Danish beer
Danish beer is about lager and renewal: a country that mostly drank pilsner until 2002 and has been experimenting with IPA, stout and local ingredients ever since. At Hoptimaal you'll find Danish beer from Mikkeller, To Øl and Bad Seed Brewing, from IPA and Stout to Lager & Pilsner.
- In stock now8 beers
- Breweries3
Breweries from Denmark 3
All beers in stock 8
From honey beer to Carlsberg
Brewing in Denmark goes back a long way. The oldest known tradition dates from around 1370 BC, with beer sweetened with honey that contained, among other things, wheat, bog myrtle and a lot of pollen. In 1473 King Christian I ordered hops to be grown, so that less German hops had to be imported. In 1687 Copenhagen had 140 breweries, all of which made top-fermented beer.
That changed in 1845, when J.C. Jacobsen got hold of lager yeast from the Spaten brewery in Munich and brought it to Copenhagen. In 1847 his brewery was called Carlsberg. Lager conquered the country so fast that the old styles almost disappeared. From the early twentieth century until 2002, almost all the beer Danes drank was pale lager, with Carlsberg and Tuborg in the lead.
Then the tide turned. From 2002 interest in specialty beer grew, and between 2002 and 2008 the number of breweries went from 19 to more than 100.
New brewers with a taste of their own
The new Danish brewers took inspiration from Germany, Great Britain, Belgium and the American craft beer movement, but also from their own kitchen. Bog myrtle, wormwood and thistle came back into beer, as did blueberries, lingonberries, juniper berries, rose hips, mint and apples. The old Baltic Porter made a comeback. Around Christmas and Easter, most breweries release special beers that go back to old Danish winter traditions.
Mikkeller is one of the best-known faces of that wave. The man behind it, Mikkel Borg Bjergsø, was a teacher before he became a craft beer legend. His bars can now be found from Copenhagen and Aarhus to New York and Tokyo. You can see how close together the breweries are on the map too: in Denmark you're never more than 30 kilometres from the nearest brewery.
Danish beer at Hoptimaal
At Hoptimaal you'll find Danish beer from Mikkeller, To Øl and Bad Seed Brewing. We have by far the most beers from Mikkeller, from IPAs and lagers to stouts and barrel-aged editions. Well-known names include Mikkeller Third Sunrise, Mikkeller Hop Outta Here and Mikkeller Helles & Whistles. We also stock beers such as Bad Seed Slack Phillip and To Ol Snublejuice.
In terms of style, we cover a broad part of the spectrum: IPA, Weizen, Stout and Lager & Pilsner. That suits Denmark, where lager is the basis and the craft brewers put styles from all corners of the world next to it.
Every brewery has its own page with us, with all the beers we supply from it. Handy if you want to click through from a Mikkeller to To Øl or Bad Seed Brewing.
Frequently asked questions
What is typical Danish beer?
Traditionally, that's pale lager: until 2002 almost all beer in Denmark was pale lager, with Carlsberg and Tuborg first in line. Since the craft beer wave, Danish brewers also make beers with local herbs and berries, Baltic Porter and special Christmas and Easter beers.
Which Danish breweries are well known?
The big names are Carlsberg and Tuborg. In the craft scene Mikkeller is the best known, alongside breweries such as Alefarm and Gamma. At Hoptimaal you'll find Mikkeller, To Øl and Bad Seed Brewing.
How long has beer been brewed in Denmark?
The oldest known brewing tradition dates from around 1370 BC. The beer from that time, the beer of the Egtved Girl, contained, among other things, honey, wheat, bog myrtle and lingonberries or cranberries.
Beer from other countries
- Dutch beer 175
- American beer 71
- Belgian beer 68
- Canadian beer 54
- German beer 37
- English beer 37
- Spanish beer 21
- Romanian beer 17
- French beer 16
- Swedish beer 15
- Norwegian beer 14
- Estonian beer 17
- Polish beer 11
- Irish beer 8
- Finnish beer 9
- Hungarian beer 8
- Latvian beer 8
- Croatian beer 8
- Portuguese beer 4
- Welsh beer 5
- Scottish beer 4
- Brazilian beer 4
- Ukrainian beer 2
- Greek beer 3
- Slovenian beer 3
- Czech beer 3
