people who made this place amazing and I can’t thank you all enough for it!

Sláinte – Cheers – Nazdravie!

July 13, 2021July 14, 2021 by RaduzaKopriva Categories: Pivné novinky Leave a comment

Crescendo of the hazy. 5 Shades of IPA

MICRO – IPA – DIPA – TIPA – QUIPA

My favourite style to drink any day is definitely IPA (what a boring stereotype, I know!). There is plenty on the market and the options are endless, sometimes shocking. Last week cheered me up with many new brews brought out and at the end my shopping basket selection looked very…sad. Here we go again, I filled it with mostly IPAs…

BUT WHAT IPAs! The tasting results made me extremely happy at the end (for sure supported with the crazy ABV numbers I gradually climbed up). These are the highlights of my past week or shall we say ‘crescendo’ of the hazy & boozy…

DOT BREW – EARLY BIRD MICRO IPA 2.8% ABV

Early bird gets the worm, but who wants the warm if you can have this juicy micro IPA? The micro IPA season is officially on and it is joyful to see breweries being back at it again. The winter was dark and long enough, and there will always be a special space in a day for a good dark warming brew, but let’s break it for now with something super easy to drink!

One of the first thirst-quenchers of the year is coming from Dot Brew and I must agree that it is very difficult to get the low-abv beers done well without losing the flavour and body. Nice and easy drinking. All day along sipper. Pints on the terrace would be flowing, sitting there, sipping this and waching people getting their first sunburn of the year. (Yeah let’s keep pub-dreaming!)

RASCALS – BRUCE’S HAZY NZ IPA 6.2% ABV

I’ve had a great opportunity to be a part of a little collab brew with Brú Brewery last year and our take on a single hop IPA using Nelson Sauvin worked out very well! I discovered the beauty of this New Zealand hop and since then I am always very excited to taste a different take on using this hop in a different way by different breweries out there. Here we have Bruce’s Hazy NZ IPA coming from Rascals as the latest one and I couldn’t wait to taste it!

Pouring hazy – but not murky jaysus-it’s-dirty hazy – beautiful haziness in the glass. Combo of the blend of Bruce freestyle hops (Nelson Sauvin, Motueka, Pacific Jade and Pacifica) with a boost of Nelson Sauvin both in a whirpool and heavily dry-hopped during the fermentation. You have these qualities of wine alongside with some tropical and citrusy flavours coming through and it makes this beer very satisfying and pretty amazing I must say, honestly!

Chur Bro!

STONE BARREL – SHOUT! DIPA 7.5% ABV

Shouting is somehow very satisfying and so is this latest DIPA from Stone Barrel screaming for an attention. Shouting so loud that I couldn’t just ignore it. Let’s step it up with 7.5% ABV, we are half-way through the week and this sounds like a reasonable mid-point ABV of the selection.

Smooth is the first word that pops into my mind. Went down very well, packed with hoppy flavours, tropical mood to it and once again hazy in the glass. Well-made DIPA on the market that will be enjoyed by many IPA lovers, hiding it’s higher (but not crazy) ABV too well and you’ll just want to have one more, because it’s sooo good!

WHIPLASH & BARRIER & NAPARBIER & GARAGE – HEADLINES TIPA 10.5% ABV

Making its comeback, I was delighted to see more of Headlines on the market! I got my first can late in 2020 after its release, got to taste it early this year and was very happy with the result. It’s back now and all I can say is get it if you haven’t tasted it yet.

Hazy as-f, juicy as-f, big and bold. Definitely the newspapers’ first page material. Even in these weird virtual times, there is always a way to get a great collaboration done! This idea of a big collab brew was born at the first Fidelity festival back in 2019 and something is brewing for this year (let’s not jinx it because it’s one of a very few actual events so far in my diary to be looking forward to this year).

TO ØL – QUADZILLA QUIPA 13% ABV

Quadzilla vs. Ping Pong: One monster of a battle but honestly you can’t fight Quadzilla. QIPA (sounds pretty cool) from To Øl.

Pretty scared to crack this one open, but not a single regret. And no regret that I decided to share this one, because it was one beast from Denmark. Be careful there with 13% ABV. This one was just big on everything you wish for – big on volume, big on hops, big on flavour, big on juice and big on haze. Slightly sweeter taste to it (considering its % fair to expect) so makes the perfect dessert. Beast after dinner feast. Puts you in bed quietly (or respectively you’ll fall asleep on the couch, all happy, not really willing to move to bed anymore).

Another round of beers that I took out for a walk (within my 5k circle, of course) came to its end.

Until the next one.

Sláinte – Cheers – Nazdravie!

March 8, 2021March 8, 2021 by RaduzaKopriva Categories: Pivné novinkyTags: Craft Beer, DIPA, IPA, micro IPA, QUIPA, TIPA Leave a comment

Beer in a week…or my week in a beer!

I’m back!

