HaandBryggeriet (Norway)
Microbrewery
in
Drammen,
Buskerud,
Norway 🇳🇴
Associated with 2 Venues
Established in 2005
Contact
Description
The brewery was founded in 2005 by four home brewers who wanted to make high quality beers. In 2016 two of the original founders retired, and the brewery is today owned by a constellation of the two remaining founders, some employees at the brewery and three other Norwegian craft breweries.
Haandbryggeriet currently has 10 employees all participating in developing new ground breaking beers and recipes.
The brewery has a wide selection ranging from classic and traditional beers to new and innovative brews and hybrid beer styles. Sometimes brewed with local and Nordic ingredients such as cherries, sea buckthorn, raspberries, and lingonberries. Haandbryggeriet has since 2005 also made high quality sours and barrel aged beers such as porters and Christmas beers.
Haandbryggeriet currently has 10 employees all participating in developing new ground breaking beers and recipes.
The brewery has a wide selection ranging from classic and traditional beers to new and innovative brews and hybrid beer styles. Sometimes brewed with local and Nordic ingredients such as cherries, sea buckthorn, raspberries, and lingonberries. Haandbryggeriet has since 2005 also made high quality sours and barrel aged beers such as porters and Christmas beers.
6.1/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Bottle. Malty anis aroma. Muddy brown colour, small head. Roasted malt flavour with a peppery aftertaste.
Tried
from Bottle
on 03 Jul 2006
at 07:57
7/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Bottled, #31, at Cph Beerfestival. Dark brown with sediments and a beige head. Sweet, lightly roasted and a belgo-like yeastiness. Unmature or is it like this? Will rerate some day. Full-bodied beer with a flavor more like a brune, but good anyway. Long finish. Rating: 6-4-6-4-13-3.3 (060519)
Rerate 070620, #31, aged fourteen months. Dark brown pour, with some sediments and a large, rocky beige head that settles quickly. The nose is rather yeasty for a weizenbock, with a little sour hint, roast and coffee-notes. It’s quite fruity-sweet in the flavor, with the roast and coffee present there as well. It’s heavily carbonated, thus making it harder to sense the flavors. It is in fact rather easy to shake up a two inch head severel times in a row. I don’t think they hit the style spot on, but it is a nice beer, but a little too heavy carbonated to make it as drinkable as wished for. The finish is dry and fruity, an off course coffeeish and roasted. Almost forgot, there’s alcohol warming your throath as well, and even some dried fruits in the finish. I know this was their first attempt on this beer, hope they get the carbonation problem sorted out, and it is rather nice even though it isn’t the typical weizenbock. Rating: 6-4-6-4-13-3.3 (070620)
Rerating, #33, cellared for a year. Still pours a dark brown body, a little reddish tint occurs, and the dense, beige to tan head diminishes rather quickly, but looks nice just after the pour. It is heavily carbonated, so had to pour three times to be able to empty the glass. I know the brewers prefer their weizens very effervescent, but I find them way too fizzy. It seems they were easier on the yeast in this batch, as the beer pours almost clear. Except for it being a very dark beer, of course. Aromawise also, it seems to be lower on the yeast. The roasted notes, and a pronounced sourness arrives first, followed by fruit, mostly banana, and caramel, but they are quite subdued. As the beer warms up, dried fruits find their way into the nose as well. The flavor is nice, not your average weizenbock, it’s too roasted for that, but the roastiness becomes it, and there’s fruityness, caramel-sweetness, hops, a little touch of spices and raisins, as well as a little alcohol burn. The alcohol and hoppy bitterness are most evident in the finish, along with a little chocolate and coffee. The sourness from the aroma is present in the flavor as well, in a stout-like manner, quite subdued, that is. I wish they could tone down the carbonation a bit, maybe the yeast they are using are too willing, what do I know, but the co2 masks the flavor way too much. Medium body, quite dry. Use: If you can’t decide whether you want a weizenbock or a porter, have both, or have this one. It’s a nice beer for the colder months or a late summer night, or maybe after the Easter meal in the early spring. It will probably match a good cigar as well, but that I haven’t tried. Cheers! (071220)
Rerate 070620, #31, aged fourteen months. Dark brown pour, with some sediments and a large, rocky beige head that settles quickly. The nose is rather yeasty for a weizenbock, with a little sour hint, roast and coffee-notes. It’s quite fruity-sweet in the flavor, with the roast and coffee present there as well. It’s heavily carbonated, thus making it harder to sense the flavors. It is in fact rather easy to shake up a two inch head severel times in a row. I don’t think they hit the style spot on, but it is a nice beer, but a little too heavy carbonated to make it as drinkable as wished for. The finish is dry and fruity, an off course coffeeish and roasted. Almost forgot, there’s alcohol warming your throath as well, and even some dried fruits in the finish. I know this was their first attempt on this beer, hope they get the carbonation problem sorted out, and it is rather nice even though it isn’t the typical weizenbock. Rating: 6-4-6-4-13-3.3 (070620)
Rerating, #33, cellared for a year. Still pours a dark brown body, a little reddish tint occurs, and the dense, beige to tan head diminishes rather quickly, but looks nice just after the pour. It is heavily carbonated, so had to pour three times to be able to empty the glass. I know the brewers prefer their weizens very effervescent, but I find them way too fizzy. It seems they were easier on the yeast in this batch, as the beer pours almost clear. Except for it being a very dark beer, of course. Aromawise also, it seems to be lower on the yeast. The roasted notes, and a pronounced sourness arrives first, followed by fruit, mostly banana, and caramel, but they are quite subdued. As the beer warms up, dried fruits find their way into the nose as well. The flavor is nice, not your average weizenbock, it’s too roasted for that, but the roastiness becomes it, and there’s fruityness, caramel-sweetness, hops, a little touch of spices and raisins, as well as a little alcohol burn. The alcohol and hoppy bitterness are most evident in the finish, along with a little chocolate and coffee. The sourness from the aroma is present in the flavor as well, in a stout-like manner, quite subdued, that is. I wish they could tone down the carbonation a bit, maybe the yeast they are using are too willing, what do I know, but the co2 masks the flavor way too much. Medium body, quite dry. Use: If you can’t decide whether you want a weizenbock or a porter, have both, or have this one. It’s a nice beer for the colder months or a late summer night, or maybe after the Easter meal in the early spring. It will probably match a good cigar as well, but that I haven’t tried. Cheers! (071220)
Tried
from Bottle
on 21 Jun 2006
at 12:06
6.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
500 ml bottle (#9). Hazy orange color, quite pale. Huge, creamy white head with big bubbles. Aroma is fruity with coriander and overripe bananas, and something else? Rich, sweet, fruity taste. Lots of ester. Aftertaste is kind of surprisingly bitter. Interesting and complex beer, but I think one bottle is enough for the evening. Tasted again one year later. The maturing was good for this beer. Same score, but I could for sure have a few more of this at the same evening.
