About the beer
Our aim is to brew very good beer by combining best from Norwegian and international traditions through modern production.Our brewery
The aim of Lillehammer Microbrewery Ltd is to brew very good beer by combining best from Norwegian and international traditions through modern production.
We only use the best raw materials. We have invested in a modern brewery which came from Brauhaus Austria, Bruck am Mur in Austria. The brewery was designed according to our wishes and instructions, through the dialogue with the designer, dipl. Ing. Dr. Vincent Fleck. The design includes: brewing kettle, mash vessel, hot water tanks, cooking units, centrifuge and cooler plates. The fermentation tank has a capacity of 1000 liters.
Capacity of brewery is 50,000 liters per year. With additional storage and serving tanks, we have the ability to produce between four to five different types of beer at the same time. The brewery is flexible and can be expanded if needed.
Beer and food
MenuBeer, as a very old hospitality tradition in Norway, goes well with traditional Norwegian food. In the last 30-40 years, we have developed a very good understanding of wine, while the knowledge about the connection between beer and food has more or less been forgotten. The answer is so simple: If YOU like something, that is the best! If you want to learn more, please participate at our popular beer tasting.
Beer is made out of malt, hops, yeast and water. Some special types of beer may contain other additives. The taste of beer depends of the taste of ingredients. Or simplified, even thou the beer variations are almost endless, it is always possible to find the one that perfectly fits you, regardless of the ordered dish.
Shellfish
Beer goes excellent with shellfish that has a basic salty taste. While shrimps have a light basic flavor, crabs have a powerful one. Prawns go well with a light-hops-lager/pils. The need for more bitter beer comes when heavy sauces are served e.g., mayonnaise, sour cream, Crème Fraiche. Crabs taste best with beer with lots of flavor and fullness. Good tip could be: Bokk-beer or beers which are not too bitter, but contain lots of malt. “Mussels and Stout” as a classical Irish combination!
Fish
This area opens a wide range: White, non-greasy, light taste (cod), red, greasy and full-bodied taste (salmon, trout). A beer which is not to bitter and intrusive goes well with light flavors. How about an Ale or Wheat beer? More “push” is needed when eating red and powerful fish. For example, a Pils. Fish also gets processed: graving, raking, smoking, grilling. Sauces also contribute to the taste. Stronger taste tolerates stronger and bitter beers. Sweetness of smoked fish goes well with India Pale Ale.
Fermented trout is an everlasting tradition in Lillehammer and the surrounding area. If we would not have Aquavit, we could have tried India Pale Ale or some strong porter. But Aquavit is part of the story, and then it can quickly become too much of it. Then instead, why not try a Christmas beer. Bacalao, as a fish dish is constantly gaining new friends. It is heavily spiced food, so the strong and quite bitter beer could be a good companion.
Bird
Again, we talk about the preparation, side dish and the character of the meat that determines the choice of the beer. Grilled chicken is very popular. So, try a Brown ale or Pale ale that are not too bitter. Pay attention when herbs and garlic are used, and consider more bitter beer, such as a Czech lager. For more greasy birds, such as duck, you can try either a bitter lager or an India Pale ale.
Meat
Beer and steak? Great combination! Beef has a neutral basic taste. The taste image is largely formed by what we add: onion, pepper, garlic, butter. It can easily be followed by pilsner or Ale.
Pork: Non-greasy with a slightly sweet basic taste. Suitable for beers with some sweetness, such as brown ale or bock beer. But again, we need to pay attention to what we season meet with. A thick strip of fat requires bitterness!
Veal: Tender and light. Served with a light-colored, fatty sauce without a lot of strong flavors. After the greasy sauce and without decreasing the taste of the veal, a medium bitter beer or even a wheat beer, which is a bit sour, will taste well.
Cheese
We are used to eat cheese and red wine. Actually, it is a very strong digestive combination because many cheeses have a salty and somewhat bitter basic taste. Beer fits better in equation! Try wheat beer with brie or full-bodied pale ale with camembert. Stilton cheese is traditionally associated with port wine. Porter or strong wheat beer can be just as good suggestion.
Dessert
Beer and dessert? Try bock beer and cream-cake! Or a powerful stout for chocolate-cake.
