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Historic Beer Birthday: Axel Heiberg

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ringnes
Today is the birthday of Axel Heiberg (March 16, 1848-September 4, 1932). He was born in Kristiania, Norway. Throughout his life, he “was a Norwegian diplomat, financier and patron.” And most importantly, he “financed the creation of the Ringnes brewery in 1876 together with the brothers Amund Ringnes (brewer) and Ellef Ringnes (administrator and salesman).” The Ringes remained family owned until 1978, and today is part of the Carlsberg Group, and remains the largest brewery in Norway.

AxelHeiberg
Here’s his biography from Wikipedia:

He was married to Ragnhild Meyer, daughter of Thorvald Meyer. They had one child, Ingeborg, who married N. O. Young Fearnley.

Heiberg studied abroad and, after a period as Norwegian consul in China, returned to Norway, where he financed the creation of the Ringnes brewery in 1876 together with the brothers Amund Ringnes (brewer) and Ellef Ringnes (administrator and salesman).

Together with the shipowner Thomas Fearnley, the brewery sponsored the polar expeditions of Fridtjof Nansen and Otto Sverdrup, and funded the construction of the exploration vessel Fram. This led to Heiberg’s name being given to Axel Heiberg Island in Canada, the Axel Heiberg Glacier in Antarctica, and the Geiberg Islands in Siberia.

In 1878 Heiberg was one of the founders of the rowing club Christiania RK. Later he founded the “Consul Axel Heiberg and Manufacturer Hans B. Fasmer Fund” (in 1915 transferred to the Fridtjof Nansen Fund). In 1898 he was one of the founders of the Norwegian Forestry Society, and was chairman until 1923. He also funded the statues of Henrik Ibsen and Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson outside the National Theater in Oslo.

Ringnes-Brewery

This longer biography is from the Norwegian Biographical Encyclopedia, translated into English using Google Translate:

Axel Heiberg was one of the great patrons and supported as well sportsliv as science and art. He is especially known for its support of Nansen, Sverdrup and Amundsen’s polar expeditions. He was also a pioneer in forest management.

Heiberg grew up in Christiania and took school graduation 1867. He immediately started his business career in the US cotton company Wm. M. Tunne & Co. in Savannah, Georgia. Experience The foundation was then extended by two years in the East, as the correspondent of Russell & Co. in Hong Kong and Norwegian-Swedish vice-consul and consular secretary in Shanghai from 1870 to 1872.

Back in Christiania autumn 1872 Heiberg co-owner of several industrial enterprises, including Ringnes brewery, which he founded in 1877 together with his brothers Amund and Ellef Ringnes. He gave Norwegian sports funding, and he himself was active as a rower, sailor, skier and hunter; he was chairman of Christiania Roklub 1882-84 and founded the first Norwegian Kennel Club (Christiania molars). He was also one of the initiators of Huseby gutters, the predecessor to Holmenkollen.

The Fridtjof Nansen’s expedition across Greenland from 1888 to 1889 started Heiberg’s great interest in the polar regions. Along with Thomas Fearnley and Ellef Ringnes he formed the “corresponding line” that enabled Nansen first Fram 1893-96, and he supported the expedition with large amounts. In connection with the Nansen and Fram’s return to Norway in August 1896, he was with the founding of Fridtjof Nansen Foundation for Science Fund Promoting with a contribution of 50,000 crowns. From 1899 he was parliamentary elected member of the board of the Fund. Together with Amund and Ellef Ringnes he bore all the expenses of Otto Sverdrup’s second Fram 1898-1902 to the islands north of Canada, and he also gave financial support to Roald Amundsen’s expeditions with Gjøa in the Northwest from 1903 to 1906 and to the South Pole from 1910 to 1912. Axel Heiberg islands off Siberia, Axel Heiberg Island in Canada and Axel Heiberg Glacier in Antarctica was named after him by the grateful polar farers.

Also Norwegian art and intellectual life benefited consul Heiberg give generous support. He bought many works of art, and in 1899 he poured National statues of Ibsen and Bjornson, which currently stands in front of the entrance. 1906-1910 he was a member of the board of the Museum of Applied Arts.

