Brand building Icelandic style.

Einstök beers have blown into the UK on a northerly wind. Brochures regale you with talk of ‘the purest water on earth’, collected from prehistoric glaciers and filtered through ancient lava fields.

There’s mention of the brewery’s location, just 60 miles south of the Arctic Circle, and lots of references to Vikings.

But, despite such predictable hyperbole, the three men behind the project are up front about their business intentions. They don’t pretend that this is an historic brand with an illustrious pedigree.

They have simply hired the Viking brewery in the fishing port of Akureyri to create a range of four beers they can sell to the world. Baldur Karason, Viking’s Heriot-Watt trained head brewer, has been installed as a figurehead for the range, which takes its lead from the now global craft brewing movement.

Consequently, there’s nothing remotely Icelandic about the selection. Instead, there’s a White Ale, laced with orange peel and coriander in the witbier style, and also a Doppelbock, which has just been released.

I haven’t got hold of these yet but I did manage to try the Pale Ale and the Toasted Porter.

Good Interpretations

The first thing that struck me about both was that they were very clean and well balanced. They are good interpretations of the styles and have plenty of taste.

The amber-coloured Pale Ale features Cascade and Northern Brewer hops but, unhelpfully, these are not mentioned on the label, which instead bangs on about that pure Icelandic water again.

The taste opens up with sweet caramel but this is soon overpowered by orange and tea notes from the hops, with bitter orange and other rich hop flavours going on to dominate the finish. It’s a well-made beer, although I thought it rather slender for the 5.6% ABV.

The Toasted Porter also drinks light for its strength (6%), and that somewhat undermines what is another interesting beer.

Toasted malts lead the way on the palate, bringing biscuit and chocolate flavours that are augmented by a dash of added ‘Icelandic coffee’.

I didn’t know Iceland produced coffee but it’s certainly evident, particularly in the finish, which is chocolaty and dry with a toasted nut bitterness. Like the Pale Ale, it’s an enjoyable, quaffable drink.

Einstök beers are currently on sale in Harvey Nichols stores in the UK. They are nicely presented and their marketing tells a good story.

But we all know that that counts for nothing in the world of the discerning drinker. The beers in the bottles have to deliver.

Do these? Yes they do, albeit in a rather safe fashion.