Journal no. 3

Visit Carlsberg


This place is one of the most popular attractions in Copenhagen, and rightly so.
Even if you can't stand beer (like me), it was a great experience to visit the old breweries, check out the museums, and see random/cool things there.
And they have that in spades.

Firstly, it's located on Gamle Carlsberg Vej (Old Carlsberg Way, I think). Already has street cred.

Planning the trip there was a little tricky. We had to get off at the right bus stop. Fortunately, the friendly bus driver saved the day. I asked him if the bus went to Visit Carlsberg, and he said yes, and we sat at the back, counted the stops, alighted, and then he was like, no, it's nearer if you alight at the next stop, /smiley face. 
So nice of him lah!

VC is near a huge park and the Copenhagen Zoo was in the area as well, as it turned out.
The bus stop was at the edge of the park, and we followed the signs towards the old Carlsberg buildings.
Once you turn the corner to the left, there's this road leading to the gateway guarded by 2 giant stone elephants on both sides, aka the Elephant Gate built in 1901.
You can see the man standing under the trunk on the elephant on the left in the photo.

Past the elephants, turn right, and see this on the pavement. Cute!
The complex is huge, with old brick buildings here and there, and some other companies occupying lots in this area.

After a while, we started to wonder if we were going in the right direction because we were the only ones around. Then we started to see these - signposts completely smothered by VC stickers.
How Awesome Is That!

The entrance is in a nondescript brick building, fronted by the gift shop.
Young ladies checked our Copenhagen Card and gave us a VC sticker (satin-y sticker, black background with white 3-pointed leaf shape) for our shirt.
On the right side of the space was this wall for people to leave their sticker on, when they left.
But obviously, people rather go outside the box. haha


Jacobsen Brewhouse & bar

The self-guided tour experience was clearly indicated and explained to us by the ladies.
And we got 2 coupons for free drinks at the various bars.
There was a building with modern facilities for the production of Carlsberg beer.

A smell-o-rama of different aromas one can appreciate in beer.
As a non-beer fan, I was amazed that anyone can detect any scent in booze.
There was coffee, banana, chocolate, etc. These things are great fun though, I sniffed every one.

The bar at Jacobsen building.


Old Brewhouse

• Jacobsen Beer Lager - dark ale the way the old timers used to like it. Malty and strong.
• Jacobsen Weissbier - lighter and fruity-er beer for the youngsters.

He had said we should go upstairs to check out the bottle collection, while sipping our beer.
Which we did.
This collection houses beer from all over the world, from the earliest ones, to the latest ones.

From the old grain store, the self-guided tour led us to the old casking and fermentation pits.
As well as a comprehensive history of Carlsberg in images and text, spanning a very large room.
It was really cool to see all the original designs and how things changed.

Other highlights: The Stables and The Art Collection.
Carlsberg beer used to be delivered by horse drawn carts, and they still have horses to draw the tourist carriages.
The Art Collection has a miniature Little Mermaid and reproductions(?) of other nice statues in the garden area.
There were about 4 horses in the stables. One of them kinda gave me a hickey on my right shoulder.

After which, we finished off with soft drinks at the outdoor bar and headed off for the zoo.