Today I am delighted to reveal the winners of the inaugural BeerSweden Forum Awards 2012!

More than 160 BeerSweden Forum members voted for their favourite beers, breweries, bars and beery personalities in eight categories during January. All the finalists had previously been nominated by BSF members, with those attracting the most votes advancing to the final voting round.

So without further ado let’s see who took first place in the country’s biggest online award scheme organised by beer drinkers for beer drinkers!

Best Swedish Brewery

Oppigårds Bryggeri was never in danger of losing this category. Having started out strong the Darlana brewery just got stronger, taking home first place with an impressive 70% of all the votes cast.

Best Swedish Beer

Again it’s Oppigårds in pole position with Drakens DIPA (which was brewed to a recipe created by hardcore homebrewers Tomas Lundqvist, Rick Lindqvist and Magnus Ahlström).

Best International Beer

This category went down to the wire and at the last second it was one vote that meant the category was tied between Great Divide Brewing’s Yeti Imperial Stout and ‘Hello, My Name is Ingrid’ from BrewDog in Scotland. The honours are shared!

Best International Brewery

I know, some of you may ask how can a guy from Denmark called Mikkel Borg Bjergsø be called a brewery? Well he’s a new kind of ‘one-man’ brewery that travels to breweries around the world where he transforms his very active imagination into beer. The so-called ‘Godfather of Gypsy Brewing’ Mikkel is also one of the most prolific brewers out there and is threatening to close in on 100 different Mikkeller beers in a single year. The BSF-ers salute you!

Best Swedish Beer Bar/Pub/Restaurant

Beer emporium Akkurat in Stockholm once again leads the field and underlines its status as a must-visit bar whenever you’re in the capital (particularly if you like cask ales and lambics). Congratulations to Stene, Rille and the whole ‘A-Team’!

Best Swedish Importer/Distributor

Those nice guys at Brill have really spoilt the Swedish beer community with a succession of hard-to-get craft beers from both sides of the Atlantic over the past year and their passion for what they do has clearly paid off, earning them an emphatic pat on the back from BSF members.

Best Swedish Beer Event

Probably no surprise here. The Stockholm Beer and Whisky Festival is not only the largest beer show in Sweden but it’s one of the largest in the world. Ultra-professionally run with the largest gathering of Swedish beer brands and personalities in one place the SBWF continues to set the standard for how a beer show should be run.

Swedish Beer Personality of The Year

I have to confess to feeling more than a little awkward here as I have ended up winning this category myself (I’m putting it down to home advantage). I am obviously incredibly grateful and humbled for all the nominations and votes. I’d like to give a special mention to Magnus and M2 and Magnus Bark who were both also nominated in this category and who all – in their own unique ways – do so much to contribute to the beer community in this country. The fact that three bloggers were nominated says a lot about the role beer blogs are playing right now in spreading knowledge about our favourite drink.

A huge thanks to everyone who took the time to nominate and vote. As the awesome BeerSweden Forum continues to grow (now over 20,000 posts, 575,000 post views and almost 700 members) I’m confident next year’s awards will be even bigger and better!

All winners will shortly be receiving swanky certificates as recognition of their achievement. Once I’ve made them that it…..

Cheers and Beers everyone!

Darren

 (ps: If you’re not a member of the BeerSweden Forum yet then why not sign up right now? It only takes seconds and costs nothing. That’s right – nix! Within minutes you could be chatting to other beer enthusiasts, checking out food and beer pairings, discovering the latest beer scene news and reading honest reviews of beers from fellow BSF-ers. And that’s just for starters! What are you waiting for?!!)

To avoid the danger of knäck poisoning from all the Christmas beers I’m tasting right now I thought I’d change lanes for a bit and bring you news of some stories that broke in the Swedish beer scene this week.

Erm..can someone please explain the blow-up doll in the background?

