Region & History

Which beer belongs to Copenhagen? For most people, it's Carlsberg, and the story begins in 1847 in the Valby district. There, brewer Jacob Christian Jacobsen opened his brewery and brewed his first batch in November 1847. He named it after his son Carl and the hill, or "berg," on which the brewery stood.

Jacobsen wanted to brew bottom-fermented beer in the Munich style—and to get it right every single time. To achieve this, he brought science into the business. In 1875 he established the Carlsberg Laboratory, which later gave rise to pure yeast cultivation and the concept of pH value.

A second major brand emerged in 1873 at the harbor of Hellerup, north of the city. Among the founders of the Tuborg brewery were the entrepreneur Philip Heyman and the financier Tietgen. The first Tuborg Pilsner was brewed in 1880.

Rivals became a single company: in 1970, Carlsberg and Tuborg merged. Both brands remain part of the Carlsberg Group to this day.

And the brewery in Valby? Production there ended in late October 2008, and the beer has since come mainly from Fredericia in Jutland. The old site is now being developed into the Carlsberg Byen district. At Husbryggeriet Jacobsen, beer is still brewed there, on a small scale and with rotating styles.

After the turn of the millennium came the second wave. In September 2003, Nørrebro Bryghus opened in the Nørrebro district, founded by former Carlsberg brewmaster Anders Kissmeyer. Today the brand belongs to Royal Unibrew, and according to the company its specialty beers are produced at the Albani brewery in Odense. In 2006, physics teacher Mikkel Borg Bjergsø started Mikkeller in his kitchen. There is no EU protected designation of origin for Copenhagen beer.