It can today be discussed on Axel Heiberg is best known for its polar interest or for his great commitment to the Norwegian forests. The latter did enough biggest impression at the time, when he made forest case to a folkesak. He bought the farm Strand in Lyngdal in Numedal to hunting farm and ran it until a model with ia trenching and reforestation from 1888. Norwegian Forestry Society was founded in 1898 on his initiative, and he was the company’s chairman for 25 years. Under mindset “a forest-rich Norway is a mægtig Norway” organized Skogselskapet in his formannstid county forestry companies, courses, nurseries, etc., and put in place measures for children and young people to encourage interest in silviculture. A basic principle was that no generation should reap without also saw and planting. He rendered great financial contribution also to this case. He was a member of Videnskabps-Society in Christiania (now Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters) from 1897 and was an honorary member of both this and the Forestry Company.

Axel Heiberg was appointed a Knight of the Order of St. Olav in 1896, Commander 1900 and was awarded the Grand Cross 1908. 1923 he received Norway’s highest civilian honor, Borgerdådsmedaljen in gold. Christian Gierløff described him as “a Gloger, bold and generous figure, saa Norwegian as some of Snorre”. He was buried in the Grove of Honor at Our Savior’s cemetery in Oslo.

axel-heiberg

And here’s a short history of the brewery, from the tourism site, Go Norway:

Ringnes is Norway´s largest brewery company with approximately 1,200 employees. The company is owned by “Carlsberg Group”, the world´s fourth largest brewery group. We deliver beer, soda and water to the entire Norwegian beverage market and we are proud of our many strong brands!

Ringnes brewery was established in 1876 by brothers Amund Ringnes and Ellef, who came from Ringnes Gard. Amund was brewer, Ellef administrator and salesman, and Axel Heiberg was the financier behind now. 28 November 1877 could Amund Ringnes put the first brewed, thus starting what has now been 130 years of brewing history. Ringnes-brothers stood centrally among those who did Fridtjof Nansen and Otto Sverdrup “Fram” – Finished possible. A lasting memory of this is the three islands in the northernmost Canada (west of Greenland), as Sverdrup named after the brewery´s founders, Axel Heiberg Island, Amund Ringnes Island and Ellef Ringnes Island.

rignes-brewery-photo

Historic Beer Birthday: William Copeland

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kirin
Today is the birthday of William Copeland (January 10, 1834-February 11, 1902). He “was a Norwegian-American brewer. In 1869 he established the Spring Valley Brewery in Yamate, Yokohama, Japan. Spring Valley Brewery was one of Japan’s first beer breweries, and in 1907 became the founding production facility of Kirin Brewery Company, one of Japan’s largest domestic beer producers.”

Here’s his basic biography, from his Wikipedia page:

Copeland was born Johan Martinius Thoresen in Arendal in Norway. In the 1840s, Copeland worked for five years as an apprentice to a German brewmaster a few blocks from his home before immigrating to the United States and changing his name to William Copeland.

Moving to Yokohama, Japan in 1864, Copeland first worked in the dairy business and then set himself up as a brewer in 1869 with the Spring Valley Brewery, which was located at the site of a natural spring next to the Amanuma Pond below the Yamate foreign residential neighborhood, where he dug a 210-meter cave into the side of a hill and used its low fixed temperature to help the beer mature. After Louis Pasteur invented pasteurization, Copeland was quick to adopt the new technique in his factory. Copeland produced three varieties of beer: a lager beer, a Bavarian beer, and a Bavarian Bock beer. His beer was principally sold in casks to local Yokohama taverns with a small amount of bottled beer being made available to foreign residents in Yokohama, and then was shipped to Tokyo and Nagasaki. He went back to Norway and married Anne Kristine Olsen in 1872. They lived in Japan but she became sick and died seven years later. Although Copeland showed talent as a beer brewer, he was a poor manager, and in 1884 Spring Valley Brewery was put up for public auction.

With the assistance of Scottish merchant Thomas Blake Glover, the Spring Valley Brewery was sold in early 1885 to a group of Japanese investors and renamed The Japan Brewery. German brewmaster Hermann Heckert was hired to oversee production. Glover was also instrumental in establishing a sales agency contract with Meidi-ya for the relaunched brewery, Kirin Beer, which was launched in May 1888.