First out one of the nicest (and most tattooed?) guys in the Swedish beer industry, Jonas Danielsson from Brill & Co, took to the airwaves yesterday to tell listeners of Bandit FM why beer is rocking the drinks scene right now. Great to hear Jonas explaining why more and more people are switching on to craft beer and off from ‘McDonald’ beers!

Mathias and Jessica want to get beer back on the dining room table.

Food and beer is one of the most exciting and simultaneously frustrating aspects of working with beer. It’s like being told the secret to clean energy but despite screaming about it to everyone you meet most of them just smile politely and continue using fossil fuels anyway.

So that’s why this week’s announcement that Swedish Michelin-starred chef Mathias Dahlgren is teaming up with the Queen of flying brewers Jessica Heidrich to produce a series of new beers is so significant. Dahlgren has long been an advocate of pairing beer with food and as one of this country’s leading culinary figures could really help turn the tide in beer’s favour at long last. Details of the two beers (which will be available from next year exclusively at Dahlgren’s restaurant in Stockholm) can be found here.

Most of us already knew Akkurat in Stockholm was a great place to drink suds and this week they had it confirmed (again) in writing by scooping the ‘Best Beer Bar 2011’ award at the Bartender’s Choice Awards. Congratulations to Stene, Rille and the rest of the crew. Worth mentioning that Oliver Twist and Black & Brown were also nominated in the same category.

And lastly this was the week that the BeerSweden Forum galloped past the 15,000 post mark! That’s 15,000 posts that the irritatingly friendly BSF community have made about beer since the end of the summer. If there’s a more active and generally awesome online beery hang-out for the likes of people like us then I haven’t seen it. Great work all you BSF-ers!

That’s it for now gang. Looking out of the window looking at the sideways snow I’m suddenly feeling the urge for a stout. Perhaps this one?

Have a great Friday and I hope you drift happily into a brilliant weekend!

Cheers and beers!

Darren

When Lotta Engberg gave a shotgun start to Christmas on November 20th I immediately started to panic. With a mere 33 shopping days to go, lussebullar to bake, meatballs to roll and advent decorations to put up how, I wondered, was I ever going to get everything done in time?

I’ve been experiencing the same sense of mild hysteria with this blog recently. The run-in to Christmas means only one thing here – BeerSweden’s now obligatory Advent Beer Calendar, a sort of grown-up version of Julkalendern in which Trev and I reveal one new seasonal beer each day throughout December until the big day itself.*

However with 25 Christmasy beers to film and review there’s little time for anything else so I thought I’d get straight to the point and tell you:

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Stockholm-based beer emporium Akkurat has hooked up with The Avenue Pub in New Orleans to put on the biggest ever Swedish Beer Festival in the United States.

The Swedish breweries and their beers that will be available on tap when the festival takes place on Saturday, January 21st are:

Nils Oscar
Kalasöl
Julöl
Hop Yard IPA
Coffee Stout

Närke
Slättöl
Skvattgalen
InternationALE
Pannknektarns Porter
Tanngnjost & Tanngrisir
Stormaktsporter Konjaks

Nynäshamns Ångbryggeri
Tjockhult Tjinook
Bötet Barley Wine
Bedarö Bitter
Sotholmen Extra Stout
Mysingen Midvinter brygd

Skebobruk
Sovereign Golden Ale

Oppigårds
To be confirmed.

A Swedish Beer Dinner is also being planned at the famous Boucherie so (as if you really need one) there’s even more reason to travel to the City of Dreams next year!

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Chris from the Blues Pub is crazy about craft beer!

Is The Blues Pub in Sundbyberg Sweden’s smallest watering hole? I recently popped in for a drink and to meet the man behind the bar (quite literally) Chris Westfahl and was amazed at his big beer ambitions for such a small place. Chris has packed his fridge with cutting-edge craft beers from the likes of Brill and Great Brands and spends lots of his spare time hunting down rare brews to share with his regulars. If you think there’s enough room to swing a cat in this place make sure it’s a small one. Intimate atmosphere, regular live music, great beers  – what are you waiting for?

