Just a few minutes ago a box with two bottles of Mohawk Extra IPA, the tongue-curling 127 IBU (!!!!) brainchild of Sigtuna Brygghus, Wicked Wine and Stefan Gustavsson arrived at BeerSweden HQ.

In yet another exclusive BeerSweden is the first blog to get it’s hands on a review bottle of this insane beer that will be released at the Systembolaget later this month. Check back a little later today to see my full review on what promises to be a very interesting drinking experience indeed.

Can it really be 127 IBUs? Is that possible? Is it legal? Find out right here on BeerSweden in the next few hours………….

UPDATE – an impromptu ‘live’ tasting of this beer is currently taking place over at the BeerSweden fanpage at Facebook. See the minute-by-minute tasting here!

Whenever I feel like drinking a beer that reminds me of being back ‘home’ in England I turn to Oceanbryggeriet, a Swedish micro that holds true to British styles of beer rather than constantly treading the more trendy American path.

I just got this email from Ocean’s head brewer Thomas Bingebo with news on what’s coming out of his brewery over the next few weeks and thought I would share it with you all:

Says Thomas: ”One brew of Ocean Vienna Lager, 5,4% ABV, is coming out next week to pubs and restaurants on keg. Vienna malt and 12% Caramalt. Amber colour, the Vienna malt from Thomas Fawcett is quite pale. Slightly sweeter than 12 Plato Lager. Bittering hops are Pilgrim (25%), Perle (25%) and Galena (50%). The Galena makes the sweetness come through nicely (just tried some from the cooled fermenter). 30 minute hop is Saphir and 0 minute hop is Tettnanger. I think ít´s going to be a very drinkable lager. BU: 25 + the 30 minute hop so about 30 I would reckon.”

London-based brewer Fuller’s has threatened to sue Swedish microbrewery Sigtuna Brygghus if it doesn’t drop the acronym ESB from its ESB Extra Sigtuna Bitter.

Fuller’s, whose ESB (Extra Special Bitter) brand is considered the very definition of the style around the world, apparently doesn’t believe that imitation is the best form of flattery and have asked Sigtuna to immediately drop the abbreviation from bottles of their new beer now available to order from the Swedish alcohol monopoly stores.

Reacting to the news Sigtuna Brygghus’s founder Peter Forss said: ”Yes we have received a letter from Fuller’s. Our ambition is to produce great beer and not to fight with the big players. We simply don’t have the resources. They claim that they own the abbreviation ESB and so we’ll respect that and will remove it from our own bottles”.

BeerSweden is currently trying to contact Fuller’s for a comment.

Fuller's didn't take kindly to the use of the abbreviation ESB on labels of Sigtuna's Extra Sigtuna Bitter.

If you’re feeling a little depressed that it’s Monday and the winter Olympics are over then perhaps you can seek cold comfort in the news that seven new beers are being launched at the Systembolaget today.

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Three Swedish micorbreweries are among the newcomers, including a welcome national appearance by Gothenburg-based Ocean Bryggeriet with its ecological Eko Pale Ale, which will be available in circa 35 Sysmbolaget stores throughout the country. I haven’t tried this beer yet so expect a review shortly!

I recently wrote about Nynäshamns Extra Stout and today they launch the second of their new 25cl bottle offerings, this time Bötet Barley Wine. This beer is definitely worth putting in your basket and don’t forget it benefits from ageing a couple of years too.

In my opinion the most exciting of the Swedish beers this time around is Mohawk Rye IPA, the first in a Mohawk trilogy of beers being launched over the next few months.

Mohawk Rye IPA is a very Swedish collaboration between beer importer/distributor Wicked Wine and brewer Stefan Gustavsson and has been brewed at Slottskällans in Uppsala.

Mohawk Rye IPA is the beer I'm most looking forward to trying

The use of rye in beer is very uncommon here in Sweden and according to Wicked Wine helps balance out some of the aggression of the hops for a fresher drinking experience.

Sounds very interesting indeed and I can’t wait to review Mohawk a little later today. Check back tomorrow for the low down on what I hope is going to be a fantastic beer.

Moving overseas there are three very different new beers to choose from: a shockingly sour ale from Belgium with vinegar, berry and woody flavours, a stunning chocolate stout from Brooklyn Brewery that is ‘no-brainer must-buy’ considering the price and the weird but wonderful Schneider Aventinus Weizen-Eisbock, an intensely concentrated 12% ‘ice beer’ that is so rich and sweet one bottle will probably last you all winter.

