Some annual celebrations are sacred. For Carlsberg, International Beer Day on 1st August is marked as one of the most significant moments in the calendar.

In a similar tradition to the zoo world and ahead of the celebrations, the team in Copenhagen has been busy carrying out the first annual ‘beer count’, calculating, cleaning, and inspecting the Home of Carlsberg’s 22,000 unopened bottles of beer including some of the oldest in the world.

Thought to be the largest collection in the world, the collection is one of a kind and houses some of the world’s rarest beers, including the Carlsberg Royal Lager 1932, brewed by the Prince of Wales, the Alliance Pale Ale – a Carlsberg export on its way to the Virgin Islands but never made it as it was fished out of Hamburg’s harbour in the 1990s and the Ratcliff Ale - one of the oldest beer bottles in the world.

Carlsberg's Director of Brewing Science and Technology, Zoran Gojkovic, led a team of beer experts in an annual count of the Home of Carlsberg's prized collection, ensuring its 22,000 beers, some dating back to 1883, are secure and protected from thirsty, enthusiastic visitors. This meticulous preservation reflects the Danish brewery's core value of conservation, a significant concern for the scientific community.

The Home of Carlsberg’s beer collection originally came from Leif Sonne, an engineer from Svendborg in Denmark. Leif collected unopened bottles of beer of every style, brand, and country since 1968. When the collection eventually outgrew his house, it was moved to the Carlsberg Brewery in Copenhagen in 1993, which was fitting as some of his earliest beers collected were Carlsberg’s own. 

Today, the collection stands proudly in the Home of Carlsberg with the green bottles in pride of place. 

Lynsey Woods, Global Brand Director at Carlsberg said, "Counting 22,000 beers might sound like a mammoth task, but for us at Carlsberg, it's a labour of love. Our collection isn't just about volume; it's about preserving brewing history and innovation. By meticulously counting and cataloguing each bottle, we ensure that we can continue to give the world access to more of the best things, whether that's a rare vintage from our archives or the next great brew we're perfecting."

To find out more about Carlsberg’s epic collection, visit https://homeofcarlsberg.com/stories/bottle-collection/.