Thursday, March 27, 2008

Barrel Aged X Imperial Stout 2007 charity auction starts monday March 31st on olbutikken.dk

(click picture)
Democracy for Children charity auction
  • The cause
MS Mozambique wants to strengthen and develop the teaching of democracy in Mozambican grade schools in order for the idea of democracy and self-determination to take root in the poor country in the southern part of Africa.
Democracy needs to be a part of children’s every day life. That is what is the idea behind MS’s Mozambican project, ‘Civil Rights in Grade Schools’, whose objective is to make democracy a way of life in Mozambique in the southern part of Africa, for generations to come. “Children need to understand and exercise democracy in their daily lives, if the seed is to grow and flower in the long run in Mozambique,” says MS Mozambique’s director, Ulla Strøbech.
The first democratic election in Mozambique was held in 1994 after almost 500 years of Portuguese colonialism and 17 years of civil war and violence. Since then, Mozambicans have been to the ballot boxes in 1999 and 2004. A proportionately high percentage voted at these elections, which proved that the citizens of this poor country had learned how to vote, but besides that Mozambicans are very bad at exercising their democratic rights.
MS Mozambique wants to change that. “We envisage boys and girls, women and men becoming better prepared to take an active part in local government”, emphasises Ulla Strøbech. MS Mozambique’s project, ‘Civil Rights in Grade School’, which is a part of MS’ s overall vision of strengthening and building up local democracy, aims
  • to produce more handbooks and instructions about democracy for teachers by the end of 2008.
  • to start a pilot project in the Gaza province, which focuses on teaching democracy in southern Mozambique by the end of 2008.
  • that students, teachers and parents at 15 schools in southern Mozambique have been taught the principles and practices of democracy by the end of 2010.
  • that teaching material about democracy is developed, tested and promoted to be used in the national educational system.
  • that the school board can plan their own budget for their schools and control that the money is spent in the right places, by the end of 2010. MS Mozambique collaborates with two local organisations, UDEBA and FECIV which have many years of experience in teaching about civil rights in Mozambican grade schools.
All the money from this auction goes directly to this project in Mozambique.
  • The auction
Mikkel, head brewer and owner of Mikkeller and Michael and Jeppe, owners of Denmark’s most specialized beer store Ølbutikken, conceived the brilliant idea of brewing a special beer to be sold at auction to raise money for this project. So they created a special, 8 month sherry cask barrel-aged version of Mikkel’s rare and delicious X Imperial Stout brewed exclusively for the beer festival in Valby, Denmark in May 2007. This is a one-time, very limited edition - only 40 bottles (75cl champagne bottle) are available! Each bottle has been numbered and signed by brewer Mikkel, and 100% of the proceeds will go directly to the school democracy project in Mozambique.
If you're interested in acquiring one of these rare beers in helping the school kids of Mozambique, please complete the form below and making sure to include all the information. Everyone is welcome to bid, but please note that if you win a bottle it must either be picked up in person at Ølbutikken, Copenhagen, Denmark or can be shipped with freight charges added to the final bid amount. Winning bidders must pay by cash or bank transfer only (bank fees must be paid by the buyer), so please make sure that you can do that before bidding. All bids will be anonymous. At the conclusion of the auction, we'll contact the winning bidders to acquire billing information and to coordinate delivery of the beer.
  • The details
First, one bid is for one bottle! Highest bid will get bottle number 1, second highest bottle number 2 down to 40th highest bid that will get bottle number 40. On top of that highest bidder will not only get bottle number 1, but will also get one bottle of Mikkeller X Imperial Stout 2006 plus one bottle of Mikkeller X Imperial Stout 2007 (both 33cl)! The auction will run for 14 days. Lowest winning bid (40th highest bid) will be visible here on our homepage, so that you will always know what you at least must bid in order to get a bottle. After the first week of the auction all 40 bids will be visible for 1 day and thereafter only the lowest winning bid will be visible again until the end of the auction.
The 40 bottles will be displayed at Ølbutikken during the auction.
If you have any questions about this auction or have any trouble submitting your bid, please write to us at mail@olbutikken.dk.
And remember, this is for a great cause….. so please bid generously!
Thank you,
Mikkel, Michael & Jeppe
P.S. Thanks to the Shelton Bros for technical assistance hosting this auction!
P.P.S. See more on Mellemfolkelig Samvirkes Website

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Article about me in danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet

Article in Ekstra Bladet March 18th 2008. Written by Morten Mauritson
(click one of the two pictures)

Monday, March 24, 2008

Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast Challenge 2008 - endelige regler (in danish)

Den første Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast Challenge løber af stablen ved European Beer Festival lørdag den 13. september 2008 i København.

