One of the best Swedish Spring beers ever produced will soon be available all year round. That’s right – Amarillo Spring, the beer I urged you to throw all the food out of your fridge for back in February this year is making a comeback under the shortened name Oppigårds Amarillo.

This seismic bit of news was casually mentioned in the brewery’s latest email newsletter and seems to have slipped under the radar of most other beer bloggers so just so we’re all clear on this AMARILLO SPRING IS SOON GOING TO BE AVAILABLE ALL YEAR ROUND!!!!

Aren’t you excited? You should be because this Swedish produced American pale ale (the 5th highest ranked APA in the world according to RateBeer) is one of the best beers to come out of this country – period! When it was released at the Systembolaget back in the spring it was only available for three months so many of you may have missed out on the opportunity to try it. Well now it seems as though you’re going to get a second chance, with the brewery informing me that it will start brewing Amarillo from next week for sale on draft in selected restaurants and then as a ‘beställningsvara’ (order product) via the monopoly.

The exact date when Amarillo will be available to order is not yet known but as soon as I find out rest assured you’ll read about it here first.

What a great bit of good news to start the week off with!

Happy Monday everyone.

Bottles from Swedish microbrewery Oppigårds are the beer equivalent of Paul Potts. From the outside they can look rather boring, a little awkward and forgettable. If you didn’t know you might even pass them by without ever giving them a try.

They may not look all that amazing from the outside, but it's what's on the inside that counts!

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But if you do give their beers a chance, if you do allow them the opportunity to open up then oh how they sing!

Rarely have I felt so elated as a beer drinker as the moment I opened my first bottle of Oppigårds’ Amarillo Spring. Just like that magical moment when Mr Potts the goofy-toothed mobile salesman from south Wales walked onto the stage and said he was going to sing opera, I had absolutely no idea what magic was coming next.

The aroma of freshly picked, green leafy hops was simply overwhelming. It stopped me in my tracks.

I can’t recall a more exhilaratingly hop nose on a Swedish beer. It reminded me of the smell of broken Dandelion stems I used to snap as a child playing outside during the summer. If every colour had its own unique aroma then this beer is how green would smell.

There’s a dash of white wine in there to, along with subtle hints of red berries and pine needles. Malt must be present too but if it is it’s not telling anyone – and quite frankly who cares.

In the mouth this maestro continues to perform beautifully, delivering a fleeting sweetness before a swell of citrus climaxes in a crescendo of lingering balanced bitterness.

Oppigårds Amarillo Spring is an outstanding example of the role hops can play in the aroma and taste of a beer. It is one of the absolute best European versions of an American Pale Ale I have ever tasted.

The beer was originally released to celebrate Oppigårds’ 7th year in business and has been renamed to fit in with the current seasonal theme at the Systembolaget. With its assertive bitterness (measuring 50 IBUs for you beer nerds) it almost strays into IPA territory, so if you like hops you’re going to love this.

But here’s a warning – the beer is only available at the Systembolaget for the next three months. I therefore urge you to go and buy it – lots of it. Then go home, throw all the food out of your fridge and fill it with bottles of this beer instead.

It’s that good.

Oppigårds Amarillo Spring

5.9% ABV

An American Pale Ale from Oppigårds Bryggeri

Systembolaget Article Number: 1440