EBG Rating: 7.9/10

Choice/Quality of Drinks:
❤️❤️❤️
Slow Beer, one of the few to still pour Carlsberg over 15 minutes, something of a gimmick. The bottle selection offering regional independent beers is a little more interesting. Standard back bar of Danish brown liquor.

Style/Décor:
❤️❤️❤️❤️
A 1920s interior, red paint, chunky furnishings and lamp light. An open room as you enter, with bar to the back, while there is another lounge, albeit narrow to the rear of the pub.

Atmosphere/Character:
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Superbly characterful owing to the genuine mixture of people who frequent it. Social, friendly, sometimes lively, never dull. Characterful busy or quiet due to the nostalgic surroundings.

Amenities/Events:
❤️❤️❤️
Snacks, books, games, limited outdoor seating in warmer months.

Value For Money:
❤️❤️❤️
Nothing out of the ordinary for Copenhagen, fair enough prices for bottles.

Description:
One of the few bars still advertising ‘slow beer’, but the bar’s appeal surpasses that novelty.

Before we move on to the bar, let’s deal with the Slow Beer thing. It’s Carlsberg, poured slowly over 15 minutes while the foam settles to produce a thick bitter head and a smooth finish. They recommend buying a bottled beer while you wait, handily selling two beers while making it look like they’re doing you a favour.

Let’s move on to the positives though – a brown café with a truly mixed crowd – literary/journalistic appeal, the usual brown pub regulars, and youngster and cool kids – all in thrall to the appeal of this very atmospheric boozer.

Red walls, lamp lights, bookshelves, smoky surroundings and chunky furniture, you’ll be reminded of the best Dutch brown cafés and English taverns.

The situation, on a busy Frederiksberg street is more like an ale house or tavern though.

Vinstue refers to wine, but you won’t find that the focus here – the name harks back to alcohol licensing machinations of centuries past, as calling your bar a Vinstue was a way around the changes made to beer licensing.

Over 100 years old, there’s a strong ‘if these walls could talk’ atmosphere whether busy or quiet. Service is friendly and willing even to tourists who venture our of the centre to come here.

This pub is a great example of how little positives gradually build to a satisfying whole, when at a broad glance it would not seem overly remarkable.

An essential stop off in Copenhagen.

(Added December 2024)