Beer prices hit new record

The Norwegian tradition of sipping a beer outdoors (utepils) has become even more expensive as the high summer season begins, with beer prices setting another record in Oslo. Locals and visitors alike now need to shell out NOK 99 (USD 17) for the traditional half-liter glass of beer at two eating and drinking spots in [...]

More rapes amid russ’ wild partying

Police in western Norway were investigating four reported rapes over the weekend at one of the biggest outdoor events of the “russ” partying season for graduating high school students. Meanwhile, a recent study shows that teenagers from Oslo’s affluent west side drink more and party harder than their peers on the east side. With the annual [...]

Smugglers caught in record seizure

Police and customs agents in southeastern Norway managed to stop 14 specially built vehicles that were loaded with smuggled alcoholic beverages and tobacco on Sunday, but think others made it over the border and sped on into the country. The authorities were holding seven persons on Monday who were arrested in the seizure, which broke [...]

Demand crashed Vinmonopolet site

Thirsty, holiday-bound Norwegians were so curious about the opening hours at Norway’s state wine and liquor store chain, Vinmonopolet, on Wednesday that their heavy traffic to the monopoly’s website ended up crashing it. Vinmonopolet’s restricted opening hours may be liberalized somewhat next year. Wednesday was the last day to stock up on wine, strong beers [...]

Health minister rejects more wine and tobacco restrictions

A commission of health care experts has proposed a new list of restrictions to further discourage consumption of tobacco and alcohol but Heath Minister Jonas Gahr Støre apparently thinks they went a bit far. He quickly rejected several of their recommendations. The commission wanted to ban chewing tobacco in Norway known as snus, and limit [...]

No sign of methanol in seized liquor

UPDATED: Tests conducted on some bottles of suspicious liquor reportedly drunk by two men in Hedmark County this week have revealed no signs of the dangerous methanol police thought they may have contained. Police still aren’t ruling out that a bad batch of liquor caused the men to become fatally ill. One of the men, [...]

Politicians polled push for opening ‘polet’

Norway’s state-controlled retailer of liquor and wine, Vinmonopolet, may get a political green light to expand its opening hours, the latest in a long series of moves to liberalize alcohol sales, at least a bit. Popularly known simply as ‘polet, the state retailer has undergone quite a bit of liberalization in recent years. Now another old [...]

Norwegians drinking more wine

New figures from state statistics bureau SSB confirm a trend that started several years ago: Norwegians are drinking more wine than liquor and now even more than beer. SSB reported this week that Norwegians bought 77 million liters of wine last year, up from 73 million the year before. Beer purchases, meanwhile, declined by 2.5 [...]

Partying ‘russ’ stirred plenty of trouble

The hard-partying graduating teenagers known in Norway as “russ” launched into their first major round of celebrations over the weekend. It resulted in calls for 17 ambulances at one huge outdoor party in Oslo alone, even before a major search and rescue effort got underway when one teen was feared to have drowned. Newspaper Aftenposten [...]

Celebrities urged to stop drinking

State health authorities have enlisted the aid of well-known Norwegians to reduce alcohol consumption, by urging them to abstain from any wine, beer or liquor over a two-week period. Among those signing up are skiing star Vibeke Skofterud and the new head of the state police system, Øystein Mæland. “It’s been easy to get those [...]

Liquor smugglers nabbed at the border

It’s that time of year again, when the annual holiday party season boosts demand for wine, liquor and beer. That kept customs inspectors busy at the border crossing at Svinesund over the weekend, where seizures hit a new record. The customs inspectors seized more than 6,000 liters of alcoholic beverages, with Saturday the busiest day. [...]

Research claims alcoholism is genetic

A joint Norwegian-American report claims that 71 percent of alcoholics have inherited the condition genetically, a far higher total than expected or previously put forward. The results of the project, which comes from cooperation between Virginia Commonwealth University and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, contradict previous findings that suggested genetic causes lay behind half [...]

‘End of an era’ for Vinmonopolet

Norway’s state wine and liquor monopoly, Vinmonopolet, was ending an era this week by phasing out the last of its retail outlets where customers had to place their orders from behind a counter. For decades, that was the norm when buying wine, liquor and even strong beer in Norway. Customers weren’t allowed to wander through [...]

Drunk and disorderly

COMMENTARY: As Norwegians head into the last weekend before Christmas, the holiday party season known as julebordsesong will hit its climax. It won’t be unusual to see drunken Norwegians staggering  along Karl Johans Gate in Oslo, or along Bryggen in Bergen. Sleeping city residents can often be rudely awakened at 4:30am by drunks yelling on [...]

‘Julebord’ guest reached new heights

It’s julebord (holiday party) season in Norway, known for drunken exploits by party guests who imbibe far too much aquavit or other alcoholic refreshments. One julebord participant took his partying to new heights last weekend, quite literally. Imagine the surprise among air traffic controllers in the tower at Stavanger’s main airport at Sola, when an [...]

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