In the heart of Copenhagen, Nørrebro Bryghus is the fairytale brewery that started as a small and local craft brewery and grew into a strong regional brewery. As part of January’s digital takeover on all things quality control, head brewer Michael Rahbek outlines the economic challenges in the Danish brewing industry and how beer analysing technology has cut operating costs.
In the heart of Copenhagen, Nørrebro Bryghus is the fairy tale of a small local brewery that grew strong. Since 2003, the brewhouse has produced more than 200 different beers with a varied portfolio from sweet, sour, bitter, powerful and easy-going beers of different colors and styles. Nørrebro Bryghus now distributes nation-wide and is found in small retailers as well as supermarkets.
The brewery was among the first to purchase a BeerFoss™ FT Go and when speaking with head brewer Michael Rahbek, the primary reason he bought BeerFoss centered on profits and operations management: “I can see that I earn a lot of money from having it, because it is possible for me already on the wort to see and make changes on the malt, water etc.
“So when I am done with my batch, it is exactly where I want it,” says Rahbek. “An example could be a sample that I could see was too strong already in the beginning of the brew. Knowing it so early in the process, I could make the corrections needed and these kind of adjustments make me able to get around 400 litres more out of every brew,” he explains.
Before joining Nørrebro Bryghus, Michael worked as a brewer at Carlsberg and Jacobsen brewery – a craft brew of the Carlsberg group placed in the old original brewery of Carlsberg and named after its founder, J. C. Jacobsen.
For Michael, having a healthy economy is the most important factor of running a successful brewery: “Otherwise you lose your job,” he says and explains: “When I started at Nørrebro Bryghus, they had with great success been doing the same styles of beer since the beginning of 2003.
The brewing industry is constantly changing and together with consumer demands, there was a feeling that we needed something more,” he says and continues: “With respect for the old recipes, we started developing new styles and improving the existing portfolio and having the BeerFoss has helped us increasing the quality and lowering the costs.
It is difficult to measure exactly how much we have gained from having the BeerFoss, but the return of investment is short,” he says and elaborates that having satisfied customers creates returning customers, and this is what helps the brewery to grow.
