Visit to Ribe Bryghus in Denmark - Photos!
 

The most cool beer-related part of our recent visit to Denmark and Sweden was in Ribe, Denmark. Ribe is a small village in southwest Denmark and is the oldest still existing village from the Viking Age, established as a trading post in 700 AD. It is tiny, picturesque and was a great place to spend six days.

We enjoyed some locally made beer there, brewed by Ribe Bryghus, while eating in a restaurant. The next day, my son saw a guy pedaling a delivery bike, delivering cases of the beer! He stopped the guy and asked where the brewery was, could we visit, etc. The guy invited us to join them the next day when they would be bottling another batch.

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This my son and one of the three guys who run Ribe Byrghus. That machine is how they fill the bottles. Then they cap each bottle individually with a table capper. Each bottle then goes into a pastuerizer and then is labeled by hand.

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That is the pastuerizer in the background. These guys were homebrewers and began this brewery, which they described as a hobby brewery, in a picturesque little courtyard space in Ribe, about two blocks from the village center.

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All three of them have other jobs, the brewery is only open when they are working, and they deliver only to nearby restaurants and pubs. They only bottle, no kegs.

You can see their website at www.ribebryghus.dk If you use chrome as your browser, you can ask it to translate the site into English.

I enjoyed all their beers, especially a Belgian-esque blond, a brown ale, and a "Jubilee" beer they brewed to celebrate an anniversary. The jubilee had juniper and chamomile in it, very tasty.

The following pictures were all taken at midnight, without flash, to let you know how much sunlight they enjoy during the summer!

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This is Ribe's main street.

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This is Ribe Cathedral.

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And this is where we stayed - the guest rooms on the second floor. The four open windows are our rooms. The inn dates from the 15th century.

Hope you enjoy this little beer-related report from our travels this summer. Skaal!

Now that's a brew hut. Nice 'hobby' brewery!

They said they bought the equipment from a brewery in the UK that was going bigger.

Vikings obtaining from the UK? Same as it ever was.;)

Pffft. And the Brits got their stuff from the Romans. ;)

Let's also not forget that some believe even the Scottish kilt was based on a Viking skirted war garment called the Kjalt.

Looks like it was a nice trip! My family hails back to Norway and I've always wanted to go out there. Maybe when my son is old enough to enjoy the trip (He's almost seven months old, so there's time).

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Their beers

Jet, the best part of the trip was being there with my sons (18 and 16). The travel writer Rick Steves says that travel is "life intensified" - 5+ weeks spent together traveling with my sons was an opportunity I will probably not have again, and it was great.

That looks like one of those places you visit and don't want to leave. Nice trip!

Here are some more photos that you might find interesting (I didn't take them, you can tell because they're good):

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http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...be_Bryghus.jpg

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...332_Large_.jpg

I can't find a copy of a pic of their delivery bike, which is very fun. Maybe later . . . .

Awesome post. Thanks for sharing!