Beer #421 - Lervig White Dog Brand

Lervig have been pushing their beers pretty hard in the UK of late and I'm a pretty bag fan of theirs, having discovered a good proportion of their range at a Draft House Sunday Session last year. I recently attended a dinner club event at the Wanstead Tap in East London and while waiting for things to kick off I shared a couple of bottles of this wheat beer with my girlfriend. This is a very solid if unspectacular witbier – a nice wheaty banana flavour with a decent hint of clove in there too. It’s not a world-beater but it is very easy drinking.







Brewery: Lervig Aktiebryggeri
Country: Norway
ABV: 4.7%

Beer #342 - Lervig Lucky Jack

I picked this can of Lervig's Lucky Jack APA at the Sunday Session I attended at Draft House a little while back (that post is worth a read - you can find it here) and recently found an occasion fit for its consumption. Pretty much all of the Lervig beers I tried on that day hit the nail on the head for me but I'm sad to report that this one didn't quite do it for me. There is some good citrus hop character and the beer has a long bitter finish. The malt gives it a nice hint of sweetness but for me the flavour isn't quite well rounded enough and it's also a touch light on the palate. It's by no means bad, in fact it's perfectly drinkable, but it doesn't set any new standards. Beautiful can though.




Brewery: Lervig Aktiebryggeri
Country: Norway
ABV: 4.7%

Beer #336 - Beavertown / Lervig The Gose Strikes Black

I'd been meaning to visit the tap house at Beavertown since it opened a few months back but hadn't managed to find a free Saturday until last week, when I finally made it. The brewery is huge in comparison to most other London microbreweries but it's well put together and an enjoyable one to visit. I love what Beavertown do and I still haven't had a bad beer from them yet. My only slight gripe is that they could serve all of their beers in 1/3 pint measures rather than just the strong ones, but then they do have a table tennis table. My first beer of the day was this collaboration with Lervig. I recently attended a Sunday Session with Lervig at the Draft House and loved pretty much every beer they had there, so I figured that this was bound to be great. And boy, it was. As you can see it pours a beautiful shade of pink. It's light in body and supremely crisp and refreshing. The fruity blackberry flavour comes through very strongly and it's sharp and tart  on the finish. My previous forays into the world of sour beers have left me feeling quite confused to be frank, but this one only left me wanting more. It's an absolute cracker and I'd recommend trying it if you can track it down (or get to the tap house tomorrow!)

Brewery: Beavertown Brewery

Country: United Kingdom

ABV: 4.8%

Beer #325 - Lervig Johnny Low

I recently posted a review of the excellent Sunday Session I attended at the Draft House featuring Lervig, a Norwegian craft brewery. At the end of the event they had a few bottles and cans on offer containing beers that hadn't featured during the afternoon, so I picked a couple up for later. At 2.5% I suppose it's foolish to expect a robust beer, but when you see what the likes of Buxton and The Kernel can do with a low ABV beer it sets the bar really quite high. Johnny Low is a reasonable effort, its crisp and the hops lend it a bitter citrus flavour but I found it very much on the thin side. It's light, refreshing and perfectly quaffable but it doesn't quite reach the standard that has been set by other breweries.



Brewery: Lervig Aktiebryggeri
Country: Norway
ABV: 2.5%

The Draft House Sunday Sessions: Lervig Aktiebryggeri

I first came across Draft House Sunday Sessions on Matt Curtis’ excellent Total Ales blog earlier in the year, and immediately resolved to go. Fast forward to May and my girlfriend gave me an IOU for a ticket to one of the events...fast forward a bit more to last Sunday and we finally made it.

For the uninitiated Draft House is a mini chain of pubs that serve excellent beer to London punters. Sunday Sessions are held at their smallest pub on Charlotte Street; a better venue for a quiet(ish) Sunday afternoon of boozing is hard to imagine. The sessions are essentially ‘meet the brewer’ type events with a bit of a twist, as beers are paired with small plates of food.  It’s also incredibly good value at £25 a head which gets you six thirds of, beer and six small plates of deliciousness to match.

Last week the pub hosted Lervig Aktiebryggeri, a brewery based in Stavanger in southern Norway.  The brewery was set up in 2003 in the former premises of Tou Brewery which had been bought out by Carlsberg. It’s therefore a bit different from your average ‘craft’ brewery in that its home is a huge brewery designed for the mass-production of pilsner.

The beers were absolutely superb from start to finish. The afternoon got underway with Lervig and Magic Rock’s collaboration Farmhouse IPA, a wonderful bitter, hoppy IPA with a hint of wheat, paired with an oyster served with a strawberry dressing. Next up came a Rye IPA, part of Lervig’s ‘Brewers Reserve’ series that was served alongside sous-vide salmon with horseradish and watercress. The third course was another collaboration, this time with All In Brewing; am imperial porter with wonderful roasted flavours and a beautiful steak tartare served on a rye bread crisp.

