Welcome to the Grown-up Travel Guide 2015 Beer Diary!
A little background info: in December a group of us decided to set up the 2014 Beer Advent Calendar, whereby we would try a new beer each day up until Christmas. We shared our tipples on Facebook and Instagram and a great time was had by all – plus we all got to learn about some fine brews from around the world.
Faced with a sense of emptiness when the challenge was over I decided that 24 days a year was just not enough. Why not a year of beer? And so here we are. I reckon a beer a day can keep the doctor away – but even if not it’ll be fun, right?
Given that a large proportion of the year 2015 will be spent in foreign climes there will be the added element of finding a new brew wherever we travel and there are a huge number of excellent beers available here in Norway too – most of which I doubt any of our readers will have heard of.
Your participation is not only encouraged but required – just use the hashtag #grownupbeerdiary if possible. Add your entries here and/or use our social media channels – whatever works best for you.
To keep it simple follow the same format as we do here: describe your day in a maximum of five sentences, add some info about the beer and a photo or two.
Obscure ales and imports IPAs are always interesting but there’s to be no snobbery here – anything goes, even alcohol-free as we all need a good alternative now and again. We’ll work out the practicalities as we go – but since the first day of the year is nearly over we better get started on this journey around the world – in beer form. Cheers!
Day 25: January 25, 2015
Diary entry:
So, this was a first – my first time making beer, actually.
I spent most of this Sunday at my good friend and fellow beerophile Bernt’s place getting schooled in the art of home brewing.
In three weeks time I should be able to enjoy one of our own as my beer of the day – and it looks like it could be a good one.
We made our first attempt at a German wheat beer, so fingers crossed.
Today’s ‘proper’ entry in the beer diary is not quite as local, but close…
The Beer:
Name: Utpå Wit (wheat beer)
Producer: Austmann Bryggeri
Alcohol content: 4.5%
Bottle size: 0.33 l
Purchased from: Local supermarket
#grownupbeerdiary
Austmann is one of several microbreweries in my home town of Trondheim, Norway to have achieved great success in recent years. These guys are really prolific brewers with a pretty huge range for such a new company, and I’m a big fan of everything I’ve tried so far.
Utpå is a wheat beer that’s got a real taste of the summer – so a welcome treat in the middle of winter. If I could change one aspect I would have it a little less fizzy, but that’s a minor quibble as it has an excellent flavour.
For a full list of all the beers sampled so far this year, just look under the Beer Diary category – you’re sure to find some tasty inspiration 🙂
