Carlsberg

Danish lager has a special meaning for me. It was in 1992, when I had my first actual beer drinking sessions, as a 17 year old teen. We were in a school trip to Denmark, Copenhagen and also in Roskilde. We were astonished to buy our own beer from the groceries and drink in pubs too. Grøn Tuborg was then the main brand we drank and it is actually also the number one brand in Denmark.

Carlsberg, however, is the owner of Tuborg breweries (since 1970, Tuborg itself was established in 1873). Nowaways Carlsberg also owns Sinebrychoff from Finland. Carlsberg ads claim that it is "probably the best lager in the world" (earlier it was "the best beer" I think), but it is just a lager. Quite good lager, but nothing fancy.

Its sold nowadays in green bottles that look like soda, which also give an impression of "easy-drinkable" beer. Well, I also like easy-drinkables and there is a time and place for those, but it is still just basic lager. Because of the tanticles that these multinational corporations nowadays have, this Carlsberg I just had, was not brewed in Denmark but somewhere in Baltic and was imported to Finland by Estonian Saku breweries.

Carlsberg is or has been the worlds 5th largest lager brand (I just read that Chinese brand Snow had topped the list over American Bud Light...) and it shows in its marketing and appearance. Its not beer for the beer enthusiasts, but for the masses. Maybe I have to review Carlsberg's Elephant some day.

** Drinkable