Last, but certainly not least, is BASHAH – which stands for Black as S”#t Hoppy as Hell – a self-styled Black Belgium Double IPA from brewing mavericks BrewDog and Stone Brewing in the US that tastes just as confusing as it sounds. Expect a review in the next few days.

The Systembolaget doors have just opened, so what are you still doing reading this? Go get ‘em people!

Well OK, not quite. But the front-running Swedish microbrewery is looking for 175 investors to put up 3,000 SEK each in order to help pay for expansion plans needed to meet a huge rise in demand for its beers.

I’ve only just written about Sigtuna Brygghus and it’s heavy metal brewer here. It seems they need to blast out rock music around the clock in order to fulfil all their orders and are therefore inviting beer lovers to invest a total of around 500,000 SEK towards improvements at the brewery and to help purchase new equipment.

So if you fancy the idea of owning a slice of the action visit their website for more details. (Perhaps some of the money could go towards designing a new homepage? ).

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Thought I’d experiment a bit by giving you the chance to directly influence the sorts of beers I review here at BeerSweden. So get involved by popping over to my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/beersweden and cast your vote! You’ve only got until 15:00 today so hurry!!

Swedish microbrewery Sigtuna Brygghus isn’t putting all its Easter eggs into one basket this year as it gets ready to launch not one but two Easter beers at the Systembolaget next month.

BeerSweden is thrilled to be the first blog anywhere to try them out almost 5 weeks before they go on sale on March 15th!

This Easter it basically comes down to a choice of colours. Do you prefer yellow or red?

Choose red and you’ve got yourself an American amber/red ale by the name of Sigtuna Röd Påsk. Brewed with an equal split of Centennial and Amarillo hops it pours a glowing sunset red and despite its 65-70 IBUs (international bitterness units) has a wonderfully balanced sweetness courtesy of dark crystal malts. At 6.2% ABV it has all the ‘weight’ and richness a red ale should have. Watch out for this one!

However, pick yellow and you’re in for a real treat. Sigtuna Easter Ale may not have the most imaginative brand name but I’m going to stick my neck out here and predict this is going to become one of the most popular Swedish beers launched this year.

Why? Well because it exemplifies everything Sigtuna Head Brewer Mattias Hammenlind believes a beer should be – big but balanced.

He’s taking a calculated risk by moving away from the British and US hops Sigtuna normally uses and instead has experimented with New Zealand Pacific Gem and Riwaka hops, the latter of which has achieved something of a cult status down under where it is considered by many to be more than a match for US favourites like Centennial and Cascade.

But boy was the risk worth taking! Open a bottle of Sigtuna Easter Ale and the aroma will literally demand your immediate attention. The Riwaka hops burst out of the bottle with thick, oily, luscious smells of tropical fruit, sweet lychees and lemons. The taste of this 5.6% ABV beer is as invigorating as rolling around naked in snow, with lots of fresh citrus flavours and a welcome and assertive bitter finish.

It’s simply amazing stuff, and together with a beer from another Swedish micro I recently raved about is yet more proof that Swedish craft beer isn’t only catching up with the US and other craft brewing nations- it’s leaving some of them behind.

Put the date of Monday, March 15th in your diary right now so you don’t miss the chance to try these two colourful Easter beers from Sigtuna Brygghus.

(BeerSweden spent a great afternoon at Sigtuna Brygghus earlier this week, sampling new beers  – some of which haven’t even been named yet – and talking about the brewery’s explosive growth and exciting plans for the future. Full coverage of the visit will being posted very soon here at BeerSweden!)

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As part of some pretty ambitious plans for this blog I’m hoping to start a series of Virtual Beer Tastings in which I taste and talk about some of the most interesting beers available in Sweden right now.

I love the idea of virtual tastings as being able to actually see the beer being poured into a glass has some obvious advantages over the written word. On top of that I’m planning to invite brewers, importers and brand ambassadors as well as other beery friends from the drinks industry to join me in many of these virtual tastings. That way you’ll get first-hand information from the people closest to the beer.

A couple of days ago I persuaded a couple of beer fanatic friends to film me talking about Pilsner Urquell. The results were far from perfect, but I’m posting a heavily cut version of them anyway to give you an idea of where I’m trying to go with this.

So what do you think? Good idea, waste of time, self-publicising nonsense or a useful way to get a more in-depth understanding of beer?

As you can imagine there’s quite a lot of work behind putting these films together so I’m proposing cutting you a deal. If I reach 500 fans on BeerSweden.se’s Facebook fan page I’ll start posting virtual tastings. The simple truth is that the more people that visit this site the more time I can devote to it. So please, get out there and bang the drum for BeerSweden by telling all your beery friends to sign up to my Facebook page.