Types of beer
Pilsner
First known Pilsner beer was brewed in 1842 in a small municipal brewery in the city of Plzen, Bohemia, todays Czech Republic. The brewer, Joseph Groll, was German. Until those days, beer had mostly been dark with a distinct malt taste. Groll used light malt and hops from Zatec. The fermentation took place at low temperature and the beer was stored in cold, underground corridors at the zero degrees temperatures for several months. This beer became very popular.
As early as 1874, beer became well known in “The New World”. Soon the other breweries in Europe started production and the small brewery in Plzen did not think of patenting either the name or the recipe. As a result of that lager /pils can be brewed anywhere. In Norway word lager/Pils is a synonym for a phrase «one beer, please».
There is no good beer without good water! Lillehammer municipality provides first-class water, very suitable for our purpose: clean and cold, with the right pH and suitable mineral content. We think that we have the honor and a duty to carry on the brewing tradition from Bohemia. With the help of delicate malt, first-class yeast and fresh hops, we brew Lillehammer pilsner – our local version of perhaps the world’s most famous type of beer.
Ale
Ale Celtic word and Øl Norwegian word both have the same meaning – beer: Alcoholic beverage brewed from barley malt. In modern times Ale is especially popular in Britan. There is nobody, who has been to an English pub and has not been served “a pint of bitter”? Ale is fermented at a higher temperature than other beers. The fermentation process is faster and more flavors develop in the beer. Ale should not be stored for a long time. Belgium, perhaps the “biggest” beer country of all, has incredible diversity of ales.
In our brewery, we have chosen to brew according to English recipes. There are many of them, so it is not completely certain that we will brew the same type of ale all the time. With such a great variety of taste, aroma, bitterness and color, it is exciting to be able to serve different types of ale – from the light to the dark browns. Common element to all beers is usage of first-class English pale-malt as a basis. Sometimes we also add a handful of chalk or plaster in the brewing pan to mimic the water from Burton-on-Trent. And you can be sure that you will get the taste of Fuggles or East Kent Goldings, two classic English hop types.
According to brew-master’s opinion, an ale should be enjoyed in pleasant company of nice conversation with good friends.
Wheat beer
Wheat beer is an old version of beer: in the Middle Ages it was common for wheat and barley to grow in the same field. The malt received from those fields gave a special fresh and slightly sweet taste due to the wheat, which was considered a more valuable and finer grain. Therefore, the wheat brewing was reserved for the aristocracy.
Later, as part of the general democratization, aristocracy regulation was canceled, and wheat beer become very popular in Germany and Belgium. Our brew-master has made his own version: Brewed according to the Purity Act and as a refreshing alternative.
Stout
Stout is black as night and has its origins in Britain, but is brewed everywhere. Stout was common in the 19th century, and the strongest types were eventually exported to – and later produced by – the Russian tsars. Typical for stout is fermentation at high temperature, and its content of very dark malt and / or roasted barley: Unsprouted barley is heated at high temperature so that it is almost burnt. Due to the barrier in the Baltic Sea, before the First World War, export to the Baltic states from England and Ireland was stopped and restrictions were imposed: grain was to be used for food, energy was not to be used for roasting grain. The stout disappeared from England, but Ireland did not care much about what London decided, and continued to brew stout. So today, Guinness is probably the most famous dark beer in the world.
Lillehammer brewery also wants to carry on this tradition. Stout is definitely worth of a closer look. Our version is based on the recipe from our own brewery supplier, Vincent Fleck, the way he makes it in his “Brauhaus” in Austria. We have chosen to use Fuggles as hops to honor the country of origin. Our goal is to be able to offer five different types of beer in our own premises. In addition to this, we can deliver beer to external customers, currently in 30-liter barrels, eventually also in bottles.
IPA (Indian Pale Ale)
IPA was originally a Pale Ale with a higher alcohol content and more of the processed hops. When it turned out that the beer endured the long voyage from England to India, it was eventually considered a separate type of beer. It is now brewed in most small breweries around the world.
This type of beer is probably irresistible to many because of its distinct bitterness and hop aroma. At the same time, it is thrilling to have a beer that shows such a clear imprint of specific ingredients. In addition to the aromas of hops, such as citrus, herbs, freshly cut grass and pine needles, IPA often has a fruitiness and a hint of light and medium-dark malt. Our version is a black IPA, where in addition to the mentioned ingredients we use burnt malt (chocolate malt). Combination gives a good balance between the bitterness from hops and the sweetness from the chocolate malt.