William Copeland’s grave, maintained by Kirin Brewery Company, is located in the Foreigner’s Cemetery in Yamate, Yokohama. The site of the former Spring Valley Brewery is now occupied by Kitagata Elementary School. Monuments and water wells visible at the edge of the school grounds attest to the site’s history.

spring-valley-label
The tourist website Japan Travel has an article, Yokohama Beer Pub, Spring Valley, which gives some additional details about Copeland:

Copeland was born in Arendal Norway in 1834. His original name was Johan Bartinius Thoresen. There was a beer brewery near his house and he was apprenticed to the brewery for five years. After working there, he immigrated to America and changed his name to William Copeland. In 1864 he came to Japan and invested in some companies for a few years. He saved some money and eventually established his own beer brewery, Spring Valley Brewery, in 1870. He came up with various ideas on how to brew delicious beer; He dug a 210-meter cave into the side of a hill and used its low fixed temperature to help the beer mature. After Pasteur invented pasteurization, Copeland soon adopted the new technique in his factory. His beer rose in popularity among foreign residents in Yokohama and then was shipped to Tokyo and Nagasaki as well. He went back to Norway and married Anne Kristine Olsen in 1872. They lived in Japan but she became sick and died seven years later. Although Copeland showed talent as a beer brewer, he wasn’t a good manager. In 1884 Spring Valley Brewery was put up for public auction.

Kirin took over Copeland’s brewery and eventually expanded the business worldwide. The place where Spring Valley Brewery used to stand is now called Kirin-en Park. There is a big monument there to commemorate the brewery.

Copeland remarried a Japanese woman, Umeko Katsumata, in 1889 and took trips to Hawaii and then Guatemala, trying to establish new businesses but chronic heart disease and arthritis, as well as financial difficulties, prevented him from doing so. Finally the couple came back to Yokohama in January 1902, and Copeland passed away the following month at the age of 68.

By the way, his wife Umeko was the second daughter of the proprietors of Ise-ya—a famous, long-established inn in Hakone’s Ashino-yu district. These days, Ise-ya is called Kakumei-kan and is still doing very well.

copeland-japan
William, his Japanese wife Umeko and her parents.

In 2014, the Kirin Brewery reopened a new Spring Valley Brewery as a brewpub, and there are currently two locations, one in Tokyo and another in Yokohama, which is near where the original brewery was built.

The new Spring Valley Brewery website has this history of Our Brewer’s Passion:

150 years ago, one beer brewer stepped foot on a newly opened seaport of Yokohama. His name William Copeland, a Norwegian-born American, founded the Spring Valley Brewery in Yokohama located far from his homeland.

During the time, Japan was in the midst of cultural enlightenment and supplies of ingredients and equipment for brewing beer was scarce. However, he exercised his ingenuity to overcome these struggles by installing a naturally powered water wheel to mill malt and prepared wort during the winter season to keep it cool.

His beer attracted the interest of many foreigners who lived in Yokohama’s foreign settlement, which eventually caught on to the Japanese locals. This popularity made Spring Valley Brewery become the first brewery in Japan to achieve commercial success.

Copeland devoted his life to his passion for beer, not just as a brewer, but also by making Japan’s first beer garden in his own yard, later passed down to Japan Brewery, the forerunner of Kirin Brewery.

Brewers who studied under Copeland found their own paths to cultivate the production of domestic beer, thus often, William Copeland is referred to as the father of Japanese beer.

will-copeland

Historic Beer Birthday: Ellef Ringnes

By

ringnes
Today is the birthday of Ellef Ringnes (October 25, 1842–March 15, 1929). He “was a Norwegian brewer and patron,” who in 1876 founded the Ringnes brewery in Norway, along with his brother Amund and financial director Axel Heiberg.

Ellef_Ringnes

This is his biography from Wikipedia:

He was born at the Ringnes farm in Krødsherad, Buskerud to farmer Anders Knudsen Ringnes (1813–75) and his wife Maren Amundsdatter (1815–76). His father left the farm in 1855, and Ellef was employed as travelling salesman for Christiania Bryggeri at the age of 18. In 1876, he founded Ringnes & Compani brewery with his brother Amund Ringnes and the businessman Axel Heiberg. It was the eighth brewery in Christiania (now Oslo), and later had its name changed to Ringnes Bryggeri.

The Ringnes brewery became successful, and Ellef Ringnes and his brother became patrons in Christiania. They invested in the construction of the Holmenkollen Line and sanatoriums in the Holmenkollen area. From 1896 to 1906, Ellef Ringnes was a member of the board of the Holmenkolbanen light rail company, which built and operated the Holmenkollen Line. Ellef and Amund Ringnes sponsored Fridtjof Nansen’s Fram expedition, which they in a short period of time led together with businessman Axel Heiberg and shipowner Thomas Fearnley. They also sponsored explorer Otto Sverdrup’s 1898–1902 Fram expedition; as a compensation Sverdrup named two discovered islands after them: Ellef Ringnes Island and Amund Ringnes Island.

