Within the last few minutes BeerSweden has received confirmation that Sigtuna Brygghus has left the Swedish Association of Small Breweries (Föreningen Sveriges Småbryggerier).

The move comes after members of the FSS voted by a majority of 12 to 6 to alter its membership criteria to state that no member brewery should be in whole or partly owned or in any other way financed by another party with a significant interest in the Swedish beer industry.

Sigtuna Brygghus received a 4.3 million SEK investment from Swedish drinks importer Galatea in November 2010 to finance the construction of a brand new brewery, making Galatea a minority owner with 35% of the shares in the brewery.

In an official statement that has been posted in the last few minutes on Sigtuna’s Facebook page Peter Forss, founder of Sigtuna Brygghus, states:

”Sigtuna Brygghus har begärt utträde ur Föreningen Sveriges Småbryggerier, Peter Forss kommer även lämna föreningens styrelse, sedan föreningen på helgens årsmöte med 12 röster mot 6 beslutade att på betydande sätt ändra stadgarna. Den paragraf som tvingar oss att lämna föreningen lyder. ”Medlem i Föreningen Sveriges Småbryggerier är ett oberoende bryggeri, med en årsproduktion understigande 5 miljoner liter öl, och som varken helt eller delvis ägs eller på annat sätt finansieras av annan fysisk eller juridisk person med betydande intressen i den svenska ölbranschen. Undantaget är om ägaren är ett annat medlemsbryggeri.
Vi anser att de nya stadgarna på betydande sätt är direkt motstridig mot föreningens grundsyfte att främja utvecklingen av svensk ölkultur.
Årsmötet beslutade att bara föreningens ordförande Berith Karlsson får stå för kommunikationen i denna fråga. Sigtuna Brygghus kommer inte kommentera denna fråga ytterligare.”

FFS’s chairperson Berith Karlsson has released the following statement:

“Föreningen Sveriges Småbryggerier bildades i november 2008 av tolv bryggerier med gemensam syn på ölkultur och samarbete mellan kollegor. Föreningens ändamål är att främja Sveriges småbryggerier och att utveckla svensk ölkultur.

”På årsmötet, som hölls på Gamla Slottskällans Bryggeri i Uppsala i lördags (16/4) röstades det i demokratisk ordning med stor majoritet för tillägg i stadgan, så att den överensstämmer med den andemening som låg till grund för föreningens bildande, nämligen att medlemsbryggerierna ska vara oberoende bryggerier och att föreningens namn ska vara Föreningen Sveriges Oberoende Småbryggerier.

”Ytterligare information kommer att förmedlas till intresserade när årsmötesprotokollet är utskrivet och justerat”.

More to follow…………

Sigtuna Brygghus, one of the Sweden’s most popular craft breweries, is to receive a 4.3 million SEK investment from Swedish drinks importer Galatea to finance the construction of a brand new brewery, BeerSweden can exclusively report.

The investment by Galatea, already considered the largest importer of beer into Sweden and the company behind brands such as TT and the St Erik’s series of beers, will see it become a minority owner in Sigtuna after buying 35% of the brewery’s shares.

Peter Forss, Sigtuna’s founder and Senior Partner, has just issued the following statement to BeerSweden:

“Sigtuna Brygghus has enjoyed a lot of success over the last year and a half. We sell everything we brew and our customers want to have more and more of our beer.

“Two years ago we brewed 30,000 litres of beer, 90,000 litres last year, 210,000 litres this year and we already have inquiries to produce 500,000 litres next year.

“Out ambition from the very start has been to be one of the larger craft breweries in Sweden. We want to be in the same class as Oppigårds and Nils Oscar. In order to do that requires investment, a sales operation and logistics solutions that work and that are cost effective.

“We have had talks with several possible partners and have come to an agreement with Galatea Spirits AB. Galatea will become a minority owner in Sigtuna Brygghus. For us this means a number of advantages. In part in means we can finance the construction of a whole new brewery and new fermentation vessel capacity. Together with the additional investments we have already done during 2010 we are now committing around 5 million SEK. The new brewery will be ready in March of 2011.

“Galatea will sell our products and offer us sound logistical solutions via their logistics company.

“The company (read Sigtuna) will be headed by the current Managing Director Kenneth Sköld and the Head Brewer will be Mattias Hammenlind.

“Galatea will be an active force on the board, with two out of 5 members.

“We will continue to work with others, for example Wicked Wine and they will also be able to sell our products.

“Our ambition is to be a craft brewer that has innovation and quality at its core. It’s that ambition and attitude that attracted Galatea to us”.

BeerSweden has contacted Galatea for a comment and will post their response on the blog shortly.

Stay tuned for updates!

A Porter. A collaboration between brewer Jessica Heidrich and Galatea. Available between 1st September – 14th November or while stocks last.

5.4% ABV. Systembolaget Article Number 11409-03. Price 19.90SEK (330ml bottle)

Look

A delicious looking dark dark brown porter with a thick, clingy cappuccino-coloured head. If you count the bottle too (which has been embellished and embossed) then this is one hell of a sexy looking beer!

Smell

Not surprisingly for a porter named after a type of vanilla the first thing to register with your olfactory system (also known as your nose) is creamy vanilla sauce, backed up by dark chocolate, juniper berries and burnt toast. After a while the vanilla subsides but the chocolate lingers on. I swear the smell of this beer was so rich I actually put on weight sniffing it. A 5 out of 5 aroma!

Taste

The intensity of the nose somehow didn’t all transfer over to the taste of this porter. There’s a creamy vanilla sauce front and then things suddenly change and the flavours turn dry, bitter and roasted. The mouthfeel also seems to transform from medium bodied to a shade thin, making me think of an odd combination of BrewDog’s Zeitgeist watered down with Guinness. Bags of piquant roasted malt, chocolate and ink before a dry coffee-like finish.

Food

With its distinctive vanilla and chocolate character this porter screams out to be paired with a rich chocolate cake and other chocolate-based dessert.

Nerd Note

Pompona Porter is the latest edition to the revitalised S:t Eriks family of beers created by Swedish brewer Jessica Heidrich and Galatea. The fact Jessica has experimented with vanilla with this popular Swedish beer brand demonstrates just how exciting and adventurous beer making in this country is right now. At 5.4% this has a lot of the coffee and chocolate flavours you’ll find in more rugged US porters but has a far higher degree of drinkability. If you like vanilla that is!

Score

I was staring out of the window at a dull and dreary Monday morning when suddenly a box of beer appeared at my front door from those nice people at Galatea. Unwrapping it with all the frenzied restraint of a seven-year-old opening his long-awaited Playstation I found these bottles of seasonal brews. At the exact same moment I realised I might, just might, manage to make it through another long Swedish winter.  Isn’t beer amazing like that?