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Those jolly nice people at Elixir Wine have announced they are bringing yet another Danish craft brewery’s beers to Sweden. This time it’s the ultra new Stronzo Brewing that promises to deliver ‘beer with an attitude’. Stronzo  is planning to open a new brewpub in Copenhagen next year but right now is travelling around brewing a little here and there. Keep up to date here. One more for Elixir Wine’s Danish Christmas Beer Box next year perhaps?

 * Kort & Gott means ‘short and good’ in English. A bit like Kylie Minogue.

At some point today members over at the BeerSweden Forum will notch up 10,000 posts, confirming the new beery hang-out’s growing reputation as the most active beer forum in Sweden.

Since we opened the doors just over two months ago we’ve been busy rating, reviewing, ranting and revelling in our favourite drink. If you like statistics then you might like to know that to date we’ve recorded over 166,000 topic views and the most popular forum by far is Ölprat with over 67,000 views followed by The Beervine with 34,000.

This is what it's really all about! Making freinds and drinking beer at the first ever BSF meet-up!

Wednesday July 13^th was the most popular day to post so far with 316 posts (!) and 3 members (plus the prolific Manker) have amazingly already passed the 400 post mark.

Favourite posts so far? For me the thread “Det är bland det värsta jag vet när..” is a great way of letting off steam about everything (except beer it seems) from roundabouts to eating smelly food on the bus.

I also like “Presentera dig själv” when I want to learn a little bit more about my fellow BSF-ers and “Här är jag! (Krograpporten)” for tips on what people are drinking and where.

But, for me, the best thing to happen so far as a result of the forum was the first ever BSF meet-up in Stockholm earlier this week when a gang of us turned an ordinary Tuesday evening into something far more entertaining as we shared beers and stories at two of the city’s best beer bars.

Those nice people at OT gave us the chance to try four different vintages of Old Stock Ale. 2009 was my personal fav!

After a great dinner at Oliver Twist with BSF mods Manker and GoSatta (poor old Daniel spent the evening at the A&E with a suspected sprained ankle) we hooked up with a lively gang of BSF-ers at Akkurat and got stuck into their draft beers with notable gusto, particularly the Grassroots/Cigar City Neither, a double IPA with a whopping 9.25% ABV that seems to have been many member’s favourite of the night.

Then happily fortified against the windy weather we made the short walk up to Oliver Twist where we spent the rest of the evening drinking some amazing beers. High on my list of stand-outs was the vertical tasting of North Coast’s Old Stock Ale from 2008-2011 (for me the 2009 shone brightest) and the chance to try some vintage bottles of Old Rasputin Anniversary Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout and Avery Hog Heaven.

We also got a rare chance to sip this little monster.

So what’s next for the BeerSweden Forum? Well there’s a funky looking new logo on its way (details very soon), talks of more BSF meet-ups in Malmö and Gothenburg and rumour has it something’s being cooked up for the upcoming Stockholm Beer and Whisky Festival.

Of course to find out more about all these beery goings-on you really should register to be a member of the forum. It’s totally free, takes seconds and really is a great and relaxed place to learn more about beer.

See you in there!

Darren

By the time you read this letter I’ll be gone. I’ve left to travel to Scotland for a few days to brew some beer with those guys again. Rumour has it I may even get a chance to mash in on an upcoming Abstrakt beer! I hear it could be black, extremely imperial, involve whisky casks and some sort of fruit, so I’ve taken my video camera with me and will try and capture some exclusive footage for you.

I’ll promise to try and keep in touch while I’m over there but you know how it is sometimes. Luckily BeerSweden Trev has one of those ‘live’ episodes of BSTV lined up featuring none other that Black Tokyo Horizon (which, you’ll be pleased to hear, is probably the first ever video review of this amazing beer), so make sure you watch out for that.