On 30 June 1869, Ringnes married Karen Tonette (“Kaja”) Maartmann (1851–1933) with whom he had 14 children. His father-in-law was Knud Geelmuyden Fleischer Maartmann. In 1896, Ringnes became a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. In the same year, he bought Ringnes farm from his brother Amund, who earlier had inherited it from his father. Many parties were arranged at the farm house, to which both royal personages and prominent society members were invited. His residence at St. Hanshaugen Park, dubbed “Cairo” and “Ringnes Castle”, was likewise the scene of many parties in his lifetime. In 1901, Ringnes was succeeded by his brother-in-law Harald Sigvart Maartmann as managing director of Ringnes brewery. Maartman was in turn succeeded by his son Knud Maartmann Ringnes (1875–1945) in 1920.

Ringnes was decorated as Knight, First Class of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1896, and upgraded to Commander of the First Class in 1908. He was also a Commander of the Legion of Honour. Ringnes was an honorary member of the Norwegian, Danish, and Swedish brewery associations. In 1930, a bust of him was erected at Holmenkollen. Ringnes died in Oslo on 15 March 1929, aged 86.

Ringnes-Brewery

And here’s a short history of the brewery, from the tourism site, Go Norway:

Ringnes is Norway´s largest brewery company with approximately 1,200 employees. The company is owned by “Carlsberg Group”, the world´s fourth largest brewery group. We deliver beer, soda and water to the entire Norwegian beverage market and we are proud of our many strong brands!

Ringnes brewery was established in 1876 by brothers Amund Ringnes and Ellef, who came from Ringnes Gard. Amund was brewer, Ellef administrator and salesman, and Axel Heiberg was the financier behind now. 28 November 1877 could Amund Ringnes put the first brewed, thus starting what has now been 130 years of brewing history. Ringnes-brothers stood centrally among those who did Fridtjof Nansen and Otto Sverdrup “Fram” – Finished possible. A lasting memory of this is the three islands in the northernmost Canada (west of Greenland), as Sverdrup named after the brewery´s founders, Axel Heiberg Island, Amund Ringnes Island and Ellef Ringnes Island.

rignes-brewery-photo

Beer Birthday: Knut Albert

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knut-albert
Today, it’ also the 58th birthday of Knut Albert Solem from Oslo, Norway, who has one of the premiere beer blogs in Scandinavia, Knut Albert’s Beer Blog. Though I’ve never met him in person, we have corresponded a time or two through blog comments or e-mail and I certainly enjoy his perspective on beer. Join me in wishing Knut a very happy birthday.

knut-1
Hoisting a pint (photo nicked from Knut’s Facebook page).

knut-2
Knut near water, the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland actually (ditto).

Beer In Ads #2135: Damsleth’s Julöl

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Saturday’s holiday ad is for a Norwegian beer, from 1940. It was created by well-known Norwegian cartoonist, illustrator and ad-man Harald Damsleth. It depicts a young girl flying in a red boat filled with at least five kegs and two dragon’s heads at either end. The word “Julöl” is in the snow below, and the “J” is a broom. Maybe it’s from some Norwegian folktale I’m unfamiliar with, but it looks like it’s from an odd dream. Although the girls is smiling, and there are birds flitting about nearby, so it can’t be all bad.

juleol-plakat-1940

Beer In Ads #1626: Vårt Brygg!

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Thursday’s ad is for Brigg beer, a brand from Norway. From the 1970s, with the simple tagline “Vårt Brygg!,” which translates as “Our Brew.” You’ve got to love the trio of serious sweater monkeys. They look like the original reporters from Anchorman that they based the movies on, especially since the dude in the ascot on the right is a dead ringer for Will Ferrell.

vart-brygg-1970s

Norway’s E.C. Dahls Joins Brooklyn Brewery Family

By

brooklyn
The Brooklyn Brewery announced today that E.C. Dahls Joins the Brooklyn Brewery Family. E.C. Dahls Brewery was originally founded in 1856 (there’s more history at Wikipedia) and today is owned by the Carlsberg Group. Here’s the press release from the Brooklyn Brewery:

Welcome to the Continuing International Adventures of Brooklyn Brewery. In our last episode, just over a year ago, we teamed up with our friends and importers at Carlsberg to open Nya Carnegiebryggeriet (NCB) in Stockholm, Sweden. NCB is our first sister brewery and its launch was the first time any American craft brewery ever entered into such a venture abroad. Today we’re proud to announce that we’re getting the gang back together once again to welcome E.C. Dahls Brewery in Trondheim, Norway into the Brooklyn Brewery family.

dahls-brewery

We’re excited to be part of a new era in brewing at E.C. Dahls. Founded in 1856, Dahls has been a treasured presence in Trondheim for generations, and its traditional pilsner is a household name there. We’re dedicating ourselves to preserving this storied history while infusing the new venture with the spirit of brewing creativity and innovation that have become hallmarks of Brooklyn Brewery around the world. The new E.C. Dahls will blend American and Norwegian culinary cultures to create new beers that we’ll enjoy brewing and we believe Norwegian beer fans will enjoy drinking.