The staff at the Draft House were doing a superb job of engaging people in conversation, as were the David and James from Lervig and as we tucked into our beers the volume in the room increased noticeably. A Sorachi Ace lager offered a bit of a breather after the hefty porter and was easily one of the best lagers I’ve ever had. This was closely followed by a double IPA which went down almost as easily despite its 10% ABV, a real testament to the skill of the brewers. The DIPA was paired with what was probably my favourite course, a deep-fried croquette of elk and buttermilk which provided some much needed grease and salt.

The drinking and eating concluded with a single hop Galaxy IPA that came with some wonderful orange ice cream, a shard of crispy parma ham and a honey gel (jelly?) that was so good it almost defies description. The conversation between staff, brewers and punters alike continued before we went on our merry way, not before I grabbed a couple more cans of some Lervig beers that hadn’t featured on the menu. 

I really couldn’t think of anything about Sunday Sessions that could be done any better; the staff are friendly and attentive and bring you delicious booze and food of a quality that is second to none, all at a bargain price in a fantastic environment. Sunday Sessions seem to be scheduled sporadically so it’s best to keep an eye on the Draft House website, I’ll probably see you there. 

Beer #316 - Lervig Brewers Reserve Galaxy IPA

This was the last of six Lervig beers I had at the Draft House Sunday Sessions last week, you can read more about the event in my review here. This single-hop IPA was further proof, if any were necessary, that Lervig can do IPAs very well. This one was wonderfully flavoursome with lovely tropical fruit and a nice crisp mouthfeel.












Brewery: Lervig Aktiebryggeri
Country: Norway
ABV: 6.5%

Beer #315 - Lervig Art Collection Protester DIPA

This was the fifth of six Lervig beers I had at the Draft House Sunday Sessions last week, you can read more about the event in my review here. I was quite fearful of this one when I spotted it on the menu, I figured it would be far too strong and far too bitter for my taste, however I was pleasantly surprised. The flavours are robust yet well balanced; strong flavours of pine and resin dominate with bitter grapefruit notes in there too but it isn’t too bitter and the alcohol content is well masked by those wonderful flavours. I can’t really think of any occasions where I’d actually choose to drink a beer of this strength but I did enjoy it.





Brewery: Lervig Aktiebryggeri
Country: Norway
ABV: 10.0%

Beer #314 - Lervig Sorachi Ace Lager

This was the fourth of six Lervig beers I had at the Draft House Sunday Sessions last week, you can read more about the event in my review here.  This slightly lighter brew came at an excellent time in proceedings and I really enjoy a decent brewer that has turned their hand to lager. This single hop lager brewed with sorachi ace was very good; whilst the aroma was hoppy the flavour was malt-forward and biscuit with some subtle hoppy flavours on the finish.









Brewery: Lervig Aktiebryggeri
Country: Norway
ABV: 6.5%

Beer #313 - Lervig / All In Brewing Imperial Porter

This was the third of six Lervig beers I had at the Draft House Sunday Sessions last week, you can read more about the event in my review here. This collaboration between the Norwegian brewery and Sweden's All In Brewing is one of the best dark beers I’ve ever had. Rich and smooth in flavour yet light in body, it had lovely roasted coffee tones with velvety chocolate notes; absolutely delicious.










Brewery: Lervig Aktiebryggeri / All In Brewing collaboration
Country: Norway

ABV: 8.5%

Beer #312 - Lervig Brewers Reserve Rye IPA

This was the second of six Lervig beers I had at the Draft House Sunday Sessions last week, you can read more about the event in my review here. This one is part of Lervig’s Brewers Reserve series. It had a rather curious smell that wasn’t exactly pleasant…the flavour wasn’t bad but definitely toward the bitter end and I couldn’t get really get over the strange aroma.











Brewery: Lervig Aktiebryggeri
Country: Norway
ABV: 8.5%

Beer #311 - Lervig / Magic Rock Farmhouse IPA

This was the first of six Lervig beers I had at the Draft House Sunday Sessions last week, you can read more about the event in my review here. This collaboration between the Norwegian brewery and Yorkshire's Magic Rock has received incredibly high praise from respected beer bloggers Boak & Bailey and Connor at Beer Battered and now it's going to get it from me too. I imagine this one was very fresh and it certainly tasted it with vibrant bitter hops and citrus with a hint of wheat. I'd love to try this one again with age so will be keeping my eyes out for a bottle or two.






Brewery: Lervig Aktiebryggeri / Magic Rock Brewing collaboration
Country: Norway
ABV: 6.0%