The mark of a premium beer has always been its taste and it is for taste of their beers that brewers around the world routinely visit the Carlsberg laboratory in Copenhagen, in an attempt to learn the principles which for over a century have put Carlsberg at the forefront of the brewing industry.

Walking around the Carlsberg Brewery you can't help but wonder at the astute decisions that were made so many years ago by the pioneers of the Carlsberg empire and which even today guide the day to day running of the firm. It should be enough to stand under the gates leading to the brewery to realise that this is not just another beer factory. For a start, the entrance is no ordinary iron fence with perhaps a guard house to deter unwelcome strangers. Rather it is a widely acclaimed work of art by sculptor H.P. Pedersen-Dan, commissioned in 1901 by Carl Jacobsen, son and heir of the founder of Carlsberg. Made entirely from granite, the work represents four lifesize elephants, each with the name of one of Carl's four children carved into its flank.

The brewery's chimney with its convoluted shape and its base decorated with exact replicas of the chimers from Notra Dame Cathedral is indicative of the history that surrounds Carlsberg. Stroll through the buildings and the usual gray and concrete which one might expect of a modern factory are replaced by delicate reliefs and bronze statues of the type more often associated with museums than breweries. And in fact Carlsberg does have its own museum where the history of Danish brewing in general and the Jacobsen family in particular are on permanent display. This project, too, was the work of Carl Jacobsen who in 1888 took over from his father, Jacob Christian Jacobsen, himself a man of considerable vision, insight and commitment.