Amundsen Brewery

In Awards issues gone by, we’ve voted Norway’s Amundsen Bryggeri the producer of our best IPA, but let's be real, this brewery is as celebrated for its unctious, adjunct-heavy stouts as it is loved for its creamy, hop-forward IPAs. Amundsen is consistently one of the best rated breweries among our members, no matter the style, so we hope this award translates into something of a love letter from drinker to brewer. 

Ratings and reviews are useful to breweries at the best of times, but feedback is particularly valuable in Norway, where the production and sale of alcohol is so strictly regulated that breweries are prohibited from engaging directly with domestic consumers. Amundsen’s founder, Geoffrey Jansen Van Vuren says that “come the end of 2024, we will have attended 18 beer festivals in total. We haven’t attended that number of festivals since before COVID. Being present at these festivals to mingle with consumers is massively important to us. Getting direct feedback on your products and making sure what you make is still relevant is key. I’m so proud of us for keeping the brewery wheels turning with eight staff and still being able to travel all around the world to see our consumers and brewer friends.”

As for the year to come Geoffrey says the brewery’s focus will be to keep developing its alcohol-free selection, and to begin dabbling with other canned drinks as well. “We should have started to diversify our production and products a long time ago,” he says. “The focus has always been on beer but our creativity and passion can easily be shared among other products, like soft drinks.” Given the skill and technical capabilities of the small but mighty Amundsen team, the possibilities are endless, and whether the future holds seltzers, sodas, kombucha or hopwater, we’ll be first in line if it’s even half as good as the beer.