You’re sitting at the bar and in the corner of your eye you see her there, stealing glances at you.

She’s sending signals. Your heart quickens and you suddenly start to feel uncomfortably warm. There’s a glow spreading across your stomach, an almost palpable vibration.

You take a shallow breath, clench your jaw and face her now. Slowly your hand reaches into your pocket and you pull it out. You’ll later tell people that she let out a tiny squeal of delight when you put it to your ear.

She’s seen your iPhone. More than that she’s seen it Punked.*

(ED note: OK, ok this was not the way I intended to write the intro of this competition post when I got up this morning. It was supposed to be far more standard “look cool, amaze your friends” but then I went and got all Mils and Boon. I can’t explain why. Maybe it’s the lack of sunlight up here, mixed with a bit of restless boredom and the need to write a novel. I’ll get back on track now).

Let’s face it – iPhones are sexy and anyone who has one, by association, is better looking than an Android user. Big statement I know but it’s true because Stevie once said so (allegedly).

Android users will hate you. Everyone else will love you.

So how can you make the world’s sexiest phone even sexier? That’s impossible – it’s like trying to make Magnus Uggla’s hair more curly, right?

Well BrewDog** have managed to pull it off with this ultra exclusive iPunk cover for your favourite mobile device.

So exclusive is this iPhone cover (fits all iPhone 4 models) that not even BrewDog’s founder James Watts himself has one yet nor are they available to buy in the BrewDog online shop.

But I have managed to get my hands on one to give away, so to be the first person in Sweden to Punk your iPhone here’s what you’ve got to do:

BrewDog’s Hardcore IPA has recently qualified from the ‘ordering assortment’ and onto the shelves of the Systembolaget, which means you can now order single bottles to your local store.

So to win the iPunk cover grab a bottle and your camera and capture an awesome Hardcore IPA moment (please note the use of IPA in that last statement). It can be funny, cool, natural, processed – anything as long as it has something to do with BrewDog Hardcore IPA.

Then send you photo (max resolution 500kb) to me at darren@beersweden.se . I will then post it right here under this post for everyone to see. You have until midnight on Friday, 10^th February to submit your photo, after which I will get the team at BrewDog to pick their favourite. The winner will be announced on Monday, February 13^th.  

This competition is open to anyone living in Scandinavia.

Any questions just mail me. Good luck everyone!

 *I appreciate that a few ladies follow this blog so just switch genders in the bar story if you feel the need to (although under closer scrutiny the penis innuendo falls down a bit……)

**Actually it was those nice people at Cask Sweden that first came up with the concept of these iPhone covers. Kudos!

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Here’s the first entry from Jens. Can you do better?

 Emmanuel has gone all Pop Arty!

Hans simply can’t wait and has made his own attempt at iPunk-ing his phone….

Something a little fishy from Jonas….

It’s always good to come back home to good news and if you’re a fan of one particular Scottish craft brewery (yes, that one) then I’ve got your number.

It’s 1591-03

That’s the Systembolaget article number for the beer that BrewDog co-founders James Watt and Martin Dickie claim is their proudest achievement to date, Hardcore IPA, which has just qualified into the ordinary assortment at the monopoly and goes on sale from Monday, May 30^th.

Hardcore IPA is a monster of a beer, hopped to hell with bossy US Centennial, Columbus and Simcoe hops and then dry-hopped to hell with them too. At 9.2% it’s not for the faint-hearted but despite being brewed to a recipe that would make Charles Bronson cry like a baby (probably) its greatest strength is its balance.

This was probably the main reason why it scooped Gold at the World Beer Cup in 2010 held in Chicago in the Imperial India Pale Ale category, snatching it away from the backyard of the US who invented and ‘owned’ the style until then.

Hardcore IPA will cost 36 SEK for a 330ml bottle and will be a T9 launch, which means it’s up to individual SB store managers to stock it, and they’re far more likely to do that if you ask for it. So if you want to get your hands on this deliciously dirty beer you better start asking!

