Nøgne Ø

Founded in January 2002 in Grimstad by airline pilot Kjetil Jikiun and Gunnar Wiig, Nøgne Ø — 'the naked isle', borrowed from Ibsen's poem Terje Vigen — is the pioneer of Norwegian craft. Its motto, 'the uncompromising brewery', sums up its method: unfiltered, unpasteurised, bottle-conditioned ales that introduced imperial stouts, barley wines and experimental sours to Norway. Regularly ranked among RateBeer's 100 best breweries in the world and exported to some forty markets, it was also Europe's first sake brewery. Tours and tastings in Grimstad take visitors to the heart of a slow, precise production true to its convictions.