“Sidste bryghus inden England” står der på muren ud til vejen på Fanø Bryghus. Det kan godt være, at Fanø Bryghus ligger langt mod vest på en ø ude i Vadehavet, men det forhindrer ikke, at der siden 2009 er blevet brygget en lang række spændende øl på stedet.
I en årrække fik både EvilTwin og Mikkeller brygget en del af deres øl på stedet, men i dag er det egne bryg, der fylder produktionen i bryghuset. I øjeblikket er produktionen selvfølgelig anderledes, på lige fod med de fleste andre bryggerier i Danmark.
Hvad tænker Fanø Bryghus’ amerikanske brygmester Steve Rold så om hele situationen? Beerbloggers.dk har “snakket” med ham, som en del af serien #OrdetErJeres. Steve Rold er amerikaner og snakker ikke ret meget dansk, derfor er interviewet på engelsk. Den lidt sjove formulering i af selve spørgsmålene skyldes, at der er oversat med Google Translate, da de er sendt til bryghuset på dansk…
- How has the practical life of the brewery changed over the past month?
- “Over the last month we’ve been forced to temporarily shut down our taproom and reduced our production staff at the brewery until the social distancing effort is over.
We are currently working through the best way of accomplishing direct-to-consumer sales in the immediate area before moving further a field. Like a lot of other breweries, we’re doing the best we can to make sure that those that want our beer are still able to get it.”
- “Over the last month we’ve been forced to temporarily shut down our taproom and reduced our production staff at the brewery until the social distancing effort is over.
- What new actions and thoughts has the present situation brought to your mind?
- “The slowdown has created a brief window for me to focus on brewing a number of our special release beers, both ones customers have see before as well as few new ones I’d been hoping to find a slot in the production schedule for but haven’t been able to until now.”
- What do you see if anything the current situation brings about positively to the industry or yourself in the long term?
- “In the long term I hope that the breweries that come out on the other side of this shutdown learn from the creativity that they’ve shown so far to increase or maintain their sales and become stronger companies as a result. I think you’ll see at least a few places continue their new web-sales, direct beer drop-offs and virtual tastings long after Coronavirus has faded from the forefront of the public’s mind. These have all seem like great means of interacting and forming strong ties directly with our consumers.”
- What are you most looking forward to on the other side of the corona crisis?
- “Seeing our staff again and getting back into the normal routine at the brewery. Also, seeing the taproom full of both our local friends and vacationing families. Basically I just want to see people back in the building, it’s a spooky place to be at all alone.”
- Do you have anything exciting about bedding that we must tease?
- “We’ve done a soft release of a few of our more popular beers from last year: “Tørke” our Imperial Brut IPA, “Red Wedding 2020” our wine barrel aged Imperial Stout. This will continue for the next few weeks as we have some more barrel aged beers that will be ready as well as a few IPAs.”
Steve svarede selvfølgelig også på to ekstra spørgsmål fra den lidt lettere afdeling.
- What are you drinking while writing the answers to this?
- “I’m sitting in the sun, drinking “Fanø Forår” our season helles bock.”
- Longest you have stayed in your pyjamas/underwear during these times?
- “😆Maybe the first weekend, as I mentioned, we’re running with a two person staff until this all clears up so not a lot of pajama-time for me.”
Fanø Bryghus er altså ramt af krisen, som alle andre. I lighed med mange andre af de bryggerier, vi har snakket med, har Fanø Bryghus også tilbudt en form for levering, så de trofaste kunder ikke snydes for det gode øl.
Desuden er den ualmindeligt lækre rødvinsfadlagrede imperial stout “Red Wedding” – med henvisning til en vis episode i Game of Thrones – blevet sneget på gaden under nedlukningen. Er 2020-udgave ligeså god, som de tidligere to versioner, så er der meget at glæde sig til.
Til slut vil jeg bare minde om at det stadig er overordentligt vigtigt at støtte sit lokale bryggeri, ølbar ellers ølbutik og huske disse tre ting: #SammenHverForSig #DrikUdeHjemme og #DrikDansk
Mange tak til Fanø Bryghus og Steve for svar til vores interviewserie #OrdetErJeres – en del af #CraftBeerAid2020.
Læs med i morgen når den københavnske ølbar SKAAL får ordet!
(Billedemateriale venligst udlånt af Fanø Bryghus)
Dagens tekst er skrevet af A Word On Beers
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