And please give me your feedback on the idea of virtual tastings. What sort of beers would you like reviewed, which breweries would you like to take a behind-the-scenes look at, what beer styles do you want to learn more about? Remember it’s your comments that shape the content on this site!

Have a great weekend everyone.

BeerSweden Darren

The Systembolaget is making this particular Monday a little easier to get through with the release of 12 new beers going on sale from this morning.

The Swedish micros are particularly well represented this time round, with beers from Nynäshamn, Oppigårds. Sigtuna and Dugges hitting the shelves. Big brother brewery Spendrups is also there with it’s eye-catching and quirkily named Pistonhead Hot Roddin’ Lager.

Expect a review of all these beers over the coming days!

From the US comes Double Bastard Ale from Stone Brewing and Sierra Nevada’s Celebration Ale – both big, bold and critically acclaimed beers. The US invasion continues with a beer that “bites like a rattlesnake looking for a fight” – Hop Ottin’ IPA and an altogether tamer wheat ale from Good Islands Beer Company that feels a little out of season with the thermometer currently dipping below -20 degrees here in Umeå.

A pair of English style beers from Stensbogaard Bryghus in Denmark almost complete the new line-up; a dry IPA (India Pale Ale) and a coffee-tasting stout.

I said almost because Estrella Damm launches its non-alcoholic lager today. Now in fairness I haven’t tasted this one, only the ‘normal’ strength version. However if it’s a paler copy of that I warmly recommend you drink something (read ANYTHING) else instead.

I’m often asked what I think about the ‘evil twins’ of brewing here in Sweden, Spendrups and Carlsberg.

The question is normally followed by a comment such as: “I bet you wouldn’t touch the stuff would you. After all you know what fish do in water (etc etc)”.

Well guess what? I do touch the stuff now and again, and you know what, I don’t think it’s that bad at all.

It’s very easy to put the hate on S&G (and any other brewery for that matter perceived to have exceeded the ever-shifting definition of ‘microbrewery’). Like gangs forming in the playground during a school break it’s tempting to side with the beer bullies who dismiss any brewery that doesn’t oak-age, over-hop, triple ferment, double, imperial or Americanize their beers.

Spendrup's brewery and head offices in Vårby

I suspect just like being at school peer pressure leads some people to unilaterally bash the bigger breweries, often labeling them nothing more than factories and the nemesis of all that craft beer stands for.

But as with most things in life I don’t think things are that black or white. I think we need big breweries like Spendrups and Carlsberg. Whether you like it or not they are responsible for switching millions of people onto drinking beer every year. They have the means and the muscle to create huge demand for beer in a way micros, by their very nature, never can.

We need them to help swell the ranks of beer drinkers, because its from them that we recruit drinkers of craft beer.

And lets be honest here. Are their beers really that bad? There’s a very interesting book I recommend you read (not only to underline this particular point, but because of its fascinating coverage of beer contra wine in general) called Grape vs Grain by Charles Bamforth.

Now Charles really knows his beers. He’s the Chair of the Department of Food Science, Editor in Chef of the Journal of the American Society of Brewing Chemists among a long list of other professional merits. In short he’s considered one of the top three brewing scientists of his generation.

He’s also an Anheuser-Busch Endowed Professor of Malting and Brewing Sciences at the University of California (I can almost hear the hissing from here) and explores in depth the attitudes of beer drinkers towards the major breweries in the US.

He writes that it is the micros that “have captured the consumers’ imagination by touting a perceived sophistication that belongs in the same class at that engendered by wines”.

The famous entrance to Carlsberg's original brewery

He goes on to defend the big breweries, calling them “places of sophistication and excellence….hygienic, airy, busy and highly productive…..often highly automated but always using time-honoured brewing techniques”.

His point is that it’s no mean feat to consistently produce a beverage at thousands of bottles an hour to the same level of quality 24 hours a day, day in, day out. It may not conjure up romantic images of beer being brewed say, in a barn, but it’s an impressive accomplishment none the less.

Mr Bamforth presents a strong case from a refreshingly different perspective.

Personally I know several people who work for both Spendrups and Carlsberg and they are as professional, engaged, proud and passionate about their brands as anyone I’ve met in the trade.

So coming back to the question I was posed in the opening paragraph on this now rather long-winded blog post, my answer is that I believe the big brewers are every bit as important to the future success of craft beer in this country as the microbreweries themselves.

After all every story needs a villain – it makes the tale of craft beer all the better in the telling, don’t you think?