Anders Kissmeyer

Brew master Anders Kissmeyer is the promoter behind the vision of Nørrebro Bryghus. His personal vision and solid professionalism is the foam of the beer and the leading star of developing and building the brewery. Anders is the analytical entrepreneur, the connoisseur and the alchemist, who has dedicated his life in search of the formula for the best brew.

From Århus Cathedral School to Brooklyn Brewery

Already at the Cathedral school in Århus, chemistry had attracted Anders Kissmeyers attention. The interest brought him to the chemistry engineer studies. His final dissertation “The botanic components in rye” lead the way for Anders Kissmeyers life long interest in understanding and discovering the secrets of the molecules in beer.

Anders Kissmeyer graduated from “Den Skadinaviske Bryggerihøjskole” and already before his graduation he is hand picked by Carlsberg to career as head of the laboratories and later to be in charge of controlling the quality of Carlsberg’s breweries around the world.

An American revelation

On the travels to America, Anders discovered the fast evolving American microbrewery revolution. Very fare from the Cathedral school in Århus the legendary Garrett Oliver gave Anders a veritable beer revelation. With Brooklyn Brewery Oliver had secured USA a place in the superior league of the beer nations. The interest was not decreased because Anders’s revelation had taken place in USA and not in one of the European capitals with a thousand year old history of beer, but only made even more interesting.

It was not only the brew that Garett Oliver first presented that surprised Anders, but also the fact that such a small brewery, as Brooklyn Brewery and later many other breweries like it, could produce beer of such a unique quality - it was world-class beer. The brewing techniques Oliver used were just as sophisticated as the techniques Anders knew from back home. What was the secret?

Inspiration from educational travels

As a dedicated taste-tester at Carlsberg and with a secure place at Carlsberg’s product development panel, Anders studied and described the many and very varied assortment of beers from the American microbreweries.

The department for development at Carlsberg received Anders’s thoughts and inspirations from the groundbreaking educational travels. He was, as he did him self when he first encountered the Brooklyn Brewery, met with lack of understanding - the small breweries and the challenging new beer types is a naïve dream, which does not stand a change facing reality, and there is certainly not a marked for it in Denmark.

The year after Anders Kissmeyer leaves Carlsberg to pursue his dream, which is starting to take its form. A dream that has become reality outside of Denmark – by Garrett Oliver and many others in the world.

Engagement in the Danish beer-culture

One of the primary forces that drove Anders’s idea and the work with Nørrebro Bryghus forward has from the beginning been the wish for being a part of developing and improving the Danish beer- culture – you can almost stay creating a new one. As a life long beer lover, a curious cosmopolitan and an eager observer of the Danish beer-culture, Anders was determined on that by the millennium the whole climate surrounding the Danish beer-culture should be well on the way to a more mature and in that way a very dramatic change. From almost exclusively focussing on quantity – how many cheap beers and draught beer one could down in a weekend – to a rising curiosity and interest for other and more refined beer had started to take its form. The most visual sign of this, was the success“ the Danish Beer-Enthusiasts” had right from the beginning and the success Carlsberg had with launching the Semper Ardens.

How this ambition about contributing to the development of the beer-culture in Denmark has sat its mark on the visions and the practical activities at Nørrebro Bryghus is directly and indirectly stated many times on this homepage. Therefore, only the daily work that Anders is doing at Nørrebro Bryghus and how he is gathering inspiration ongoing and forwarding it to co-workers and others that are interested in the developments at Nørrebro Bryghus and the Danish beer-culture, has been discussed. Anders participates and contributes to many of the ongoing beer events all over the world. Some of them are listed below.  

Member of the board at the Brewers Society.

Member of the Brewers Society’s Technical comity and Communication comity.

Teacher at  "den Skandinaviske Bryggerihøjskole" – where some of the best brewers in Denmark graduate from.

Judge at World Beer Cup – the worlds most prestigious beer competition.

Judge at the Brewing Industry International Awards – Europe’s most prestigious beer competition.

Judge at the Great American Beer Festival – Americas most prestigious beer competition.

Judge at DM in Crafted Beer – until now the most prestigious beer competition in Denmark.

Lecturer at several international and Danish brewing conferences – e.g. Craft Brewers Conference in USA and at the latest Nordic Technical Brewing meeting.

Articles in magazines such as “Brauwelt Intl.”, the worlds most prestigious, Scandinavian Brewers Review and “Ølentusiasten”.