And jumping right into bringing my little write-ups about some beer highlights that I tasted. (But to be honest – mainly to make my little brother jealous about what kind of beers I can easily have, and he can’t!)

Last week of February brought out not only sunshine to my days, but also some beautiful brews that have just been released recently and I was very excited to taste them. Shall we see what’s in the basket this past week?

To Øl – Kokomo – Berliner Weisse 5% ABV

What a refreshing beverage to start with! I used to absolutely hate sour beers before (and I would slap my face for saying this now!). My tasting pallets thankfully opened (you know – training makes perfect and I feel like a champion considering the amount of beers drank!) and I remember Berliner Weisse being the perfect start for dipping my toes into the world of tart and sour flavours in my beer.

The sourness is not overpowering and usually nicely complimented by the choice of some fruity flavours in there that balances out any uncomfortable sourness! If you have any doubts about going the sour direction and taking the next step, definitely look out for some nice Berliner Weisse style brews. It truly is a thirst-quencher for the days we are in! The season has started!

Hope – Limited Edition No. 23 – Nitro Stout 4.8% ABV

This is a very delicate topic to go into, especially if you live in Ireland with many… Jaysus SO MANY beer drinkers (including craft beer lovers, and it’s pretty standard and understandable!) who consider the most famous ruby red nitro drink being sacred. To be honest, I did not grow up being fed Guinness instead of the breast milk (stereotypical joke I couldn’t resist writing down, I am very sorry) and I only drink it with blackcurrant cordial (yes, please don’t throw a stone at me now) so I am not too petty about it. I honestly don’t think that guys from Hope aimed to fight ‘the big boys’ and ‘call out the war’, I believe that they just love experimenting with what’s missing on the Irish craft beer market and just went for it! If I’d be absolutely mad about stouts, I would say this would definitely become my fridge beer, bringing out a nice proper stout with addition of nitro bringing smoothness and creaminess to it. Nothing super crazy mad about it flavour-wise, but a proper stout you can enjoy and feel good about it.

I always enjoyed their limited-edition stout releases, and I think they know exactly how to simplify the craziness happening around the beer experiments these days. They just bring something that will be such a satisfying proper product that you can rely on with every sip you take. We can only hope that HOPE will consider including this in their core range that is available all-year-around. Go on, go on, go on!

Hopfully – Quicksand – DDH NEIPA 6.5% ABV

Shining bright with its can appearance and a beautiful artwork supporting small craft artists. It looks like a sunshine for these dark times! And it works perfectly.

I was so happy to see and hear about the newest release Quicksand coming from gipsy brewers at this relatively still young brewery on the scene. They sealed the deal with their re-branding into 330ml cans for their core range (which looks amazing!) and specials in a bigger package, thankfully! They know how to treat New England pales and NEIPAs very well and they proved it over the time, and the newest one is one great brew to enjoy. Reading the description, it promised to become one of my best friends for the weather transition these days and the time of the release worked perfectly with such an unexpectable weather conditions here (let’s be honest, got used to it at this stage, it’s honestly not that bad but still…).

You open that shiny can rimmed with the sprinkles of sun and it hits you with a full world of discovering the hops world. It hits you with a tropical fruit notes, and you just want to dip into it like you would dip into your favourite cocktail sipping on the hot sunny day on the beach on your holiday (yeah, let’s keep going with our dreams of travelling again soon.) What a punch of a liquid holiday in a can! Surprisingly I though it would be a little sweeter according to the smell, but its mild bitterness brings it down to a nice balance. Gimme a straw and I will thank you for that! (Just on a side note I already had 4 of them since the release, because it is so nice to go back to. Hopfully there will be plenty around to keep me going in the coming weeks!)

Trouble Brewing – Voodoo Logic 2021 – Imperial Maple Stout 10% ABV

Trouble Brewing’s latest limited release of Voodoo Logic was my first date with this brew ever and I am a little sad not being able to compare it to its previous releases! I was surprised that it was not sweet-as-hell coming at ‘only’ 10% ABV, considering the use of maple syrup in there. And it was very much appreciated. Stouts in general are a very heavy beverage (speaking for myself anyway) and adding on a higher volume bit can be very challenging. I wasn’t annoyed by the whole package of dark&malty&coffee&sweet&roasty&chocolate concept. It was well balanced considering the imperial side of it. Very nice to share as a dessert after dinner for sure!

This is definitely a ‘beer cellar’ material (we just love hoarding up on beers and then discovering them randomly around the house, and some of them are still absolute legends and even nicer after a few years of hiding and ageing! I will make sure to hide a can in our gaff and can’t wait to find it randomly in few years!)

Basqueland & Fuerst Wiacek – Digital Symphony – Double NEIPA 8% ABV

The last, but certainly not least! I do love my DIPAs. Not because of the level of booziness that comes with it – it’s actually the opposite. One well-made DIPA won’t kick your taste buds down with its alcoholic flavour and will hide it well behind the flavour. Basqueland and Fuerst Wiacek made their appearance in Ireland this year for the first time with their showcase of what they do, and from my previous experience they proved it very well.

