* (This is what happens when you spend a couple of days in the middle of the forest in a summer cabin and lose all concept of time and space. Suddenly Mondays become Fridays. Thanks people for pointing out that I’m losing my grip on reality. I’m back in town now so assume – but won’t guarantee – that things will return to normal now…..)
The Swedish alcohol monopoly, Systembolaget, continues to make my Mondays Fridays just that little bit more bearable with yet another ‘middle-of-the-month’ release.
This time just five beers were drafted in to the ‘wine cellar stores’ in Stockholm, Malmö and Gothenburg – among them the insanely hopped Mikkeller 1000 IBU, a beer that caused something of a storm in a pint glass a while back after some beer fans accused the Danish brewer of resorting to gimmicks to boost sales.
A beer with 1000 IBUs (International Bitterness Units) is a little bit like making surströmming more…..smelly. There’s really very little point. You see most humans can only taste and tolerate bitterness up to around 100 IBUs, which is the top end of the IBU scale that measures the bitterness of beers derived from the alpha acids of hops.
After 100 IBUs it is generally accepted that your taste buds raise the white flag and surrender, so Mikkeller’s claim to have brewed a beer with 1000 IBUs was greeted by some beer drinkers with more than a touch of scepticism.
Mikkel (the gypsy brewer who is the man behind Mikkeller) explained his motivation behind releasing this beer on his website as well as pointing out that the 1000 IBUs was purely a theoretical, not actual, measurement. I’m not entirely sure what all this means to be honest but I do know that I want to try some and I recommend those of you who want to see just how much your tongues can take to get hold of a bottle too.
Second on my shopping list is Samuel Smith Yorkshire Stingo, an English strong ale with a whopping 8%ABV that is matured in old brewery oak casks for over a year before being bottled, where it continues fermenting until you decide to drink it.
Samuel Smiths is without doubt one of my absolute favourite English breweries with a thoroughbred stable of beers which includes several world classics (like this one). Yorkshire Stingo is a beer that I’ll be buying to age rather than drink now, as its thick, Christmas pudding flavours are a little out of sorts with the season and my beery tastes.
The remaining three beers are a little less appealing on paper although I am intrigued by the Herslev Brygghus Sparrisöl which is launched just as the first spears of asparagus ripen in the early summer sun in southern Sweden. This is a wheat beer that I understand has been flavoured with asparagus. Will it be a perfect match with this tricky food partner? Will it be drinkable?
Footnote: These beers were released on Friday so if you want to check to see if there are any bottles left then check out the amazingly useful Systembevakningsagenten and just punch in the name of the beer you are interested in.
