Copenhagen Craft Beer Icon Mikkeller Now Has a Bar in Shoreditch

Iconic Copenhagen brewery Mikkeller has opened a bar in Shoreditch.

With Rick Astley.

The craft brewery, founded by Mikkel Borg Bjergsø and Kristian Klarup Keller in 2006, has grown to be one of the sector’s most revered, showcasing a wide range of beer styles and approaches, using local ingredients. It has since built up a cult following, collaborating to make exclusive beers with big-name restaurants such as Alinea and Noma. Bjergsø’s twin brother, Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø, founded Evil Twin in 2010, which has also become one of the industry’s most famous: the brothers’ widely documented feud has become something of an urban legend in the craft beer world. Mikkeller has since opened breweries in San Diego and New York.

Mikkeller previously collaborated with Astley on Astley’s Northern Hop Lager, because Bjergsø is a brewer and Astley is his childhood idol. The lager’s red tint is reportedly a reference to Astley’s ginger locks. Writing on a Facebook event for the bar’s opening, Bjergsø said:

We have finally found a fantastic location in the Shoreditch district that suits us perfectly. Meanwhile, we have been fortunate to get to know Rick Astley and his wife Lene Bausager Astley, so now we have also found the perfect partners”, says CEO and founder of Mikkeller, Mikkel Borg Bjergsø.

Of course, we always prefer to work together with people who have a driving force and heart. It’s a huge plus if we also have a personal relationship with them.

Astley shared the news on Twitter:

Mikkeller Bar opened on 19 October 2018, at 2-4 Hackney Road. The design of the bar takes its cues from its Copenhagen locations, which will likely mean light wood, clean lines, and a lot of taps on the walls. Mikkeller’s beers are often produced in collaboration with brewers, coffee roasters, and other food industry figures; beers brewed with additional ingredients — blueberries, raisins, raspberries, blackcurrants — typically put that ingredient front and centre in the flavour profile, rather than aiming for integration. Far from a rick roll, this is big news for London’s craft beer scene.