ÅBEN

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

A brewery born from 61 attempts

ÅBEN started as a hobby. Childhood friends Philip Hulgaard and Johannes Karstoft converted Philip's family farm in Kolding into a small brewery in 2017, working alongside full-time jobs. The name of their first signature beer tells the story plainly: Bryg 61 — named after the number of attempts it took to get the recipe exactly right. That kind of obsessive precision would come to define everything that followed.

By 2019, ÅBEN was named Brewery of the Year, and the operation has grown steadily since. Today, Philip runs the brewery full-time from its home in Kødbyen — Copenhagen's former meatpacking district — where five fully automatic 20-hectoliter brewhouses can produce up to 3.6 million liters of wort annually. Beer flows directly from fermenters to 14 tanks suspended above the bar, poured fresh for anyone who stops by. The entire production setup is visible to guests, making the space as much a working brewery as a bar.

Over 300 beers and counting

ÅBEN releases two to three new beers every month, building an archive that now exceeds 300 recipes. The range moves confidently across styles — generously hopped IPAs, full-bodied imperial stouts, and a broad selection of distinctive sours. That last category matters here: the sour program reflects the same fermentation-forward thinking that runs through the kitchen.

Where the beer meets the plate

It is the food-and-beer dialogue that earned ÅBEN a Masters level distinction from the White Guide in 2026 — one of the Nordic region's most respected restaurant guides. The jury's tasting notes read like a map of Nordic flavors pushed into unexpected territory: sourdough brioche with bergamot marmalade and fermented rosehip butter; an apple pancake baked on beer sourdough, topped with stockfish, yeast cream, sauerkraut, and wild garlic; raw light-cured herring served as a Nordic ceviche with pickled green apple, lemongrass oil, and marinated glass cabbage; and a reimagined Chinese toast with black sesame, black garlic, and bergamot alongside mussels. Each dish is built around fermentation, acidity, and the same Nordic ingredient instincts that inform the brewing itself.

The atmosphere

The Kødbyen location carries the energy of its surroundings — industrial, social, unpretentious. Outdoor seating, live music, and a communal spirit make it a place people return to on a warm evening as much as for a considered dinner. ÅBEN has since expanded to bars in Aarhus, Roskilde, Carlsberg Byen, and Nordhavn, and runs its own festivals including the electronic music event O Days and beer festival Kalas. The Kødbyen brewery remains the heart of it all.