This is far from our first journey to Trondheim, of course. Brewmaster Garrett Oliver has regularly gone out of his way to visit during his many travels. Between the streetscapes of the seaside city, the thriving Scandinavian food scene that Garrett has followed for more than a decade, and the wonderful local appreciation of Brooklyn beer, it was always pretty easy to be enthralled with Trondheim. A couple years ago, Garrett hosted a beer dinner with local restaurateur Roar Hildonen, and the two quickly bonded over Roar’s great food and stellar Cognac collection. Roar became a fast friend and will now join us in leading the kitchen of the planned E.C. Dahl’s Tasting Room.

“The new E.C. Dahls will celebrate the great tradition of Dahls and bring the brewery and its portfolio into the thriving world of craft beer,” said Garrett. “Norway already has a great beer scene, and we’re really excited to become an even more active part of it.” As in Stockholm at NCB, there will be no Brooklyn brewed in Norway but visitors will be able to have some Brooklyn in the Tasting Room.

The Carlsberg Group also released their own press release, where they characterize the deal as a “collaboration.”

With the aim of creating the premier beer experience in Norway, the collaboration will see a new brewery with pub, restaurant, conference facilities and visitor center established at the existing Ringnes E.C. Dahls brewery site in Trondheim, Norway. The brewery will produce both popular local Dahls beer, as well as new craft beers that take inspiration from both Norwegian and US craft brewing traditions.

The brewery will welcome beer and food enthusiasts from around the world and become a laboratory for new ideas and experimentation. E.C. Dahls will have a top-class restaurant operated by local restaurateur Roar Hildonen.

“This is great news for the E.C. Dahls brewery, and great news for beer lovers in Norway and beyond”, says Jørn Tolstrup Rohde, Senior Vice President for Western Europe at Carlsberg Group. “Carlsberg’s collaboration with Brooklyn continues to explore new possibilities in craft brewing. Carlsberg started its life as a small brewery in Copenhagen back in 1847, and thanks to the resurgence of craft brewing in recent times, more and more people are getting interested in the world of beer. We think that’s very positive.”

Another interesting international development as American beer spreads its reach globally.

dahls

Time For An Utepils

By

norway
The trivia website Dose recently had a list they posted of 21 Words That Don’t Exist In English, But Should. Essentially they’re words in other languages for which there’s no English equivalent, which Dose argues should be added to our dictionaries. Given our history of liberal “borrowing” of foreign words, I can’t see why not. The one word that caught my attention was Utepils (pronounced “oot-er-pillss”), a noun meaning “to sit outside on a sunny day enjoying a beer.”

According to the book “The untranslatables’,” by C. J. Moore, “you have to live through the long dark months of a Norwegian winter to appreciate the annual Norwegian rite of utepils. Literally it means ‘the first drink of the year taken out of doors.’ Easter is barely past, with its tradition of hyttepåske — your Easter visit to your remote cabin — and the days are at last getting longer. Although it’s still practically freezing, everyone is queueing up to invite you to a first utepils get-together ar their favourite bar.

Apparently that’s not exactly correct, and a native Norwegian writing a blog entitled An Enthusiast’s Lexicon, describes utepils more fully:

Actually, utepils simply means any beer enjoyed outside, at any time of the year, but it is true that the first one of the season is a much anticipated ritual. You know spring is on its way when norwegians brave the chilling temperatures and gather around their pints, sometimes even wrapped in blankets. The practice continues throughout the year though – nothing says summer like utepils.

The word itself is made up of two words, ute (‘outside’) and pils, which is simply short for Pilsner, the type of lager beer most commonly consumed in Norway. Interestingly, pils is also used as a slang verb (‘å pilse’), meaning simply ‘to drink beer’. So when you are getting together for an utepils you are pilsing.

Anyway, as our weather in Northern California has been decidedly warm the last few days, I think it’s time I sat out on our back deck, basking in the sunshine with a beer in hand, and enjoyed me a good old-fashioned Utepils. Who’s with me?

Utepils