Day 9
After our 2:30am return to bed, this morning is a bit of a blur. We drift through Finnsnes at 4:20am and reach Harstad by 8:00am. In true Sunday fashion, we opt for a very slow start and skip breakfast in the restaurant. Once again we opt for cinnamon buns and a hot mug of tea in bed whilst the Arctic scenery continues to roll past the window. It’s another 7 stop day with an abundance of variety as we continue to head south to the Lofoten Islands.
Navigating the Vesterålen Islands
By late morning, the navigation got technical. At 10:45am we squeeze through the famously narrow channel at Risøyhamn, It’s grey and gloomy this morning so there’s very little to see.
Around 12:30 PM, we reach Sortland and as is tradition, we head out to the bow of the ship to wave our large Norwegian flags as the ship passes under the massive bridge and a coachload of fellow passengers out on an excursion pass over the top. It’s a fantastic tradition and enables us to have our only chance to be out on the front of the ship, albeit in a windy snow storm waving the flag of our host nation.
A Snowy Sunday in Stokmarknes
We dock in Stokmarknes at 2:15pm and being Sunday, the town is hushed and shuttered, so we embraced the quiet. We took a crisp walk past the imposing and impressive Hurtigruten Museum (the birthplace of this famous coastal route) and continued up the snowy main street, stretching our legs and enjoying the snowy tranquility. The blue light is fantastic and I’m secretly disappointed that we only have an hour here as I’d really like to just sit and take photos.
Deep Dive into the Grain: Lofotpils Brewery
At 6:30pm, we dock in Svolvær in the Lofoten’s and head straight for Lofotpils Brewery as we’re booked in for a brewery tour. Though the dream started in 2006, they’ve been brewing on-site since 2014, and their secret weapon is simple: they claim to have the best water in Norway for crafting pilsner.
We get a fascinating look behind the scenes of their operation and learn:
- The Ingredients: Since Norway doesn’t grow its own malt, they import barley malt from Germany. They use German-engineered Kasper Schulz equipment to caramelize the malt and transform it into a “thin sweet porridge” (the mash).
- The Process: They utilize up to 30 different hop varieties from around the world. Once the brew finishes boiling at 100°C, it’s chilled to 10°C and pumped into fermentation tanks where the yeast is added.
- The Numbers: It takes about three weeks to ferment and 7–8 weeks to bottle. They can produce 2,000 litres in a single brew and sold a staggering 360,000 litres in 2024!
- Sustainability: Nothing goes to waste here—the leftover grain solids are sent to local farmers to feed their goats.
Competing against over 100 other microbreweries in Norway, they were the first one in the region to install their own canning line. Today, glass bottles only account for 10% of their sales. We finish the tour tasting their range of three cold-fermented and three hot-fermented beers. Personally, I prefer the cold-fermented beers but ultimately I ambivalent as I’m more of a grape girl. It’s an interesting insight into the work of a small scale company that works hard to sell a unique brewing product who not only make seven beers under their own name they also produce beer for 5 other breweries. We wish them every success.
We have time before the ship departs for a walk around town. The snow is falling again and it seems that everyone is tucked up at home as it feels deserted as we walk through the deep snow.
After a later dinner than usual we wrap up another great day with a walk on deck as we dock at Stamsund at 10.15pm. We’ll sleep well tonight.
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