In a bright glass-walled laboratory in Copenhagen, Zoran Gojkovic lifts a glowing red liquid to the light with the reverence of a sommelier handling a rare Burgundy. The drink, called Rubedo, radiates a vivid, almost impossible crimson hue. Around him, beer specialists lean in, astonished. As The Times UK reports, even seasoned experts have never seen anything quite like it.
Rubedo, named after the “red” stage of medieval alchemy symbolising transformation into gold, is the culmination of years of work at the Carlsberg Research Laboratory, where Gojkovic serves as director of brewing science. Brewed from a unique red barley developed in-house, it is dry, fruity, remarkably complex, and — at 12 per cent alcohol — deceptively drinkable. Should it reach the UK market, a 750ml bottle is expected to cost about £300. Gojkovic calls it nothing less than his life’s work.
Its price tag raises eyebrows, especially at a moment when many drinkers balk at the cost of a pint. Yet Gojkovic’s larger argument is difficult to dismiss. Beer consumption is plunging across Europe and the United States as younger drinkers turn to cocktails, canned spritzes, kombuchas, or simply abstain altogether. Britain’s craft beer boom has fizzled, with more than 100 breweries collapsing in the past year. Rubedo represents one bold answer: a “haute lager,” crafted to sit comfortably alongside fine wines at the dinner table.
The Carlsberg Research Laboratory is no stranger to shaping the future of brewing. It was here that the pH scale was created in 1909, and where Emil Christian Hansen isolated the first pure culture of brewing yeast in 1883 — a discovery gifted freely to rivals under the Carlsberg Foundation’s charter. The lab’s pioneering spirit is very much alive. One team is now developing yeasts that ferment without producing alcohol, redirecting their energy into aroma. Their aim is to create 0.0% beers that taste like beer, not sweetened malt soda.
Researchers are also preparing for the effects of climate change on agriculture. Traditional barley suffers in drought conditions, so the lab is experimenting with heat-tolerant grains such as sorghum. Once maligned for producing thin, off-flavoured beers, sorghum is being reimagined. A 100 per cent sorghum brew presented at the lab surprised experts with flavours reminiscent of a flinty Sancerre or even sake, suggesting alternatives to barley may have a future in European brewing.
Yet nothing on the tasting table compares to Rubedo. Its strawberry-like aroma, a product of the Himalayan red barley from which it is brewed, shocks experts once they learn the beer contains no fruit, no hops, and no added colour. Don Tse, a Canadian beer writer who has tasted more than 30,000 brews, described Rubedo as “sublime,” insisting it proved “we have yet to find the limit of beer flavours.”
Even Carlsberg’s own scientists remain puzzled by it. The compounds responsible for Rubedo’s strawberry aroma appear to be entirely new to brewing science. The barley’s vibrant colour is water-soluble, meaning traditional malting would wash it away, forcing Gojkovic to devise new brewing techniques to retain both hue and flavour. Fermented with a yeast cultivated from a 1972 Tokaji wine, the beer balances dryness, acidity and a delicate sparkle with notes of rhubarb, honey, peach and jasmine — none of which are ingredients.
For Gojkovic, that mystery is part of the thrill. The brewing universe already spans crisp pilsners, dark stouts and everything in between. But in Rubedo, he sees evidence that the boundaries of beer can stretch further still. Whether the £300 bottle will find its place alongside fine wine remains to be seen. What is clear is that Carlsberg’s laboratory is once again shaping the future of brewing — and challenging the world to follow.
