Tomorrow (June 1st) sees the launch of six new beers at the Systembolaget.
This month’s batch is made up of three very interesting Swedish micro beers, an extremely European US bock countered nicely by an extremely US European strong ale and finally an oaky IPA from the UK.
Let’s start as we always try to here at BeerSweden with the Swedish beers first. I’ve already written about Nils Oscar Sorachi Blond so all that’s left to say is go out and buy it. In my opinion this has all the makings of a summer blockbuster but with only 4,200 bottles going on sale you’d better be quick!
The chances of Oppigårds from Dalarna putting out a bad beer these days is about as slim as Zlatan’s chances of playing in the Premier League next season. This time they’ve made things really interesting by inviting the winner of the 2009 Swedish Home Brewing Championships Peter Högström to replicate his gold medal Belgium witbier (white beer).
The resulting Oppigårds InWit seems very promising, with talk of a sparkling citrus and spice beer that sounds just perfect for the start of summer.
Nynäshamns Ångbryggeri continues its series of speciality beers in those pretty 250ml bottles with Nynäshamns Dragets Kanal Dubbel IPA. This 7.7% ABV US-themed Double IPA is packed with five different hops and word is that it delivers a sweet fruity hop slap.
Staying in Europe we moved to Belgium and the artisanal brewery of de Rulles for their spicy ale with flavours of grass and grapefruit from the heavyweight US Amarillo and Warrior hops they use to brew it.
Crossing the Atlantic we travel to the city of Chico, home of the Sierra Nevada brewery, a perennial favourite of mine. This time it’s their Glissade Golden Bock being released and it’s a beer I’m really looking forward to trying. This light (if 6.4% ABV can be considered light) take on a heller bock promises restrained sweetness and a distinctly European feel from herbal and floral German and Slovenian hops.
The last port of call this time round is the UK, or the Belhaven Brewery in Scotland to be precise for their Innis & Gunn India Pale Ale. I will be trying this one with a bit of trepidation having been more than a little unimpressed with the previous I&G releases.
This time the beer has sat in oak barrels for 30 days before a further 47 days of maturation. The result is a beer that apparently displays a distinctive vanilla and wood character with orange and lemon aromas and a smooth finish.
I’ll be aiming to review all these six beers over the next few days on BSTV so check back soon for more details!
