Minus Alkoholfritt Øl

Aegir Brewery, or Ægir Bryggeri if I’m being correct and have managed to cut-and-paste the correct Norwegian alphabet character, is a brewer founded in 2007 and located in Norway. However, the roots of the brewery can be found in the US homebrewing scene of the late 1980s. As a teenager in New York state, despite his underage status at the time Evan Lewis was an avid homebrewer, and even went to the lengths of smuggling in bottles of his latest brews into his high school, in an attempt to get his Principal to sample and review them. Evan eventually moved to California after obtaining an education in brewing from Denmark’s Scandinavian School of Brewing. It is here he met his future wife, Aud Melås, a finance and bank manager at the time. The couple were offered the chance to buy and run a restaurant in the Norwegian town of Flåm, and Aud jumped at the chance to relocate back to her home country.

It was a success for them, and the couple began talking about expanding the business. With his interests and background in the brewing industry, Evan wanted to realise his dreams and open up his own brewery. And so in 2007 Aegir Brewery was born, named after the Norse God Ægir. Ægir represents the sea in Norse mythology, but is also known for being a host for the Gods and an excellent brewer. Naming your brewery after the God of brewing is certainly a bold statement!

Minus Pale Ale is the brewer’s only nolo offering so far, clocking in at 0.5% ABV, which is a great deal less than the majority of their other beers, which include 7% Scotch ales, 10% Imperial porters and 13.2% Barleywines. Will Aegir Brewery’s non-alcoholic option truly be the nolo beer of the Gods?

The beer pours a dark orange brown colour (darker than I was expecting) with good clarity to it. A initial frothy head soon sinks back into islands of foam on the surface of the liquid. On the nose we get malt, stone fruit aromas and a citrus orange background. But it’s very mild, not really drawing you in or perking up the senses.

On tasting we get mild hoppy bitterness, with a pine-tinged edge. This soon fades away into the background though, and we’re left with the malty backbone, which has hints of smoky grains going on. It’s quite highly carbonated, and the body is thin, giving a soda water-style mouthfeel. We get a short bitter finish to the drink.

Minus Alkoholfritt Øl isn’t really much of an offering to the nolo Gods in my opinion. Light in aroma, taste and body, it sort of resembles a classic British bitter but in a very watered-down way. With no real character, it’s easily left behind by the current crop of alcohol-free pale ales, but as a very low-calorie beer it does the job.

Buy Minus Alkoholfritt Øl

You may find some of Ægir Bryggeri’s Godlike offerings in bottle shops and off-licences, but the easiest place to buy their beers is online:

Nutritional Information (per 100ml, taken from the side of the can)
ABV	0.5%
Energy	10 kcal
Fat	0.1g
Carbohydrates	1.1g
Sugar	0.1g
Protein	0.1g
Ingredients
Water, Malted Barley, Hops, Yeast
Additional Information
Country of Production	Norway
Brewer	Aegir Bryggeri AS – https://www.aegirbrewery.com/
Gluten Free?	Yes
Vegan Friendly?	No