Grünerløkka Brygghus

Norway's relationship with alcohol is famously complicated. The state monopoly — Vinmonopolet — controls all sales of wine and spirits. Beer above 4.7 percent can only be bought at government shops that close at six on weekdays and three on Saturdays. Taxes are among the highest in Europe. Full prohibition ran from 1916 to 1927. Against this backdrop, the fact that Oslo has developed a thriving craft beer scene is either a triumph of the human spirit or proof that Norwegians will find a way to drink no matter what the government does.

Grünerløkka Brygghus opened as a gastropub in October 2010 and started brewing its own beer in August 2013, using the old ten-hectoliter test brewery from Lervig Aktiebryggeri — one of Norway's most acclaimed craft breweries. Lervig's brewmaster Mike Murphy helped install the equipment and get things running. The first beer brewed was "Løkka Session," and the tap list has since expanded to include their own pilsner, porter, and IPA, plus seasonal experiments like nutty Christmas beers and berry-infused summer ales.

The pub keeps at least six of its own beers on tap alongside twenty draft lines and fifty bottled imports from Belgium and the UK. It hosts the annual Oslo Mikrobryggfestival — an intimate backyard festival showcasing the city's growing microbrewery scene. The setting is the old Villa Paradiso building on Thorvald Meyers gate, owned by legendary Oslo bar entrepreneur Jan Vardøen.

In a country where the government has spent a century trying to make drinking inconvenient, a neighborhood brewery that makes excellent beer and serves it in a relaxed room on Grünerløkka's main drag feels like a quiet act of cultural resistance. Order the porter. It's very good.