Today marked our last day above the arctic circle, and having returned our rental car and dropped our bags at the airport we headed into Tromsø to see our last couple of sights before the journey south. We started off with Polaria – an aquarium/museum to do with all things polar. We arrived just in time to see the staff feeding and training the two bearded seals and two harper seals which live at Polaria.

After seeing the seals we checked out some of the other exhibits – a variety of fish, including the hilarious looking wolf fish; an exhibition on the changing ice caps; films about Svalbard and the northern lights shown on a panoramic screen; and an intriguing exhibit about how clams can be used to provide data about sea temperatures and pollution over the years.

Hermit Crab.

This wolf fish just lay on its side at the bottom of the pool sleeping. He reminded us of ourselves.

Watching the seals from below.

For our final treat in Tromsø we headed to the world’s most northern brewery, Mack, which has been producing beer since 1877 in the city, although it has now moved main production slightly further south and there are some new competitors to the claim. Still the first beer tasting included with the brewery tour, which took place in the brewpub next door, impressed both of us. The beers we tried were Bayer, one of the original beers ever produced by the brewery (brewed in a style from Bayern unsurprisingly given the name), and Nordlys (Northern Lights of course), a wonderful slightly fruity medium dark pilsner. We also had the chance during the tour to try Isbjørn (Polar Bear), which was brought back into production by a grassroots campaign – a much lighter beer which emphasises the freshness of the mountain water used to produce it (according to our guide anyway)!

The initial part of the tour consisted of a video explaining the history of the brewery, including an anecdote on how the brewers in Norway were able to pass on information on numbers and locations of German troops stationed during the war based on how much beer they were asked to supply. This was followed by a talk about the brewing process at the main brewery and a demonstration of some of the innovative solutions they have found to transporting and recycling kegs and bottles.

The best part of the tour by far however was seeing the still operating craft brewery which uses the old brewery buildings. As the malt is mashed, and the wort is hopped it must be played rock music on vinyl – some of the collection of records is shown on the wall of the room. The records played are studiously noted down and the beer is sent to one of the brewing vats: Elvis, Iggy, Joke, Patti or Ringo. When the beer is bottled, on the label along with the name of the beer (often in keeping with the theme e.g. Lemmy Lager) is printed the names of the records and a link to a Spotify playlist for that particular brew.

Our tour guide explaining the breing vats. Jokke is a norwegian rock singer who is well known there

Another view of the great artwork on the vats.

The other two vats, Patti and Ringo.

“Good Girls” is a song by a local rock group, and one of the craft beers produced here.

Records on the wall by the mash tuns.

The all important card with the vital information on what songs were used.

The brewpub next door.

Tasteful decor i the brewpub!

Apparently when Iggy Pop came to play at a festival in Tromsø he made a special visit to this rock-and-roll craft brewery to see beer being made and then brewed in his own brewing vat. I now know how I will add some extra flavour to my beers when I next have a go at brewing, although I may have to compromise on using vinyl to do so!