It’s a little scary to think that just 39 days ago we were watching Kalle Anka, waiting for Santa and excitedly opening our Christmas presents.

The monopoly has given us a mini-break from releases in January (in the case of the BeerSweden community I like to think of it as time off for good behavior) but now it’s time for the beer year to start in earnest.

In the morning 12 new beers will appear on the shelves of around 30 Systembolaget stores and as usual I’m giving you a short (Ed Note: are you having a laugh?) breakdown of what to expect.

An even better list is available over at the BeerSweden Forum that includes clickable links to RateBeer.com for those of you that want dig a little deeper into the beers as well as lots of lively debate among members about the new releases. In fact every month’s releases are listed in detail on the Forum so I can’t recommend highly enough you become a member there just for this useful feature alone.

So, from the top with the two BrewDog beers (normal disclaimer applies here of course). You can read what I think about AB: 08 here (it’s a real mind-buzz of a beer) and although I’ve yet to review the Jura (expect one imminently) the Paradox range has yet to disappoint so this 15% ABV reincarnation aged in Jura whisky casks promises much – Recommended

I’ve enjoyed the Fullers Brewers Reserve series so far and No 3 sounds fascinating – an English Strong Ale that’s been aged in old Auchentoshan whisky barrels for 800 days!  Recommended

The next beer out, Gouden Carolus Cuvée van der Keizer Blauw 2011, brings back special memories for me. Here’s a cut and paste from my tasting notes dating back to early 2007: Served before the stroke of Midnight on New Years Eve 2006/7. My last beer of 2006 was also arguably my best of the year (and ever). A 2002 vintage……the aroma was quite light, with subtle brandy/caramel notes. It somehow doesn’t do justice to what comes next. A sip reveals a deliciously balanced sweetness of figs, melted brown sugar and nutmeg.  It converted a table of non-beer drinkers to the possibilities of great beer, and for me it was the highlight of a great beer year”.  Must Buy! (and age!!)

Can XX Bitter get any more hardcore? Apparently it can with De Ranke’s Hop Harvest 2011 promising a fix for the hop-heads among us. I’m already addicted, so Must Buy!

The most ‘boutique’ beer of tomorrow’s release has to be the Mikkeller/Three Floyds collaborative brew BooGoop. It’s the fourth time these two rock stars of the brewing scene have jammed together – this time producing a buckwheat barely wine- Great label, cool name and a very solid beer, although it’s just a little too ‘kitchen sink’ * for me. Recommended though!

Lets pick up speed here or this release review will last forever! I tried Oppigårds Ekporter at SBWF 2011 and in my somewhat confused notes appear to have liked it. It’s a porter that uses lots of specialty malts and is then introduced to ‘light and dark’ oak chippings which it happily sits on for six months at 11 degrees. As with pretty much everything from this Darlana brewery – Recommended (and check out the 330ml bottle!)

Next out is a concussing one-two combo from Sierra Nevada. No need to say too much more about their Celebration Ale and their Sierra Nevada Northern Hemisphere Harvest Wet Hop Ale (longest beer name of 2012 so far?) is a much anticipated hoppy opposite to this one. Must Buy!

Leave no Stone unturned at the monopoly tomorrow! Stone Double Bastard Ale is as aggressive as it sounds. The evil big brother of Arrogant Bastard Ale this 10.5% American strong ale’s amazing reputation Stateside makes it a clear Must Buy. On the other hand the Vertical Epic concept is, if I’m being honest, a little odd for me. The last version had me all confused. It’s anyone’s guess what this year’s vintage flavoured with Anaheim chiles and cinnamon will taste like….

Finally a welcome incursion from the Three Amigos from Denmark. The Three Amigos go by the very un-Mexican names of Jesper, Jakob and Lars, all ‘flying brewers’ who created this smoky porter at Fanø Bryghus. Bit pricey perhaps….

Footnote: Cigar City Humidor Series IPA was due to launch tomorrow but due to logistical issues will be turning up next month instead.

* ”Everything But the Kitchen Sink ”

This week’s exclusive ‘middle of the month’ launch at the three posh Systembolaget stores has once again bought into question the way exclusive beers are released at the monopoly.

According to one eyewitness there was “stress, chaos and confusion” this Monday at 10am as the doors opened at the Systembolaget in Regeringsgatan in Stockholm – one of the monopoly’s three ‘vinkällarbutikerna’ where exclusive releases currently take place.

Hurry up driver! We've got to get to the posh shops before all the beer is gone!!

Amid scenes of elbowing, queue-jumping and general disorientation that you’d normally associate with catching a public bus in Bombay customers jostled their way to the checkout with their trolleys laden with bottles of rare beer.

In Regeringsgatan staff were apparently even indiscriminately handing out 6-packs of BrewDog’s latest Abstrakt 05 in order to ease their workload, despite the fact only 720 bottles of this much sought-after beer ever made it to Sweden. *

In doing so they unwittingly condemned scores of beer fans living in other parts of the country to the familiar fate of being told “sorry, that beer is out of stock”.

