Nearly all the beers brewed by Lindheim Ølkompani contain a dash of unfermented apple juice. Appropriately enough, when they are being produced at one of the finest orchards in Norway’s “Fruit Village”, where the fruit’s natural, mystical microfibres create truly unique flavours.
At beautiful Lindheim farm, “fruit maid” Ingeborg Lindheim and her husband Eivin Eilertsen have many exciting ideas brewing – and, not least, thousands of litres of frothy craft beer. With a completely unique flavour from the orchards where it is brewed.
“When I decided to take over the family farm in 2013, we had to come up with a way of developing it. Eivin had the idea of brewing beer, but we knew absolutely nothing about it!” explains Ingeborg, who holds the allodial right to her family’s land.
Experimenting with flavours
The beer is stored for 1-5 years in oak barrels down in the beautiful, newly built bodega in the cellar. The couple have experimented with adding apples, cherries, plums, rhubarb and pears to their beers, as well as far more unusual additions, such as honey and soured yoghurt. Some of the beers also offer clever flavour combinations, such as their Jacobs hage (Jacob’s garden) beer, which contains an inspired blend of raspberries, salt and coriander.
“Many of the beers we produce are named after personalities at the farm, such as my grandmother Lull, who decorates the Christmas beers. We sell more than 30 different beers and ciders during the year,” Ingeborg says.
Experimenting with flavours
The beer is stored for 1-5 years in oak barrels down in the beautiful, newly built bodega in the cellar. The couple have experimented with adding apples, cherries, plums, rhubarb and pears to their beers, as well as far more unusual additions, such as honey and soured yoghurt. Some of the beers also offer clever flavour combinations, such as their Jacobs hage [Jacob’s garden] beer, which contains an inspired blend of raspberries, salt and coriander.
“Many of the beers we produce are named after personalities at the farm, such as my grandmother Lull, who decorates the Christmas beers. We sell more than 30 different beers and ciders during the year,” Ingeborg says.
150,000 litres of beer, apple juice and cider
There is no doubt that Lindheim Frukt og Ølkompani is a success story. The farm shop and bar/drinks outlet are usually open daily except Sundays through the school holidays, and attract many visitors. After extending the barn built in 1954, they can now produce 150,000 litres of beer, apple juice and apple cider in a state-of-the-art brewery in rustic style. In 2017, they were awarded the accolade “Business development of the year” for Telemark.
Lindheim farm is part of the “Fruit Village” business network offering open farms, farm shops, art exhibitions, accommodation, cafés, festivals, brewery and vineyard visits, and much more. Read more at fruktbygda.no
By Christine Baglo and Tone Solberg