Konkurrencen går i al sin enkelthed ud på at brygge den bedste version af Mikkellers flagskibsøl ’Beer Geek Breakfast’ - en oatmeal stout på 7,5 % vol. tilsat gourmetkaffe.

Meningen med konkurrencen er ikke, at der skal brygges en præcis klon af originalen. Derfor bliver der ikke offentliggjort en opskrift. Egne fortolkninger af Beer Geek Breakfast er meget velkomne. Deltagende øl skal dog overholde følgende minimumskrav:
- Øllen skal være en oatmeal/kaffestout.
- Alkoholprocenten skal ligge på ca. 6-9 % vol.
Derudover sætter kun fantasien grænser. Der kan benyttes specielle ingredienser, malttyper, sukker, gærtyper, fadlagring osv.

Alle deltagende øl bliver bedømt af et kvalificeret dommerpanel bestående af professionelle bryggere, professionelle ølfolk, ølnørder og undertegnede.
Alle kan deltage - såvel amatørerbryggere som professionelle med så mange versioner af Beer Geek Breakfast, som de har lyst til.

Der skal indleveres fem flasker á 25-50 cl senest lørdag den 6. september hos:

Ølbutikken
Oehlenschlægersgade 2
1663 København V

Øllene kan også sendes pr. post ved forudgående aftale.

Følgende skal oplyses ved indlevering af øllene: navn på bryggeren, adresse, telefonnummer og e-mail samt tekniske data på øllene (ingredienser og alkoholprocent samt evt. EBC, IBU, OG og FG).

Der vil være følgende præmier til de tre bedst placerede øl:

1. præmie: 3 kasser Mikkeller øl + 12 Mikkeller glas + 2 Mikkeller T-shirts
2. præmie: 2 kasser Mikkeller øl + 6 Mikkeller glas + 1 Mikkeller T-shirt
3. præmie: 1 kasse Mikkeller øl + 6 Mikkeller glas

Præmierne bliver overrakt på festivalen lørdag d. 13. september eller kan afhentes i Ølbutikken.
For yderligere spørgsmål kontakt: mikkel@mikkeller.dk

God brygning!!

Med venlig hilsen

Mikkel Bjergsø
Mikkeller
Mail: mikkel@mikkeller.dk
Web: mikkeller.dk

Thursday, March 13, 2008

New danish homebrewing DVD set - I'm judging the beers!

(click picture)

Monk's Elixir 6 stars in Berlingske Tidende.....!

Berlingske Tidende, by Mr. Søren Frank, March 9. 2008 (click picture)

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast Challenge 2008

Mikkellers flagskibøl hedder Beer Geek Breakfast. Det er en stout på alk. 7,5 % vol. brygget med store mængde havre og frisk gourmetkaffe.

Beer Geek Breakfast blev fra sin spæde fødsel hurtigt kendt blandt ølnørder i Danmark og rundt omkring i verden og er stadig Mikkellers mest berømmede øl herhjemme og i udlandet. Nu udskriver Mikkeller den første årlige ’Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast Challenge’ blandt Danmarks hjemmebryggere.

Reglerne er simple: Bryg den bedste version af Beer Geek Breakfast.
Alle deltagende øl vil blive dømt ved årets European Beer Festival lørdag den 13. september på. Dommere ved konkurrencen vil være undertegnede, ejer og brygger på Mikkeller, samt et nøje udvalgt dommerpanel som offentliggøres senere.

Der vil være præmier til de 3 bedste øl.

Konkurrencen er ikke ment som en konkurrent til årets DM i håndbryg, men snarere som en sjovt event som forhåbentlig vil blive en tradition ved ølfestivalen i fremtiden.

For at undersøge om der overhovedet er interesse for en sådan konkurrence bedes du/I melde tilbage med forhåndstilkendegivelse til mig på mikkel@mikkeller.dk inden 1. april 2008. Herefter vil de endelige forhold omkring konkurrencen blive offentliggjort.

God Brygning!

Med venlig hilsen / Kind regards
Mikkel Borg Bjergsø
Mikkeller