Cathedral of brewing: tradition remains the byword at Denmark's Carlsberg Brewery

Modern Brewery Age, July 22, 2002 by Gregg Glaser

JC's most lasting legacy, and the life achievement of which he was most proud, is the Carlsberg Foundation. Established in 1876, the Foundation remains intact and busy today. The Foundation's initial and lasting purpose is "to benefit science and honor the country." Today the Foundation continues and advances research in Carlsberg Laboratories and promotes basic sciences. The Foundation also administers and maintains the Danish Museum of Natural History at Frederiksborg Castle.

CARLSBERG'S ADVANCES IN BREWING TECHNOLOGY

The late 1870s and early 1880s were years when Carlsberg was one of the largest breweries in the world and the most scientific and technically developed. Denmark was a world leader in the brewing sciences. The single most important achievement of the era, and in the history of brewing, occurred in 1883. That was the year in which Emil Hansen, a young scientist hired by JC to work in Carlsberg Laboratories, isolated and cultivated the first pure-culture, single-cell yeast strain for brewing. Working with Tuborg and then Carlsberg beers, Hansen found several "bad" yeasts mixed in with the "good' yeast in the beers that were causing problems of unpleasant aromas and bitter flavors (this bitterness was not from hops, the usual suspect in beer bitterness). Hansen's achievement was so monumentally important to brewers worldwide, both lager and ale brewers, that the yeast strain he developed was scientifically classified as saccharomyces carslbergensis. That name remains to this day.

JC built himself an ornate Italian mansion on the brewery grounds. (Years later the famous Danish scientist, Niels Bohr, who worked on the Manhattan Project that developed the first atomic bomb, lived in JC's mansion.) JC would work late at night in his corner office on the ground floor of his home, and from his window he could see if any workers came in late through the only gate they were allowed to use. In those days unmarried men lived in dormitories at the brewery. Curfew was 10:00 p.m., and latecomers were fined a day's pay (given to a local orphanage) if they reported their lateness. If a worker did not report his tardiness or lied about it, he was summarily fired,

When JC died in 1887, on holiday in southern Europe with Carl, he left Carlsberg not to Carl, but to the Carlsberg Foundation. The two passions of JC's life were quality in beer production, thus the Carlsberg laboratories, the Carlsberg Foundation.

CARL JACOBSEN AND NEW CARLSBERG

Carl Jacobsen eventually took over management, if not ownership, of Carlsberg, but his passions led in a different direction than his father's. Carl was a lover and inveterate collector of art, All kinds of art Paintings. Sculptures. Antiques. Objects d'art This passion, among other things, caused no end of problems, arguments and feuds between father and son.

In 1867, when he was 25 years old, Carl was sent away from Denmark for four years -- exiled, in fact--because JC disapproved of the woman Carl wanted to marry. After the lady in question was married to another man, Carl was allowed home in 1871. While abroad in Europe, Carl spent his time admiring art and also visiting breweries. On his return, JC set up a brewery for Carl in an annex to the main Carlsberg brewery. Carl became a tenant brewer on his father's property.