Interview mit Mikkel von Mikkeller

Bei einem ausgewählten Bierfestival in den hehren Räumlichkeiten der Brouwerij De Molen im niederländischen Bodegraven trafen wir Mikkeller neben vier weiteren herausragenden Brauereien an, die allesamt zu der Crème de la Crème der Szene gehören. Mikkel, zweifelsohne eine der Ikonen der neuen und innovativen Bierbewegung in Europa, nahm sich die Zeit, um meine Fragen bei einem Interview auf Englisch zu beantworten.



Bierkompass: Hi Mikkel. It is a pleasure to meet you at this festival, where you present several of your new beers again. So what caused your passion of beer?

Mikkel: Hi Sebastian. I actually started drinking beer in the late 1990s, mostly cheap lagers. Then I concentrated on the beers that were not produced in Denmark yet, things like IPAs. So I began to brew to make something better and to brew the beers of different styles. Of course, I made the beers you could not find on the Danish market.

Bierkompass: What is your attitude toward beer and the tradition behind beer?

Mikkel: I am very much influenced by American beers. I like to break rules and to brew differently. There are a lot of breweries brewing beers which are not something new.


Bierkompass: Your beers can be described as totally innovative and inventive. They enter often new paths and seem to contain a lot more art than tradition. What is your opinion about that?

Mikkel: I do not think it is art. It is just the beers I want to drink. I want to make what is possible and try to find the limits.

Bierkompass: Would you call yourself an artist?

Mikkel: No, absolutely not. I try to do the best and I always try to develop my beers, but I do not think that I brew the best beers in the world.

Bierkompass: Many of your beers are really different and were never brewed in this way before. So do you brew and recommend such special beers just for “beer geeks”?


Mikkel: Of course, I am influenced by beer geeks and I do not brew beer for everyone. I create beers which could be interesting for beer lovers, who really care about great beers.

Bierkompass: What was the most interesting and impressive beer you have ever tasted and why?

Mikkel: All beers from De Dolle Brouwers are out of the world. To brew an IPA is pretty easy, but Kris from De Dolle Brouwers can brew other beers which are so amazing and cannot be compared to anything else in the world of beer.

Bierkompass: Which is your favorite ingredient and why?

Mikkel: Hops. You can define good beers with the hops, as it is a very important flavor. With hops you can make the best beers.

Bierkompass: What is the “beer to brew” for you?

Mikkel: A collaboration beer with Kris from De Dolle Brouwers. I tried it several times and he always rejected my offer, but one time I will win.


Bierkompass: What do you think about wine and would you prefer to be winemaker, if you could?

Mikkel: I love wine and I drink a lot of wine. To be honest, I would prefer to be one of the best winemakers in the world than one of the best brewers.

Bierkompass: Is there something you want to tell or explain to the German beer lovers, especially to those who just ran into our site and exploring the variety of Belgian and international beers?

Mikkel: I try to make people experience beer without advertising my own products. I am not going to tell people that I am brewing the best IPA in Denmark. They should taste it on their own.

Bierkompass: Many thanks for the interview and I hope to hear soon good news about the collaboration with Kris.

Mikkel: Thank you.

Interview mit Gregory von La Rulles

Bei dem Brassigaume Festival der handwerklichen Brauereien im benachbarten Marbehan traf ich mich mit Gregory, um mit ihm ein Interview zu führen. Ziel war es, die Philosophie und die Idee hinter der Brauerei und den Bieren zu durchleuchten und sie dem geneigten Leser zu veranschaulichen.
Um keine Aussagen falsch zu interpretieren, habe ich das in Englisch gehaltene Interview nicht übersetzt.

Bierkompass: Hi Gregory. Nice to meet you. As we can see, you are one of the main organizers of this festival and you are a very passionate brewer. So what caused your passion of beer?

Gregory: Hi Sebastian. To answer your question: First, I am a drinker of beer and I love beer. Second, I wanted and still want to prove that a new small brewer can produce better beer than the big commercial brands.

Bierkompass: And what is your attitude toward beer?

Gregory: For me, it is a continuation of old traditions which started a few thousand years ago in Mesopotamia and I actually want to take part in these traditions, as I see me as a link in a chain. All classes of people drink beer to be happy. I think this is a great connection to people all around the world.

Bierkompass: Now a tricky question: Which is your favorite ingredient and why?

Gregory (laughing): That is not so easy to say, as all ingredients are very important for the finished product. But… I am a real big fan of yeast. You can make beer without malt and without hops, but not without yeast. That would be impossible!

Bierkompass: What are the idea and the philosophy of your brewery and your beers?

Gregory: I want to produce very balanced beers with a high drinkability, so you do not want to stop drinking it. Of course, quality is a big point in my brewing concept.

Bierkompass: How do you see your beers in the Belgian and also in the international world of beer?

Gregory: My production is very small, compared to the big ones, not only in Belgium. But I do not want to produce much more, as I try to convince people to drink better beer.

Bierkompass: What do you think about wine and would you prefer to be winemaker, if you could?

Gregory: Hmmm…. wine means not the same to me like beer. You can vary a lot with different ingredients, so that the beer can be totally different every time. Beer can be combined even better with food than wine, as there is this fantastic spectrum of taste. Besides, the drinker of beer is not the same like the drinker of wine. I do not care about complicate tastings, neither with beer nor with wine.

Bierkompass: What are your plans for the near future? Maybe a new beer?

Gregory: I always want to produce new beers, but I have not the capacities to produce that much, as I have to sell it. So I concentrate on making my beers even better.

Bierkompass: Is there something you want to tell or explain to the German public, especially to those who just ran into our site and still exploring the variety of the artisanal beers from Belgium and other countries?

Gregory: I do not make beer for everyone. Some like it, some love it… some probably do not like it, but I do not know that many people of the last group. (Laughing). There is just a simple advice: You have to taste it, so try and choose! Otherwise, you do not know what you are missing.

Bierkompass: Last questions: Which Belgian brewery would you recommend next to your own one and why?

Gregory: Orval. Orval is one style, as there is no beer like it anywhere else, even if they do not produce just a little. I use their excellent yeast for my beers.

Bierkompass: Gregory, thanks for taking the time to answer our questions and good luck with your beers.

Gregory: Ok. Thanks.

Danke an Gregory für dieses aufschlussreiche Interview!