Aass Brewery
Encyclopedia
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
's oldest brewery
Brewery
A brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company....
. Founded in 1834 in Drammen
Drammen
Drammen is a city in Buskerud County, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the eastern and most populated part of Norway.-Location:...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, the brewery's primary products are beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
and aquavit
Aquavit
Aquavit may refer to:* Aqua vitae, Latin for "water of life", a concentrated alcoholic distillate* Akvavit, a Scandinavian distilled beverage* Okovita, a historic Polish-Ukrainian term for an alcoholic drink related to vodka...
. The company also produce a wide range of soft drinks. Aass is also co-owner of the Norwegian brand A/S Solo.
History
Originally a company dealing in timberTimber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
, groceries, baking
Baking
Baking is the technique of prolonged cooking of food by dry heat acting by convection, and not by radiation, normally in an oven, but also in hot ashes, or on hot stones. It is primarily used for the preparation of bread, cakes, pastries and pies, tarts, quiches, cookies and crackers. Such items...
and brewing, the brewery was bought by farmer's son Poul Lauritz Aass in the 1860s. The brewery is still owned by the Aass family, which makes it one of Norway's few remaining independent breweries. As an independent, it has built up a reputation for high quality products and tasty beers, brewing strictly according to the German Purity Law (reinheitsgebot
Reinheitsgebot
The Reinheitsgebot , sometimes called the "German Beer Purity Law" or the "Bavarian Purity Law" in English, was a regulation concerning the production of beer in Germany. In the original text, the only ingredients that could be used in the production of beer were water, barley and hops...
).
Drammensølets venner (the Friends of the Beer from Drammen) is an association that supports the brewery, arranging various events and publishing a newsletter about 4 times a year. It is the world's 2nd largest such association, currently boasting about 35,000 members.
Beers
Juleøl (strong seasonal Christmas beer), Pilsner, Fatøl, Classic (amber), Pale Ale, Bock Beer, Gull and a dark Munich-style lager called Aass Bayer. And many more.Trivia
The Aass beer was ridiculed on The Late Show with David Letterman because of the name's similarity with the English word ass. (Biff HendersonBiff Henderson
James Jackson "Biff" Henderson, Jr. is an American comedian and television personality best known for his work on The Late Show with David Letterman. He is the show's stage manager and appears in occasional humorous segments, often involving interviewing people he meets in public places or at...
said something to the effect of "I'm not drinking that!"). The word aass is a family name and probably an archaic spelling of ås, which means ridge or low hill. It is pronounced to rhyme something like "cause" in a British accent.