Carlsberg Faces the Danish Spring

We all know that during the dominance of the Soviet Union, goods from the Eastern Bloc were complete crap compared to products from the west. Cars, jets, spaceships, media, shoes, and everything else that was made in the USSR, was made better everywhere else. When competition is taken out of the mix, quality diminishes. Monopolies and industry sectors work much in the same way. This exact concept has plagued the innocent country of Denmark since the conception of J.C. Jacobsen's Carlsberg Brewing Group. Denmark had begun producing and exporting the Carlsberg Lager in 1847. Because Jacobsen's brewery developed its own pure strain of lager yeast that was especially fitting for both the styles brewed and the environment, the Pale Lager became the dominant beer style of the Danish. Not long after, other breweries who either brewing other styles of beer or more expensive, higher quality beers fell of the face of Denmark and by the 1950s, the overall quality of beer from Denmark (including Carlsberg) had dropped to levels only matched by those who don't know what beer is.

Carlsberg is still the near-monopoilstic brew of the danish, and the Carlsberg Group is the fourth largest brewery in the world. In recent years, however, microbrews and a few smaller, older, regional breweries have been making small but significant comebacks. Quality changes have yet to be seen on a national scale, but interest for different, better beer among the danish has risen sharply. Brewpubs are now appearing throughout, and production, consumption, and exportation of Danish beer has increased significantly since 2001. In 2010, Denmark was ranked 24th in the world in terms of beer consumption per capita at 67 liters per capita. The country was narrowly beaten (by only one liter/capia/year) by Canada, and ahead of Latvia by less than one liter.

Skaal.

Rated Danish Beers


12-21-14 - Evil Twin I Love You With All My Stout - 3.17, Danish Double/Imperial Stout, 12.00%
3-15-10 - Carlsberg Group Carlsberg - 2.98, Lager, 3.80%

Popular Beer Styles in Denmark

  • Pale Lager
  • Pilsner
  • Guld
  • Hvidtol
  • Paskeol
  • Staerk Lager
  • Julebryg/Juleol
  • Nisseol

    • Danish Breweries with Rated Beer

  • Carlsberg Group - Copenhagen, Denmark
  • Evil Twin Brewing - Copenhagen, Denmark