Bishop Erik Varden of Trondheim, who helped introduce Trappist brewing to Britain when he was abbot of a Cistercian monastery in Leicestershire, has now helped produce a new beer sporting his personal emblem in his native Norway.
Varden was abbot of Mount Saint Bernard abbey in Leicestershire, where he opened a brewery producing “Tynt Meadow” ale, until 2019 when he was appointed to Trondheim, on a fjord about 500km north of Oslo.
He says his “vague credentials in the world of brewing” led to his first official visit as bishop – a private tour of the city’s flagship brewery.
Friendships with two other brewmasters in the city soon followed. After trying the Tynt Meadow from England, they decided to “create a new beer rooted in the rich history of our region”.
“In the Middle Ages, Trondheim (then called Nidaros) was truly a European city,” Varden wrote on his blog. “The archbishopric was the centre of a vast ecclesiastical province extending to Iceland, Greenland, the Orkneys and Man.”
“Magnus beer”, a dark 8.5 per cent strong ale, was launched at St Olav's Cathedral, a medieval Gothic edifice taken over by the then new Church of Norway at the Reformation but occasionally used today for ecumenical services.
The beer is named after Saint Magnus Erlendsson, Earl of Orkney, who was martyred there in 1117. Its label features stylised ocean waves, including one coloured red in memory of the martyrs.
It also has the names of the three breweries and an owl – the symbol for a monk and emblem of Varden’s blog.
At the launch in the cathedral’s basement hall, the bishop admitted to a “beer past” and recounted how he launched Tynt Meadow in 2018 when Mount Saint Bernard faced financial troubles.
“It is said that beer is not coloured water, but liquid bread,” he told the audience, according to the Den katolske kirke website.
Guests were treated to several types of cheese made by monks at a nearby monastery, but also advised the smoked malt ale would go well “with game and whale meat”.
“The beer is to be enjoyed with moderation,” Varden makes sure to tell the readers of his blog.
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