*Transparency Statement* As many of you know I spend some of my time travelling around Scandinavia tasting and talking about BrewDog beers. It’s no secret I think they are all generally amazing. I would have written this article regardless of this fact but felt I should point it out anyway.

Yes it’s true. Sweden’s most ‘Get Up and Go’ beer blog is packing its bags and is on its way to Scotland later this week to spend a bit of quality time with those maverick brewing chaps at BrewDog.

As you already know BeerSweden likes to be at the centre of all things beery and there’s little doubt that the epicentre of alternative beer brewing in Europe (and arguably the world) right now is focused on the small fishing town of Fraserburgh situated a little way north of Aberdeen in Scotland.

That’s because it’s here that James Watt and fellow BrewDog founder and Brewmaster Martin Dickie hatch plans for world domination and create some of the most avant garde beers coming out of Europe right now. Their role call of brands makes for more extreme reading that the beer list at Akkurat in Stockholm, including the already classic Punk IPA, Trashy Blonde, Hardcore IPA (which just picked up a gold medal at the World Beer Cup) and the two alcoholic monsters Tactical Nuclear Penguin and Sink the Bismarck.

When they’re not brewing beer here they’re often flying off somewhere else to do it, recently to the US to collaborate in the brewing of the first ever black pilsner.

I’ll be meeting up with James when he headlines a BrewDog event in Stockholm this Saturday night organised by their importer Cask Sweden. Check out their FaceBook page for more details and if you’re in the capital be sure to come along as there will be the largest selection of BrewDog beers ever seen in one place in Sweden available to try at reasonable prices.

I’ll then be flying back with James to Scotland the next day for 48 hours of hanging out with the BrewDog pack. Rest assured I’ll be taking my camcorder (Sorry Trev – you’re going to have to stay at home this time) and plan to record a very special episode of BSTV from within the brewery itself. I’ll also be live blogging while sniffing out all the news about what other BrewDog beers might be making their way over here to Sweden, including (hopefully) an advance tasting of the new Abstrakt range I wrote about a little while back.

One thing’s for sure – it’s going to be an extreme brewery trip so make sure you come along for the ride!

Beers and Cheers!

BeerSweden Darren

*I’m bumping up this article that I posted yesterday as I can see from Google Analytics that a lot of BS readers spend more time drinking beer (or recovering from the effects of it!) than reading about it on a Sunday.*

They say a picture says a thousand words. I’d like to think a picture can also tell the story of a beer.

Earlier this week in a moment of creativity (which don’t come along that often) I took a couple of pictures of the beers I was going to be reviewing. It seems a lot of you BS readers liked them, which started me off thinking “why not combine our mutual love of beer with photography to create an entirely new way of wasting our spare time – beertography!

To kick things off BeerSweden is launching what I confidently suggest is the world’s first beertography competition.

The rules are pretty simple. Just whip out your lens and take a photograph of the beer you are currently drinking. It can be a bottle or a pint/glass shot but try and get the beer brand name in the frame as I’ll be sending the winning picture to the brewery in question.

It doesn’t matter if you have the latest DSLR camera and a studio in your basement or take the picture in a pub using your mobile camera. It’s not the quality of the picture that necessarily counts – it’s the story it tells us about your special moment with beer.

As an example here’s a picture I took this morning. I had to lay down on the ice surrounded by bemused youngsters hurtling at great speeds on sharp blades of steel just inches from my ears to get it. It struck me then that this wasn’t normal behaviour for a grown man on a Sunday morning. Isn’t it great what you’ll do in the name of beer?

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So here’s how it works. Send your best original beertography picture to me at darren@beersweden.se as a JPEG around 250 KB in size by Sunday, March 21st. I’ll promise to post every single picture here on BeerSweden (assuming they’re legal) and will decide and announce a winner and one runner-up on Monday, March 22^nd.

And the prizes? Well I’m going to have to get back to you on that one. I’m currently arm wrestling with a couple of the major beer importers here in Sweden for some pretty special items, but one thing is certain – they will be the best prizes ever given away on this website

(Ed note: That shouldn’t be too difficult. The last prize we gave away was a T-shirt).

So happy snapping everyone. Good luck!