I'm taking to the open road later this month!

I also wanted to tell you about a few other things that are coming up in what promises to be the craziest month of my beery career ever. Any of your followers who live in or around Umeå are in for a real treat between now and Christmas with my monthly beer club at Duå kicking off again in September after the summer recess. The first tasting (two sittings) takes place on Friday September 16^th and the theme is ‘No Monks Allowed – An Alternative Belgium Beer Tasting’. Pretty much speaks for itself doesn’t it! You’re supposed to get in touch with Duå in Umeå on 090-7800303 to book your place.

Before that on Tuesday 13^th September I’ll be in Stockholm for the first ever BeerSweden Forum meet-up.  The fun starts at Akkurat at 8pm and finishes up at Oliver Twist. It promises to be a night of great beer and the chance for BSF members to get to know each other IRL (In Real Life). Your followers who use Facebook can let me know if they’re coming here.

After that things really start picking up speed. I’m hitting the road for a four day road trip through southern Sweden between September 20-23^rd, starting with a BrewDog food and beer pairing event at De Klomp in Linköping, before cruising by some great beer bars on our way to Gothenburg, where we’ll round things off on the night of the 22^nd September with a huge BrewDog total tap takeover party at the Bishops Arms Plaza.  It’s going to be epic – sort of like Thelma and Louise with penguins. 

The following week the Stockholm Beer and Whisky Festival 2011 kicks off but that, as they say, is a whole new story….

Look after yourself while I’m away (and keep an eye on Ingrid and that BeerSweden Forum for me). Missing you already!

Darren

It’s Friday 13^th today so I’m being extra careful to avoid black cats, dropping or breaking anything, crossing roads, eating peanuts or tying my shoelaces. In fact I’m writing this weekly update from my bed, where I plan to stay until Saturday, with only occasional and very short excursions to the fridge to get a cold beer.

Excuse me for interupting but is this the way to söder?

This week the ‘man on everyone’s lips’ (which was perhaps the most unfortunate thing I said this week) known as Tjinooken was finally unmasked and his beer served to expectant crowds at Oliver Twist and Akkurat.

And following the hype comes the hyperbole for a new lager brewed by Nynäshamns Ångbryggeri that will become a regular feature in both the pubs in Stockholm’s ‘söder’.

Tjockhult Tjinook is a beer that first and foremost is designed to be refreshing and easy to drink, with chinook hops (supported by a dash of citra and centennial) lending their light, citrus flavours. The reaction to its launch this week was overwhelming positive (kegs were drained faster than Ingrid for goodness sake) so if you’re wandering around söder in the near future you might want to pop in and try it. Oh, and if you see a bedraggled looking character snoring under a bridge nearby throw him some spare change – it may just be Tjinooken!

This was also the week I announced that it’s London Baby! for BeerSweden next weekend as I travel to the UK as the only Swedish representative at the first ever European Beer Bloggers Conference. I won’t be alone however, with Mattias and Jessica to keep me company and also beers from NYAB and Oppigårds to pour out among the delegates.

Romeo and Juliet, Bonnie and Clyde, Simon and Garfunkel, Bamse and Skalman – they’re practically inseparable and better as a pair than by themselves don’t you think? The same could be said for burgers and beer, which is the theme of the latest awesome BeerSweden competition I launched this week to celebrate the opening next month of the Bishops Arms ambitious gastro-pub in Linnégatan in Stockholm. Remember to send me your ideal burger and beer combo before June 1^st for a chance to win some VIP prizes!

So how am I going to kick the weekend of this week? Well I’ll be popping open a bottle of Brooklyn Summer Ale as my After Work Friday! beer that Brooklyn’s charismatic BrewMaster himself Garret Oliver recently told BeerSweden all about.

The beer is being launched at the Systembolaget on Monday and I can already reveal it’s as summer as Crocs and mosquito repellent.

