Where was I? Oh yes….
In yesterday’s post we took a look at the 20 ‘posh’ beers that are being released in limited numbers in around 40 Systembolaget stores (11 of them only in the utlra-chic stores in Stockholm, Malmö and Gothenburg).
In this post let’s concentrate on the remaining nine beers being released under the monopoly’s seasonal label, which this time around, as if you didn’t know, is Spring (living this far up north it can be easy to forget).
Base Listing (in every store)
SB Art No:1422 Melleruds Vårpilsner Sverige 330 12,90
T1
SB Art No:1437 Nils Oscar Ctrl Alt Delete Sverige 330 19,50
SB Art No:1476 Sigtuna East River Spring Lager Sverige 330 16,90
SB Art No:1690 BrewDog Mix (5 am Saint, Alice Porter, Chaos Theory, Dogma) Storbr. 1320 96,70
T2
SB Art No:1436 Sigtuna East Coast IPA Sverige 330 21,90
SB Art No:1461 S:t Eriks Porter Sverige 330 19,90
T3
SB Art No:1512 St Georgen Bräu Keller Bier Tyskland 500 20,90
SB Art No:1571 Früh Kölsch Tyskland 500 19,90
SB Art No:1595 Karmeliten Kloster Doppelbock Tyskland 500 22,50
From top to bottom Melleruds Vårpilsner is an attractively packaged 4.8% German Pilsner that to all intents and purposes looks like it comes from the picturesque Melleruds Bryggeri in Västra Götaland.
It’s the price that should instantly make you suspicious. Anything as cheap as 12.90SEK should start you thinking ”how”? and the answer is of course a big brewery, in this case Spendrups who are behind this reinterpretation of a beer originally brewed at Melleruds Bryggeri before it closed down for good at the end of the 1950s. I haven’t tried it but at this price it’s definitely worth a punt. Kudos to Spendrups for the brand design!
Ctrl Alt Delete from Nils Oscar has, in my book, already won it the ‘Coolest beer name of 2012′. Altbier is a German top-fermenting beer traditionally brewed in Düsseldorf and it’s been a while since we had some new examples of this ‘old’ style. Recommended!
The team at Sigtuna Brygghus have two beers in the Spring release, an IPA and a lager (and check out those prices!) I’ve rarely been disappointed in anything that Mattias Hammenlind and his brewing crew have a hand in and suggest you start reserving some fridge space for both of them.
The BrewDog mix-pack is, in my honest opinion, a real bargain at 97SEK, with 5AM Saint (probably the most underestimated BrewDog beer to come over here from Scotland), the divine Alice Porter, a Nelson Sauvin-hopped IPA and an bizarre strong ale brewed with guarana, Californian poppy, kola nut and Scottish heather honey. Value for money? Hell yes! Recommended!*
I haven’t yet tried S:t Eriks Porter from Jessica Heidrich but based on a) Jessica’s past porters and b) the price I’m going all in.
They say it never rains but it pours. It doesn’t seem that long ago that Mikkeller launched his own spin on a Keller bier (which turned out to be one of my least favourite Mikkeller creations to date, tasting of little more than clingfilm and lemons) and then another Keller bier comes along, this time the far more traditional St Georgen Bräu Keller Bier. I’m going to try it, if only to try and banish those painful clingfilm memories…….
I’ve already had a mild flirtation with Früh Kölsch which leaves us with Karmeliten Kloster Doppelbock. Najjj – if I was going to pass on anything this would be top of my list.
Happy beer hunting tomorrow everyone!
*Transparency statement. I work as BrewDog’s Scandinavian Top Dog. I think you should know this when considering any of my comments about their beers. Not that I’d say anything I didn’t believe in, but anyway….
