Danish beer brand Carlsberg is teaming up with Copenhagen-based food research institute the Nordic Food Lab to produce a range of speciality beers designed to be served with food. Beginning in June, the companies will create at least three new brews for Carlsberg’s upscale brand Jacobson, which is sold in Norway, Sweden, Finland and the US.
The Nordic Food Lab – established in 2008 by Danish restaurant Noma’s head chef Rene Redzepi and foodie entrepreneur Claus Meyer – is famed for its experimental food research, which applies unusual gastronomic techniques to ingredients from the Nordic region, such as insects, fungi and miso.

The Nordic Food Lab will test lesser-known natural products, including bee larvae, woodruff and cucumber, to add unique and complex flavours to the range of drinks. The aim of the collaboration is to inject beer into the fine dining experience. “We are hoping not only to develop one new specialty beer a year together, but also getting to understand better which beer fits well with what meal and why,” says Khalil Younes, Carlsberg’s sales, marketing and innovation chief. “We need to work harder to establish legitimacy of beer at dinner table.”