Last year, one of my co-workers returned from a trip to Iceland with her husband and raved about some of the local beers that they're tried during their visit. As they're both fellow food and drink nerds, I knew it wasn't a case of them trying the local version of a standard pale lager and enjoying it simply due to the picturesque surroundings, so my interest was truly piqued.
I was also surprised, as Iceland isn't exactly known to be a hotbed for craft brewing excellence or innovation. Beer was actually prohibited from being produced or consumed from 1915 to 1989, and it was more than 15 years after that before the country's first microbrewery was opened. Even now, there are a mere seven breweries on the island, with only five of them being microbreweries (although with just over 300,000 residents, that's not a bad per capita ratio...).
Regardless of the quantity and/or quality, I didn't expect that I'd have the opportunity to try an Icelandic beer any time soon, unless a friend with some extra luggage space was planning a visit and could bring some back for me. So I was pleased when the list for the LCBO's Summer Beers promotion was announced a few weeks ago, and included a beer from Iceland. And not just any beer but one from Ölvisholt Brugghus, a brewery located in a former sheep and dairy farm in southern part of the country, and same brewery that my friend had spoken of so highly.
I was a bit less thrilled when I saw that the beer chosen for the release was Skjálfti ("earthquake" in Icelandic), described on RateBeer as a Premium Lager. Past experience has shown that this designator is often applied to bland and undistinguished lagers that are "Premium" only due to being made by a small brewery. Even with the praise my friend had given the brewery in general, I reckoned Skjálfti to be their mainstream moneymaker, and didn't expect much from it when I sampled it at a media preview of the release a few weeks ago.
Happily, my concerns were unnecessary, as Skjálfti is a Premium Lager in the truest sense of the phrase. Named after a large earthquake that hit the Ölvisholt farm in June 2000, as well as a smaller one that struck two days before the brewhouse was opened in 2008, the beer is made using a unique method that combines elements of lager and ale brewing. A conventional lager yeast is used, but fermentation takes place at a higher temperature more typical of ales, giving the beer a fuller and rounder flavour than a usual lager.
Also rare for a lager is the use of Cascade hops, a strain that contributes notes of bitter citrus that are more commonly found in American pale ales. This combined with the rich golden-amber colour makes Skjálfti a beer that would be easy to misidentify as a pale ale in a blind tasting, although the similarly hoppy and slightly ale-like Brooklyn Lager might also come to mind. But whatever other beers it might evoke, the most important thing is that it stands on its own as one of the best beers to arrive in Ontario in some time.
Ölvisholt Skjálfti is available now in limited quantities at select LCBO locations (LCBO 168393 - $3.95/500 mL). And while it may be the first Icelandic beer to be available in these parts, it hopefully won't be the last, as importer Fitumi Trading Co. has already submitted Ölvisholt Lava, a smoked imperial stout, to be considered for an upcoming LCBO release.
