After posting my interview with ’Heavy Metal’ Brewmaster Mattias from Sigtuna Brygghus it only seemed proper that I sampled their new winter and Christmas beers to check what all the fuss is about.

After all it must have been music to the ears of self-confessed rocker Mattias when first Snowblind Strong Ale got rave reviews from among others www.vinochgastronomi.se and then Sigtuna’s Christmas beer MNM (Midvinternattens Mörker) was given an standing ovation on national television.

I’ll start with Snowblind Strong Ale, as at least here I find myself in pretty familiar territory. Snowblind is a US-inspired ale weighing in at a hefty 7.5% ABV that contains a veritable who’s who of US hops. These hops, combined with a technique called hop bursting (in which increasingly larger doses of hops are added to the brew) give the beer a pronounced wet pine needle and juniper aroma. Taste-wise it’s as though they added a Christmas tree to the boil, with bitter resins and grapefruit juice jamming with the rich syrupy malts.

.

I drank this beer with a chunk of Boxholm’s Carolineost. The match was so complete I almost cried.

Now if Snowblind was on bass playing lead guitar was MNM. This dark ruby brown beer had such a distinctive aroma it took me ages to place it. I knew the beer listed bitter orange in its ingredients, but all I initially got was a huge hit of blackcurrant juice when the beer was cold, plus a whiff of bitter chocolate and char. It was only as the beer warmed up that the orange and Christmas spices came through. By the end of the bottle the transformation was complete and this beer had turned into glögg.

If you want the tastes of a Swedish Christmas in a bottle I recommend you start here. An absolute given for the yuletide table.

Snowblind Strong Ale

A Strong Ale from Sigtuna Brygghus

7.5% ABV

Systembolaget Article Number:  11344

Midvinternattens Mörker 2009

A spiced winter ale

6.2% ABV

Systembolaget Article Number: 11321