Aass is the
namesake of both
Norway's oldest
brewery and the
beers it produces. Built in
1834, in
Drammen (25 miles south of
Oslo), the brewery ("Aass Bryggeri", in Norwegian) has been owned since 1860 by the Aass family; the first owner was
Poul Lauritz Aass, and four generations later, it is still owned by the Aass family.
Like many other
European breweries, Aass is a strict
adherent to
The Bavarian Purity Law of 1516, also known as "The German Purity Law", or
Reinheitsgebot. The brewery produces a wide variety of
lager products that are marketed under the same name; four of these are produced for the US market, and are distributed through 22 different
distributors in different states:
More information can be found at Aass' website,
http://aass.no; Should you not be
Norsk, they conveniently have an American-english site as well, at
http://www.aass.no/usa/us.htm.
Oh, and should there be any questions as to the
pronunciation of the name ("Hmm, this beer tastes like Aass!"), it is properly pronounced "
Ouse".
Works Referenced:
Aass Brewery webpage -
http://www.aass.no/usa/us.htm
"Reinheitsgebot: Germany's Purity Law" -
http://hbd.org/brewery/library/ReinHeit.html