Now that I’ve finally got almost all the sand out of my crevices following two sun and Dorada-filled weeks in Tenerife it’s time to get started on whipping this blog into some sort of shape again.

So what do I always do when I need to find out what’s been happening while I’ve had my back turned?Well there no better place to start than a quick flick through some of this country’s legion of excellent beer blogs.

Seems logical to start with Bark and his encyclopaedic Ofiltrerat blog. He covers the biggest international beer story of the last two weeks by writing about the takeover of Heineken by the Mexican brewing conglomerate Femsa. I’m not sure yet what this means for beer drinkers here in Sweden (I suspect very little) but sales of limes might just be on the way up if the Mexican owners of Sol have their way.

Bark also breaks the news that Jörgen from Great Brands is on the look out for an American brewer to do a guest turn at a Swedish micro-brewery. If you fit the bill and fancy a trip to beautiful Sweden then you can get in touch with Jörgen here.

As an aside I note that once again Bark amazes me with a) the number of new beers he’s able to review and b) the resilience of his liver. I counted 14 beers drunk and documented – one for every day I was stuffing my face with tapas while I was away. Bark – I salute you sir!!

Over at Beer Drivel – one of the few English language beer blogs in Sweden – Stefan has introduced a new more visual way of reviewing his beers. This is a great idea and something I’m also in the process of doing, as there’s no doubt things start getting a little repetitive after you’ve tried writing about hundreds of beers. After all, there are only so many ways you can describe the word brown…….

Johan from Gjölen delivers a very interesting snippet of news about a new beer brewed with Swedish cloudberries by Eksilstuna Ölkultur at their brewpub. I think there’s a real gap in the market for brewing beers using distinctly Swedish ingredients and trust me cloudberries from this country are simply delicious! Anyway the beer’s called Kåbdalis Hjortonöl (named after the area where the cloudberries were hand-picked) and is described as a 6.8% Belgium-style fruit ale. Unfortunately it is only being produced in a tiny quantity so the chances of BeerSweden tasting it are about as good as my Spanish after spending two weeks among old British ex-pats but if anyone does get to try it please let the rest of us know what it’s like!

Johan also reports that Sigtuna Brewery is restarting its monthly pub nights for this year with the premier on February 5th. Well worth checking out their website for more details.

Markus, the guy behind Öl är Gott, Resor är Kul delivers a cold dose of reality to fans of craft beer by revealing the most sold beers in the Swedish monopoly alcohol stores during 2009. Seems that  a majority of Swedish drinkers prefer drinking the beer equivalent of a rice cake, consuming 19348892 litres of Sofiero followed by depressingly large amounts of Mariestad Export and Pripps Blå.

The blog that made me most jealous on my return was Fajan and Jöns, who together have managed to get their hands on some outstanding beers recently, with reviews of Ten Fidy Imperial Stout, Nogne Dark Horizon Second Edition and Hoppin Frog Barrel Aged BORIS The Crusher (love that name) among a stellar line-up.

Most bizarre beer reviewed? That honour must go to the almost-impossible-to-spell Hirigalzkar på Öläventyr blog, with Mattias’ review of Mikkeller’s latest trip down the rabbit hole into beer wonderland with it’s Kidz Beer – a brand as politically correct in Sweden as keeping your swimming trunks on in the sauna. Turns out this alcohol-free beer, made using most of the ingredients of beer, is a tasty if somewhat sweet drink that is probably a far more healthy alternative for your children than filling them up with teeth-rotting Coca Cola.

I see that David and Fredrik at Ölkultur have joined BeerSweden and launched their own fan page on Facebook. They’re close to 100 supporters at the time of writing this post so why not pop over and give them a helping hand to hit the century mark.

The boys have also posted a great round-up of new beer releases coming to the Systembolaget from February 1st. Seems that the SB’s commitment to giving us some great craft beers look set to continue in 2010

On a more disturbing note it seems the chaps behind one of the Swedish beer blog community’s leading lights, Schnille Och Schmak have gone missing in action. They were last seen posting on December 30th and since then have maintained strict radio silence. Where are you guys? Have you two gone over to the wine side? I suspect S&S co-founder Daniel’s recent promotion to Pappa may have something to do with his absence (further proof that children and beer just don’t mix).

I’m sure I’ve missed out some important news bites but I feel a little more up to speed now and hope you do too.

Having finally emerged from my two-week long Happy Hour I honestly say it’s great to be back!