ratatöskr - nordic brown ale

Squirrels are nimble little creatures that swing from branch to branch with unparalleled elegance and lightning speed. You’ll encounter them in parks or forests, and if you’re lucky, they might even visit your garden or balcony. These rodents, with their brown, black, red, or gray fur, specialize in hunting for nuts, acorns, seeds, and fruits, and build their nests, also called dreys, high up in the treetops. Depending on their habitat, these fluffy squirrels are more or less tame. In parks and near cities, they are sometimes so tame that you can feed them. This charming little animal appears in countless stories, sagas, and legends—for example, in Norse mythology. Ratatoskr is a squirrel that lives on the world tree Yggdrasil and acts as a messenger between the treetop and its roots.

Wacken Brewery has dedicated a fine Nordic Brown Ale to the mythological messenger. This beer, a namesake of Ratatoskr, pours into the glass in the mahogany brown color of the Calabrian squirrel and is crowned with a dense, ivory-colored head. Robust roasted aromas and full-bodied malt notes are a recurring theme throughout the aroma and flavor. Creamy caramel and a hint of dark fruit harmoniously round out the flavor profile.