Here we got one juicy bomb, pouring hazy and exploding not only in its hops flavour but surprisingly not coming out super sweet, but perfectly smooth. Perfect symphony of flavours and I will be stocking up on this one for sure. Bursting in fruity flavours and playing its symphony in the perfect harmony. Nice juice!

That’s it for today.
Until the next one.
Sláinte – Cheers – Nazdravie!

February 28, 2021March 1, 2021 by RaduzaKopriva Categories: Pivné novinkyTags: Craft Beer Leave a comment

Fidelity to Craft Beer 2019… Fidelity forever.

We were passing by the Mansion House in Dublin City Centre and there was a bunch of people that looked like they were waiting and queuing for SOMETHING THAT WAS OFFERED FOR FREE. So we joined the crowd. Just for the craic!

Just joking. They were queuing for one of the most exciting craft beer events happening this year in Dublin city centre. FIDELITY BEER FESTIVAL 2019. We got our tickets straight away after they were released, cause we love craft beer so much and it feels like booking holidays every time we do! This time it was a surprise-mother-fuckers-we-are-going-to-this-festival kind of thing. (Thank you, Bren!)

And that’s how our crew got into the Mansion House.

And we got in. Even though we had some doubts about it as we were very loud even before. (I mean, Leeroy was, he can’t help himself to stop laughing so loud.) Security lads were such a sweethearts to let us in!

Off we go, to the world of craft beer we’ve never tasted!

I had a brilliant plan. I was going to taste every single beer I’ve never had before in my life and write a brilliant story about it. Whiplash announced breweries and the full ‘playlist’ and I was shocked. My mouth wouldn’t close and I started to doubt myself. (For a reason!)

This session promised 68 beers pouring. Out of 68 beers according to my sophisticated plan I was supposed to taste 65 beers I have never tasted before in my life. That’s the moment when you realize that craft beer world is so magical and there are no limits or ends to it! (Happy inside, but c’mon lads, how am I supposed to taste it all?! You’ve ruined my day and made it the most exciting day in 2019 at the same time. I don’t even know if I love you so much or hate you for my hangover in advance.)

Radka’s Beer Club presents what we’ve tasted! (It is possibly more, but I was too paranoid about losing camera or dignity. Or my vaping device. I did. Sure look, it wouldn’t be a party without losing anything, would it? (I’m pretty sure about losing my vaping shtick, sure about not losing my camera, but about the rest, I’m still thinking…)

Here we go!

Nice and easy, just on the right-hand side welcomed by FUERST WIACEK. Can I have one of each, please? Both of them were very enjoyable IPAs, and my choice of the number 2 was a winner for me anyway so I was more than happy to start this session with the Smoothie one!

‘Cheers’

We got these tasting glasses that are a perfect decoration and memory for Fidelity Festival.

‘And the next stop is…’

THE FIVE POINTS. Could we, please, have one of each?

That’s when it started to be about ‘I’ll have the dark one and you can have the other one, but we’ll taste them both.’ Okay.

We sneaked out to see what’s upstairs and took some pictures before a nice security lad told us that we can’t stay there. He was so nice to let us take some paparazzi pictures from up there!

The crowd getting bigger…

The music is always a very important part of these sessions! Cheers for that, it was a great addition to our craft beer tasting by DJs I-would-like-to-mention-but-don’t-know-their-names-cause-I-am-a-crappy-reporter. (Let me know who you are and I will be more than happy to edit this.)

DEYA Brewing.

They broke us into bigger pieces and also invoiced us for the microphone.

Great beer! Both of them were the best IPAs I’ve tasted there!

You never mess with YORKSHIRE. ‘Cause LADY OF SUNSHINE will come to beat you up.

Taking picture of the person taking picture! How artistic is this?!

This is the stop where we still knew who is going to drink what. I was the ‘I’ll go for the other one than stout’ one and he was ‘I’ll take whatever is left’ one.

‘Which one is mine? It doesn’t matter, just pose, FFS!’

This is Bren. Bren is the person who forced me to drink craft beer when I came to Ireland. I fell in love with the craft beer and now this guy got stuck with me. Who is the winner? Me, FOR SURE!

‘The one where I was trying to be a BEER artist.’

‘The one when I started to take pictures of people behind the brews.’

‘There you go, enjoy!’

‘The one when I was asked not to bring any more stout, but I did. And it was delicious.’

‘Fidelity 2019 rocks!’

‘The one that we came too late to have ‘One of each, please’.’

‘Glug…glug…glug…’

‘The one that I actually didn’t bring any stout. And it was brewlicious.’

‘The One that I went back to crazy imperial stouts…’

I got excited about sour red ale because now I am a huge fan of sours! Haha, would you believe that? They actually ARE very refreshing even though they don’t smell like the first flower of the spring… but they are. And our package ‘Can we please have one of each?’ comes with another Imperial Stout.