Carlsberg launched Vintage 3 in Denmark. It is the third and final edition of the world’s most exclusive beer trilogy – a trilogy that unifies first-class beer brewing with innovative art

This week, Carlsberg is launching Vintage 3 in Denmark. It is the third and final edition of the world’s most exclusive beer trilogy – a trilogy that unifies first-class beer brewing with innovative art.


Under the leadership of Jacobsen Brewery’s brewmaster, Morten Ibsen, six Carlsberg brewers from Norway, France, Great Britain and Denmark dedicated themselves to developing and brewing Carlsberg’s ambitious beer trilogy, Vintage 3.

Meanwhile, three artists – Kaspar Bonnén and two selected artists from the project Radiant Copenhagen – joined forces to create six unique labels that point to the future and tell the story of what Carlsberg City may look like someday.

Quality and dedication take time and require an uncompromising approach. The basic recipe for Vintage 3 was developed in Copenhagen; it was then further developed at Kronenbourg Innovation Centre in France and is now the only currently available beer to be aged in French Côte d’Or oak barrels in J.C. Jacobsen’s original cellar from 1847. In the final cold days of February 2010, the approx 1,000 bottles were hand tapped, the unique labels were applied by hand and Vintage 3 became a reality.


Vintage 3 – something of a world sensation

Vintage 3 is a so-called Pale Barley Wine, and according to brewmaster Morten Ibsen, the taste experience is both full and nuanced. “The beer has a golden, bubbly appearance. It gives a warm feeling on the palate and has a nearly ‘fat’ fullness that reveals the beer’s close kinship with sweet desert wines.

The beer has a wealth of deep oak, vanilla and nutty aromas from the barrel aging, combined with sweet fruits from the fermentation; it is a perfect choice for sweet deserts and cheeses,” says brewmaster Morten Ibsen. And Vintage 3 is something of a world sensation in beer, due to the fermentation process. Vintage 3’s alcohol content is around 15 percent, which is solely produced through natural fermentation and without added enzymes or surplus alcohol from the barrel, as is the case with other beers that have such a high alcohol content.


The price

And the price? DKK 2010 for 37 cl. “But it tastes as wonderful as the angels sing,” says brewmaster Morten Ibsen immodestly.

With the Vintage trilogy, Jacobsen Brewery created a beer series that breaks the boundaries for what beer is and can be.

“The in-house brewery was founded to carry on the spirit of founder J.C. Jacobsen, whose goal was perfection. We promise that we will continue to do our utmost to deliver beers that transform views of the potential of beer,” says brewmaster Morten Ibsen.


6 labels from Carlsberg City

But the Vintage trilogy is not only about creating a fantastic beer. It is also about delivering the ultimate, complete experience in a bottle. “People will also encounter a unique art experience in the Vintage 3.

It will not resemble other labels in terms of materials or format. We are playing with the conception of space and time, fiction and reality, and blending this with a narrative about Carlsberg City,” says Kaspar Bonnén, one of the three artists who decorated the approx 1,000 bottles.

The artists, who also include Anders Bojen and Kristoffer Ørum, made Carlsberg City the centre of fictive narratives on the labels, which take place in a distant future or a past that never happened. One label shows The Carlsberg Tower from 1914, an ambitious construction project that J.C. Jacobsen never realised before his death, while the label “The Carlsberg Dome” depicts a dome erected over Carlsberg City in the year 2047 to separate it from the surrounding slum.

The labels are works of art centring around Carlsberg City, but with a time horizon that stretches far into the future – just like Vintage 3.
In designing the labels, the artists used maps that are significantly more detailed than those available on the internet. These included maps from COWI A/S, one of the world’s leading suppliers of detailed digital aerial photos and maps.

 

  

  

  

 

 Source: Carlsberg

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