E.C. Dahls Brewery (Norway) Joins The Brooklyn Brewery Family

The historic E.C. Dahls Brewery, Trondheim, Norway

We’re excited to be part of a new era in brewing at E.C. Dahls. Founded in 1856, Dahls has been a treasured presence in Trondheim for generations, and its traditional pilsner is a household name there. We’re dedicating ourselves to preserving this storied history while infusing the new venture with the spirit of brewing creativity and innovation that have become hallmarks of Brooklyn Brewery around the world. The new E.C. Dahls will blend American and Norwegian culinary cultures to create new beers that we’ll enjoy brewing and we believe Norwegian beer fans will enjoy drinking.

This is far from our first journey to Trondheim, of course. Brewmaster Garrett Oliver has regularly gone out of his way to visit during his many travels. Between the streetscapes of the seaside city, the thriving Scandinavian food scene that Garrett has followed for more than a decade, and the wonderful local appreciation of Brooklyn beer, it was always pretty easy to be enthralled with Trondheim. A couple years ago, Garrett hosted a beer dinner with local restaurateur Roar Hildonen, and the two quickly bonded over Roar’s great food and stellar Cognac collection. Roar became a fast friend and will now join us in leading the kitchen of the planned E.C. Dahl’s Tasting Room.

“The new E.C. Dahls will celebrate the great tradition of Dahls and bring the brewery and its portfolio into the thriving world of craft beer,” said Garrett.  “Norway already has a great beer scene, and we’re really excited to become an even more active part of it.”

Garrett Oliver, Roar Hildonen, Alexander Skejefte, Eric Ottaway & Søren Brinck

Roar currently oversees To Rom og Kjøkken (Two Rooms and a Kitchen), one of Trondheim’s finest and most popular restaurants. His personal flair and energy will guarantee that our Tasting Room will serve distinctive dishes to pair with E.C. Dahls beers, and his well-honed sense of the restaurant scene assures a strong team environment behind the kitchen doors. During one of the planning dinners for this project, Roar locked the twenty or so attendees into one of his smallest cellars to emphasize how close everyone needed to be for the new brewery to thrive. Needless to say, the lesson stuck with everyone.

We’re going to be building furiously behind Dahls’ iconic facade as we put in a new brewery, a restaurant and a center for brewing culture. We’re expecting the new E.C. Dahls Brewery to be fully up and running some time in the summer of 2016. There are quite a few plans in motion, but we’ll keep you posted on our progress online. In the meantime, you may want to start setting aside some weekends next summer. A new member of the Brooklyn Brewery family means that we’ll be throwing one hell of a party.