Tried
from Bottle
on 19 Jun 2006
at 13:12
7.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle. (#4) og (#25) . Combine the best of both . Dark golden colour with off-white head. Fruity hop aroma. Sweet hoppy flavour with a hint of fruit in the flavour. Light bitter finish.
Tried
from Bottle
on 18 Jun 2006
at 05:55
7/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
(Bottle 50 cl) Pours a clear mahogany with a creamy, beige head. A bit too heavily carbonated. Fruity, fat aroma with bananas coming through. Lovely full body with lots of caramel and fruit. Very subdued bitterness. Lovely - and another promising beer from Haandbryggeriet. 220506
Tried
from Bottle
on 26 May 2006
at 03:33
7/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 6
[Bottled at Københavnske Øldage] Dark brown. Aroma of toffee and banana. Solidly malty with soft mouthfeel. Fairly balanced, if a bit sweet, but has no features that really grabs you.
Tried
from Bottle
on 23 May 2006
at 05:30
5.8/10
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Appearance 4
Aroma 6
Flavor 5
Texture 6
Overall 7
Bottle 0,5l. Batch 28. Undeterminable orange-brown colour. Cloudy. A small white head. A citrus aroma - just what you expect from an easter ale. A sweet bitter taste. A bit too sweet to be refreshing. Lots of sediments: Muddy.
Tried
from Bottle
on 08 May 2006
at 15:48
4.5/10
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Appearance 4
Aroma 5
Flavor 4
Texture 6
Overall 4
The color is brown-orange, and it it between cloady and muddy. Smallish head that disappears. The aroma is fruity with strong hints of oranges and somewhat lighter hints of chokolate - but in a good balance. Perhaps these two aromas are perfect just for a Norwegian easter ale? The mouthfeel is prickly (even peppery), as if it has been spiced. I thought of a Belgian Witbier, but the label does not support that conclusion. It s rather bitter (too bitter for a wit, and too dark), and the bitterness is acompanied by the peppery spiecy feeling. There is also a wheat character to it, and I suppose it is refreshing. My wife loved it, but I don’t.
Tried
on 17 Apr 2006
at 13:17
5.9/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 5.5
A hazy dark orange beer with a bubbly off-white head. The aroma is sweet with primary notes of flowers, but also light notes of honey. The flavor is very flowery and again combined with notes of honey, leading to a dry end. Thanks Jeppe for sharing.
Tried
on 13 Apr 2006
at 08:09
7.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bottled. #28, 2006 vintage. Hazy dark orange beer with a medium, beige head. Mild aroma of citric fruits and hops. Flavor is much the same, with some spicyness from the hops. Some yeast and orange-peel notes. Long, mild piney bitterness at the end. I will have to save a bottle for a later occasion, as this one was a little bit too fresh. (6-3-6-3-13-3.1) (060409)
Rerate, 2007 vintage: Unclear, golden pour with some beige head. Hops, pine, citrus, malt and sweetness in the aroma. The flavor is nice and hoppy as well, nicely balanced with a malty sweetness. Full body. Long malty finish with pine and orange to accomplish it. A better brew than the 2006 version, even though the 2006 version matured nicely, and was better after a year of cellaring. Rating: 6-4-7-4-15-3.6. (070430)
Bottle. #124, 2008 vintage. It pours an almost clear, dark golden body under a nice, dense, beige head. Sweetish and slightly roasted nose with nice spices, some alcohol notes, fruityness and a little yeasty touch. Sweet on the palate, full-bodied and warming, with fruityness and a nice spicy touch. Finishes with a fine bitterness. Really pleasant, and well suited for a day in the Easter sun. (081229)
Rerate, 2007 vintage: Unclear, golden pour with some beige head. Hops, pine, citrus, malt and sweetness in the aroma. The flavor is nice and hoppy as well, nicely balanced with a malty sweetness. Full body. Long malty finish with pine and orange to accomplish it. A better brew than the 2006 version, even though the 2006 version matured nicely, and was better after a year of cellaring. Rating: 6-4-7-4-15-3.6. (070430)
Bottle. #124, 2008 vintage. It pours an almost clear, dark golden body under a nice, dense, beige head. Sweetish and slightly roasted nose with nice spices, some alcohol notes, fruityness and a little yeasty touch. Sweet on the palate, full-bodied and warming, with fruityness and a nice spicy touch. Finishes with a fine bitterness. Really pleasant, and well suited for a day in the Easter sun. (081229)
Tried
from Bottle
on 09 Apr 2006
at 14:50