Skál
Playhaus presents Punk Provocation 12
In 2006, Mikkel Borg Bjergsø was a science teacher with a passion for the US craft beer scene and a dislike for the boring industrial beers of his Danish homeland. What if, Bjergsø wondered, he started releasing the beers he was brewing in his apartment?
His first release was Beer Geek Breakfast, an oatmeal stout brewed using a French-press coffee maker. The beer won international acclaim on the tasting circuit and brought Bjergsø’s fledgling brewery, Mikkeller, to the attention of leading US craft beer distributors. Since that debut brew, Mikkeller has launched over 650 different beers and exported to more than 50 countries as part of Bjergsø’s mission to “show people...what beer can be and, for me, actually is”.1
Unlike most brewers, Mikkeller does not have its own brewery. As a ‘gypsy brewer’ it carefully crafts its recipes then outsources actual brewing to other facilities around the world. Sidestepping the distraction of physical brewing allows Bjergsø to concentrate on pushing the boundaries of good taste with culturematic questions such as:
What quality of fattiness would a beer obtain if you sprinkled popcorn into the mash?
What would happen if you dumped a load of mouth-numbing Sichuan peppercorns in during brewing?
How much fresh seaweed would lend a beer the right umami jolt?
Possessing little commonality with the traditional beer industry and its industrially processed beers, Bjergsø draws inspiration from “people who have different ways of thinking about flavors and aromas. Winemakers, coffee-makers, chefs, other brewers”. And when a diversity of influence collides with outsourced brewing, happy accidents can occur. Due to a typographical error in Bjergsø’s supplied recipe, one brewery ended up adding 100 times more vanilla sugar to a Mikkeller Imperial Stout. The result was 10,000 ‘spoiled’ bottles that Bjergsø elected to release regardless. “People went crazy” for Beer Geek Vanilla Shake, which became one of Mikkeller’s most popular ever beers. By delegating the rote production process, Mikkeller keeps overheads low, creating more space for serendipity and the freedom to pursue its self-sufficient, self-indulgent manifesto (2016):
WE AIM TO…
brew beer that challenge the concept of good beer and move people. We do this by using the best ingredients and work with the most talented and creative minds around the world.
make quality beers a serious alternative to wine and champagne when having gourmet food.
WE FAIL TO…
calm down. We are always thinking in new ways and ideas, always working on the next project. Sometimes it’s hard for people to keep up…
make beer that is watery and tasteless. In our world beer challenges people’s taste buds – whether it’s in a bitter, spicy, sour or fruity manner.
WE LOVE TO…
explore the existing beer genres by using the best raw material available. The refined product is the aim – not to keep down costs. This leads to very special brews by Mikkeller: Stouts with Vietnamese Kopi Luwak coffee, chipotle child, lychee fruits – just to name a few.
cooperate with other breweries around the world, who inspires us and teach us new ways of doing things.
WE HATE TO…
work with people that don’t give a damn. There are so many wonderful, passionate and honest people in the beer world, why spend time on the rest?
The physical production process may be just a commodity to Bjergsø – “you can train a monkey to brew beer” he told the New York Times – but aesthetic value is not. Playful and iconic, Mikkeller succeeds in being “anomalously cool” in a sea of boring beer labels. Bjergsø understands that look, feel and storytelling are important contributors to the experience of beer: “never put a good beer in a bottle that looked bad...the beer wouldn’t be good anymore”.
Punk Provocations are thin slices from the archives of Punk Playthings: Provocations for 21st Century Game Makers by Chris Lowthorpe and Sean Taylor. Original cover art by Louie Isaaman-Jones.
Weiner, J. (2014). A Fight Is Brewing. [Internet]. New York Times, 26 March 2016. [Accessed 11 December 2016].