California’s new Danish beer

My great aunt married a Dane. He was a prominent linguist whose seminal work awarded him honorary residence at the J.C. Jacobsen villa – the home of the founders of Carlsberg Brewery in central Copenhagen. (At one point Niels Bohr called this place home!) This was all before I was catching trans-Atlantic flights, but by the time I visited Denmark I had seen many pictures of the famous Carlsberg Elephant Arch. I already connected the country with beer. Another memory I had of my Danish relatives was that they always sent the strangest candies for the holidays. How could I forget getting candies with names like ‘dog farts,’ ‘bird poo,’ or ‘earwax?’

This is the long way of saying that I wasn’t as surprised as I should have been to find myself enjoying a Danish beer called Soft Dookie this week.

Evil Twin Brewing, the one-year-old brewing operation of brewer-importer Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergso, made a splash at Oakland’s Trappist. In addition to pouring caramel-y rich stout Soft Dookie, there was a hop-o-licious Whore, and the West Coast release of Wet Dream, made specially for the Trappist. (All his beers are named in this vein – my favorite to date – Katz Pis.)

The expanded Trappist – with its breezy back patio and a menu that includes handmade charcuterie from Ben, one of the gourmet-inclined bartenders – has more allure than ever. Even though Jeppe has moved on to L.A. to share his beers with Beachwood BBQ and Brewing, he left plenty of Evil Twin for us. The Dookie really made my tastes buds happy – caramel undertones and a creamy consistency without too much carbonation, and plenty of strength too. It really doesn’t sound right, but then again, some Danes may just have a thing for seriously good beer and funny-sounding names.