Ølekspert Carsten Berthelsen: Jeg kan godt lide at gå til grænsen

"Everything is a fight. But for me it has been a kind of gliding transition, because I have been so naive, so I have thought, when people taste this, they must be able to recognize that this is fantastic."

That line from Carsten Berthelsen captures the spirit of a man who helped lead Denmark's beer renaissance. In a conversation that ranges from ancient fermentation to modern craft breweries, Berthelsen—a former Carlsberg employee turned beer sommelier teacher at the restaurant school—explains the deep cultural history of beer, the unique position of Belgium as the world's beer capital, and why the drink deserves the same reverence as wine.

The Three Great Beer Traditions

Berthelsen breaks beer into three fundamental categories based on fermentation method. The first is lager beer (bottom-fermented, cold-fermented between 8 and 15 degrees Celsius). This is the familiar Danish pilsner style—though Berthelsen points out that what Danes call "their beer" is actually a Czech invention. Traditional lagers were fermented for 90 days.

The second category is ale (top-fermented, warm-fermented between 15 and 25 degrees Celsius). This is the older, more traditional method, and it produces beers with greater complexity and intoxicating character. Berthelsen identifies himself as "an old-fashioned conservative beer drinker" who prefers what people have always drunk.