Carlsberg Animus

In Latin, Animus interprets the breath of life and, more symbolically, the inner soul. Brewing beer is a lively process using naturally grown raw materials, malt, hops, and living yeast cells to transform the brew into beer. However, in the end, almost all beers are inanimated by pasteurization to avoid spoilage.

With his strong scientific background and deep insight into the world of microorganisms, Brewmaster Zoran Gojkovic knows this is the right thing to do. However, he also knows that together with the fact that most are served cold, beer can appear a bit soulless. The ponder made him think of ways to, symbolically speaking - breathe life and soul into rigid perceptions of beer and serving rituals. After some consideration, he decided to barrel-age a high-quality, unfiltered, unpasteurized, malty lager beer on a pre-used whisky barrel made of 70-year-old American oak from a renowned Danish distiller. This barrel almost had its own soul from fourteen years of maturing whisky. Then, he scientifically monitored the process, taking taste samples and evaluating them over the following months, knowing very well that barrel-aging is not just a question of letting a beer stay forever on the barrel. He sought to find the perfect balance between allowing the beer to breathe through the barrel's wooden micropores but not overdoing it, as this would increase the risk of staleness.

Zoran was finally satisfied after almost half a year. The flavours were all he had hoped for, it had extracted the right amount of woodiness and soft vanilla and caramel flavours. More importantly, it had the exact spirited warmth he had hoped for - as the angel's share of whisky, which over the years had been absorbed by the barrel itself, now permeated into the beer. Zoran's only hope is that every one of the existing bottles will be served and savoured the Animus way  temperate, shared, and with full dedication. Only that way can one find the inner soul of the beer.