Taste Anholt

If you want to try a beer from the brewery Anholt Bryghus, you have to go to the island. The brewery is smaller than a mini brewery, and the beer is produced in small batches and does not leave Anholt.

The special thing about the beer from Anholt is that it is brewed using the local water that distinguishes itself by being very pure and lime-free.

The island’s lime-free water is also used in Anholt Gin, which has received significant international recognition, including a prestigious gold medal at the SIP Awards in California in 2020.

At Anholt Bryghus, the beer is produced according to the principle that the beer must be treated as gently as possible during production. The brewer couple Tobias and Anne-Sophie emphasise the simplicity of the brewing methods, saying that: … we mostly use love and care in the process, and that’s what we want our customers to experience with our beer.

Anholt Gin is distilled in the province Vesthimmerland on the mainland, but the taste comes from the juniper berries that Anholt is especially rich in – and of course the island’s excellent water.

Juniper vacation in mid-October

There are more than 10,000 juniper bushes on Anholt, and on a yearly basis, they supply between 300 and 500 kg of beautiful bluish berries for the production of Anholt Gin.

Since the entrepreneur Jakob Kjærgaard founded Anholt Gin in 2017, juniper picking has grown into an event that attracts people from many countries. Everyone who shows up is welcome.

Every day during the school fall holiday week in mid-October, the pickers will go out across the island to pick and sort the finest bluish second-year berries. New pickers will join experienced pickers for the first few days. At 5 PM, everyone will gather in front of the grocery store Brugsen in the village of Anholt By for the weighing of the day’s harvest.

As a thank you, the pickers each get a specially produced “Plukke-Gin” – ‘Picking Gin’ – which has over time become a collector’s item. However, over the course of the week, there is plenty of opportunities to taste the gin when each day’s harvest is celebrated with prizes.

Beer and gin from Anholt are best enjoyed on Anholt. Anholt Gin is sold all over the island, while the beer is served at Dørken and Orakel Bar, which you can find at the harbour. You will taste hops from Anholt if you choose “Super Karla” from the brewery. If you wish to try what may be the world’s only gin made from fresh juniper berries, choose “Dobbelt Female”.

Read more stories from Anholt or explore exciting stories from other places. 
Learn more about Anholt Harbor here.

Sources: 
Anholt Brewery
Anholt Gin