I’m unclear how smoothly things went at the other two vinkällarbutikerna in Gothenburg and Malmö but judging by the feedback from several BeerSweden followers (both over at our Facebook page and in angry e-mails I’ve received at HQ) it’s abundantly clear the monopoly needs to urgently review its procedures for selling exclusive beers.

This really isn’t anything new (I only moaned about the elitist vinkällarbutikerna set-up last month) but my gut feeling is this isn’t a problem that’s going to fix itself. In fact I’m determined it’s only going to get a lot worse as we beer enthusiasts swell in numbers and naturally start searching out more exclusive beers to try.

The whole debacle has been nicely summed up by Mr Mohawk Stefan Gustavsson in his recent post (and comments) that I broadly agree with. I can only echo his insistence that the monopoly is obligated to operate a system in which everyone has an equal opportunity to buy the beers it sells – and not one that favours those people who live or work near three of its ‘exclusive’ stores in the big cities.

This week’s experiences have once again shown that the ‘små partier’ system doesn’t always work. However rather than just bitch about it we as consumers also have an obligation to act by telling the Systembolaget what we think and suggest ways in which their processes can be improved.

I’m confident they will listen too, because despite this mess (oh and this one) there is a lot of great work going on at the Systembolaget these days and in my personal dealings with the people there a genuine desire to see the status and selection of beer improve.

So here’s my idea about how to go about ensuring all beer enthusiasts are treated equally when the rare stuff goes on sale:

1)   Take geography right out of the equation: for the first week after a limited edition beer goes on sale the only way to get hold of it would be to place an order via the monopoly’s website. A centralised ordering system would record the exact time an order is placed and orders would be dealt with in strict chronological order. This is then truly a ‘first come, first served’ system which in my opinion is about the fairest option we have available to us.

To ensure a greater ‘spread’ of bottles among customers a maximum number of bottles per customer should also be imposed during the first week

2)   After the first week any remaining stock can go onto the shelves at the vinkällarbutikerna or any other Systembolaget store that considers it has sufficient consumer demand for such beer(s). At this stage there is no limit to the amount of bottles a customer can buy.

What do you think? Do you have a better suggestion? If you do then please share you thoughts with the rest of us by commenting below. I have it on good authority the Systembolaget will be watching!

*I could hardly believe my eyes when I read about this. Unfortunately it doesn’t surprise me that some people will greedily grab as much as they possibly can without any consideration for others but the Systembolaget CAN and SHOULD control such behaviour by implementing a ONE BOTTLE PER CUSTOMER rule on the first day, starting right now with the next launch of exclusive beers. Not a perfect solution I know but it goes a long way to levelling the playing field for those of us who don’t live near the posh shops.

There’s no better way to kick off a Monday than with the release of some great beers at the Systembolaget.

Here’s a list of what’s coming to a shelf near you from Monday, November 2nd:

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There are some incredible stand-out beers in this list so my advice would be to get your coat on, get down to the SB when it opens today and order at least one bottle of each.

However if you’re suffering from a lack of fridge space or money (or both) my top picks would be:

Beer Geek Brunch Weasel – an imperial porter brewed by Mikkeller at Nøgne-Ø in Norway using coffee containing the droppings of the weasel-like civet cats. These south east Asian animals apparantly eat only the finest coffee berries and after passing through their digestive system workers collect their droppings to flavour this exceedingly rare coffee. You’re reading this right – there’s cat crap in this beer! If you can work past this then this porter is absolute world-class and a must try!

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Brewdog Paradox Isle of Arran – an imperial stout matured in selected Islay malt whisky casks. Expect this 10% ABV monster to be huge, with smoke, vanilla, chocolate and peaty notes.Not for the faint-hearted.

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Fuller’s Vintage Ale – An annual classic that’s always worth waiting for. Some years it can be exceptional, other years ‘merely’ a great English strong ale. It’s worth buying more than one bottle so you can keep some in the cellar for a couple of years.

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Hog Heaven is a robust barley wine beer from Avery Brewing Company in the USA with an insanely hoppy aroma and sweet, sweet caramel malts. Avery recommends cellaring this beer for up to three years. A real treat at the Christmas table when the cheese is passed around.

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Norwegian Wood is an ale from Haandbryggeriet in Norway that is a throwback to a time when malts were fire-kilned and therefore beers traditionally tasted smokey. Flavoured with juniper berries too. Fascinating stuff.

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Thomas Hardy’s Ale from the UK is the very definition of the barley wine style of beer. Bottle-conditioned to mature like the finest of wines this beer will continue to improve with age for at least 26 years! So if I’ve done my sums right you’ll be able to open this 2005 vintage in 2031. Of course you might not be able to hold out that long, so buy a few bottles to drink in the meantime.