Have a safe and lucky weekend everyone and don’t forget it’s Småbryggeriernas Dag tomorrow so if you’re lucky enough to live near a Swedish craft brewery then show them your support and drink local!

Cheers and beers!

Darren

When I said ”the man that has been on the lips of everyone in the beer world” what I really meant to say was ”the man whose name has been on the lips of everyone in the beer world”.

Just so you know.

As I reported yesterday on the blog the mystery ‘phantom brewer’ known as Tjinooken is still at large – but the mystery surrounding the beer he and his accomplices brewed and locked into a fermentation tank at Nynäshamns Ångbryggeri is a step closer to being solved.

Yesterday Stockholm pub owners Jörgen Hasselqvist from Oliver Twist and Stene Isacsson from Akkurat visited the Swedish craft brewery and using weilding equipment managed to break open the lock and sample the contents inside.

According to an eye witness brewery personnel ”held their breath” while Jörgen and Stene tentatively tasted the golden coloured liquid before letting out jubilant cries when the pair exclaimed: ”This tastes amazing! We’ll take the lot. We don’t give a monkey’s* what Tjinooken thinks!”

The beer will now be served at both Akkurat and Oliver Twist this coming Thursday (May 12th). It is unclear how the fugitive Tjinooken will react to the news his beer has been commandeered . BeerSweden is currently searching the country to secure an exclusive interview with the elusive rogue.

More to follow…….

*In all the excitement this may not have been exactly the expression used. BeerSweden reserves the right to a certain degree of dramatic interpretation.

Almost there...it looked like an episode of American Choppers as Jörgen and Stene broke the lock off the tank.

The excitement was palpable as the first of the beer was poured out.

After a close inspection.....

the beer tasted fantastic!

The mysterious beer bandit known as Tjinooken has been spotted again, this time trying to unlock a fermentation tank containing beer that it is alleged he brewed along with three other accomplices after breaking into Nynäshamns Ångbyrggeri last month.

The beer bandit known as Tjinooken was caught on camera trying to attach a hose to a fermentation tank.

The shadowy figure was captured on camera by a member of brewery staff as he frantically tried to remove a number of padlocks and attach a hose to one of the brewery’s fermentation tanks. Upon being discovered he ran off before staff could apprehend him.

According to a source close to Akkurat and Oliver Twist – two of Stockholm’s most popular pubs that are spearheading the hunt for Tjinooken – police have found a set of padlock keys in the söderledstunneln in Stockholm that they believe may belong to the fugitive.

This evidence strengthens the theory that Tjinooken lives or works in the Södermalm area of the capital after a picture believed to be of the culprit carrying a sack of malt stolen from the brewery was taken on the day of the May 1^st protest marches.

Brewery staff at Nynäshamns have repeatedly but unsuccessfully tried to break the locks off the fermentation tank in order to examine the liquid inside and it is believed they have now called in a team of experts to assist them.

The mysterious figure managed to escape before brewery staff could stop him

BeerSweden is appealing to the beer community in Sweden to remain calm and vigilant at all times. If you know of the whereabouts of Tjinooken or have any leads on how to contact him please send me a mail at the normal address.

And Tjinooken – if you are reading this -  I urge you to get in touch so you can tell me your side of the story. The beer drinkers of Sweden deserve to know the truth.

Be safe out there everyone.

Darren

En oidentifierad person har ikväll gjort ett tafatt försök att låsa upp tanken med det innehåll som vi numera kallar Tjinooken. Jag lyckades komma in i tankrummet just som figuren höll på att koppla på en slang på den låsta tanken. Misstanken om att det är Tjinooken som jag fångade på bild är inte obefogad då det sägs att han har setts vid ett flertal ställen på Södermalm i Stockholm de senaste dagarna. Då bärandes på en maltsäck från vårt bryggeri. Låsen som fortfarande sitter kvar verkar vakta en värdefull skatt…