Now that the bonfires lit to celebrate Valborg (which outside of Sweden is known – or as is often the case not known – as Walpurgis night) are nothing more than smouldering memories it’s the Systembolaget’s turn to herald in Spring with the release of seven new beers being released in around 30 stores around the country from 10am today.*

Unlike the last release which burned a serious hole in our wallets you can buy all seven of these beers for a rather more reasonable 290.30SEK. Question is; do you really get more for less?

Let’s work from the top down. First out is Bödeln IPA from the gang at Hantverksbryggeriet based in Västerås. I believe this might be the first time Raimo and his crew have broken away from their three closest Systembolaget stores, finally giving the rest of us a chance to try some of their excellent hand-crafted beers. And Bödeln (which means ‘the executioner’) is a beer that the brewery promises can do some serious harm to your tastebuds with an aggressive American hop character of grapefruit and spice that leaves a lååååååång after-taste. Any beer that wins a Gold Medal at the Stockholm Beer and Whisky Festival is worth a punt in my book. Highly recommended!

Great Divide is a US brewery that I hugely admire. After all they’ve given us classics such as Yeti, Old Ruffian and Titan IPA. This Denver-based brewery brews the US way, and that means big. However their track record with Belgium beer styles isn’t quite as impressive and in the case of their Grand Cru I’m not so sure I want to be drinking a sweet tasting big-arse 11%  US style Belgium strong ale now that the sun has made a comeback…..

Grebbestad Lunator is a beer that has popped up several years in the monopoly, although exactly when can vary from year to year. Again I feel this release is about as well timed as a Paul Scholes tackle, with another powerful beer that for me is best drunk during those long months when the sun struggles to crest the horizon. Having said that this Swedish produced doppelbock is a finely crafted beer so you might want to do like me and buy a few bottles to squirrel away for when the snow returns (Ed Note: which in Norrland is in about a fortnight).

It’s back to Belgium again with the fourth beer on the list but this time it comes from a brewery that I know understands Belgium beers beautifully. After all, Brouwerij De Ranke comes from there and who can forget their unforgettably puckering XX bitter? Guldenberg is another Belgium Strong Ale (albeit slightly tamer in alcohol at 8.5%ABV) and I’m willing to bet De Ranke’s customary abundance of hops will scratch away much of the sweetness to deliver an assertively bitter and refreshing drink. For less than 27SEK a bottle I’m all in.

Ichtegems Grand Cru is a beer I reviewed a year ago on this blog, when I wrote of its smell: ”a splash of vinegar, some light berry and red onion aromas and old leather” and of its taste: ”loads of wood throughout and the finish is tannic, dry and long” (read the whole review here). Personally it feels like I’ve done this one but if you haven’t tried a Flemish red ale before you really should.

Oh Mikkeller, Mikkeller, Mikkeller. Can you do no wrong? Is there nothing you can’t brew a beer with and catapult it to the top of the Ratebeer rankings? Take, for example, the idea of making a coffee IPA. On paper it sounds like a train wreck and yet somehow this Danish brewing virtuoso manages to pull it off. I tried the first incarnation of this beer using a different (although equally impossible to pronounce) type of Ethiopian coffee. Word is that this Odoo Shakiso version doesn’t quite reach the heights of the original but I for one want to find out for myself. A must buy!

Finally we arrive at a beer produced by a pair of young Danish brewers who were inspired to start brewing after a late night conversation with their teacher – none other than Mikkel Borg Bjergsø (that’s the Mikkel in Mikkeller in case you were wondering). To Øl Frontier IPA is exactly the kind of beer I do want to drink this spring, dry hopped as it is with heaps of Warrior, Simcoe and Centennial hops to deliver a sharp, fruity, floral taste with just enough muscle to ward off the crisp chill of a May evening. Recommended!

* The rest of us can order in bottles via the Web to our chosen store.