Sigtuna Brygghus, one of the Sweden’s most popular craft breweries, is to receive a 4.3 million SEK investment from Swedish drinks importer Galatea to finance the construction of a brand new brewery, BeerSweden can exclusively report.

The investment by Galatea, already considered the largest importer of beer into Sweden and the company behind brands such as TT and the St Erik’s series of beers, will see it become a minority owner in Sigtuna after buying 35% of the brewery’s shares.

Peter Forss, Sigtuna’s founder and Senior Partner, has just issued the following statement to BeerSweden:

“Sigtuna Brygghus has enjoyed a lot of success over the last year and a half. We sell everything we brew and our customers want to have more and more of our beer.

“Two years ago we brewed 30,000 litres of beer, 90,000 litres last year, 210,000 litres this year and we already have inquiries to produce 500,000 litres next year.

“Out ambition from the very start has been to be one of the larger craft breweries in Sweden. We want to be in the same class as Oppigårds and Nils Oscar. In order to do that requires investment, a sales operation and logistics solutions that work and that are cost effective.

“We have had talks with several possible partners and have come to an agreement with Galatea Spirits AB. Galatea will become a minority owner in Sigtuna Brygghus. For us this means a number of advantages. In part in means we can finance the construction of a whole new brewery and new fermentation vessel capacity. Together with the additional investments we have already done during 2010 we are now committing around 5 million SEK. The new brewery will be ready in March of 2011.

“Galatea will sell our products and offer us sound logistical solutions via their logistics company.

“The company (read Sigtuna) will be headed by the current Managing Director Kenneth Sköld and the Head Brewer will be Mattias Hammenlind.

“Galatea will be an active force on the board, with two out of 5 members.

“We will continue to work with others, for example Wicked Wine and they will also be able to sell our products.

“Our ambition is to be a craft brewer that has innovation and quality at its core. It’s that ambition and attitude that attracted Galatea to us”.

BeerSweden has contacted Galatea for a comment and will post their response on the blog shortly.

Stay tuned for updates!

In another first for BeerSweden here’s an exclusive peak at the two upcoming Innis & Gunn beers due to be released at the Systembolaget over the next couple of months.

First out is Innis & Gunn Highland Cask, an ale that has been matured in casks that held 21-year-old single malt whisky and which goes on sale on September 1st. A month later Innis & Gunn Rum Cask is being released at the monopoly. As the name suggests this time the beer has been aged in oak casks that contained Caribbean rum. This is the second time this beer has been in Sweden, having gone on sale in limited numbers back in 2007.

Of course BeerSweden will be tasting and reviewing these two beers first, so check back over the weekend for all the details.

This just in from Ocean’s head brewer Thomas Bingebo with the latest goings on at the Gothenburg-based micro:

”Hi Darren

Some Ocean News:

Ocean Glenn No 5 (5,0%)

This golden ale is selling a lot. About a brew a week mostly locally in Gothenburg. Hopped with Perle / Pilgrim for bitterness (IBU 40), Willamette (30 minute hop) and Crystal (end of boil). Brewed using only Maris Otter Pale Ale Malt from Thomas Fawcett. In September the beer will be availible in 3 or maybe 4 Systembolaget stores.

Systembolaget are also looking for single hop beers. Not just one but two ! The first one with a European hop and the second one with an American hop. The malt recipe should be the same for both. Also specified from SB that it must be a pale ale.

The first one was filtered on Sunday.

Ocean Single Hop Pilgrim 5,2%

Brewed with Maris Otter Pale Ale Malt, wheat, caramel, crystal and blackmalt. Hopped with British Pilgrim which was introduced onto the market as late as the year 2000. It´s a very nice dual-purpose hop. IBU 45 and one 30 minute hop followed by aroma hopping at the end of boil. Wouldn´t go so far as calling it an Amercan Pale Ale You know where I stand – but it´s up there somewhere – a bit more hops than a traditional British pale ale but well balanced. It´s all about balance – otherwise you fall.

More info on the hop: http://www.wellhopped.co.uk/varietydetail.asp?VarietyID=UK-PL

The other one will be brewed later this week or early next week.

Ocean Single Hop Galena, 5,5%

Same malt, slightly higher OG (Original Gravity) and alcohol due to the fact that the more potent Galena needs a bit more of back-up. Galena is a high-alpha hop very similar to the old Bullion used by Guinness. Strong tomcat / blackcurrant aroma. Very fruity!

More info on the hop: http://www.wellhopped.co.uk/varietydetail.asp?VarietyID=US-GA

We have also produced a 2,8% golden ale for pubs and restaurants and our closest ICA Maxi.

Ocean Ljusa 2,8%

Golden ale brewed with Maris Otter Pale Ale Malt and a small amount of crystal malt. Perle and Pilgrim for bittering (IBU 30), Willamette (30 minute hop) and Cascade (end of boil). Very nice light beer for the summertime with a lot of flavours and quite high bitterness. A bit like a low-alcohol IPA

Regards

Thomas Bingebo
Brewer
Oceanbryggeriet Göteborg”

Thanks for keeping us up-to-date Thomas and good luck with your beers in the Systembolaget!

One of the best Swedish Spring beers ever produced will soon be available all year round. That’s right – Amarillo Spring, the beer I urged you to throw all the food out of your fridge for back in February this year is making a comeback under the shortened name Oppigårds Amarillo.

This seismic bit of news was casually mentioned in the brewery’s latest email newsletter and seems to have slipped under the radar of most other beer bloggers so just so we’re all clear on this AMARILLO SPRING IS SOON GOING TO BE AVAILABLE ALL YEAR ROUND!!!!

Aren’t you excited? You should be because this Swedish produced American pale ale (the 5th highest ranked APA in the world according to RateBeer) is one of the best beers to come out of this country – period! When it was released at the Systembolaget back in the spring it was only available for three months so many of you may have missed out on the opportunity to try it. Well now it seems as though you’re going to get a second chance, with the brewery informing me that it will start brewing Amarillo from next week for sale on draft in selected restaurants and then as a ‘beställningsvara’ (order product) via the monopoly.

The exact date when Amarillo will be available to order is not yet known but as soon as I find out rest assured you’ll read about it here first.

What a great bit of good news to start the week off with!

Happy Monday everyone.

Three things have happened in beery Sweden over the past few weeks. Seen on their own each event was fairly unremarkable and passed by without much fuss or notice.

Is craft beer finally starting to win the race to convert Sweden's beer drinkers to quality beer?

However put these three recent events together and I think we might just have witnessed a very meaningful month in the history of the Swedish beer industry.

First out was the news that from June 1^st the Systembolaget is allowing microbreweries the opportunity to sell their beers in three of the nearest Systembolaget stores to their base of operations rather than just one as is the case today.

This is a significant and welcome shot in the arm for craft brewing in Sweden and means our micros will be able to expose their brands to a much wider regional audience than ever before.

The Systembolaget’s Purchasing Director Marie Nygren said the government monopoly was “glad to be able to offer our customers the opportunity to buy locally produced products”.

“It is a growing trend to buy ‘local’ which is now influencing our customers’ purchasing habits”.

The second bit of news delivered this week came in the form of a survey commissioned by Carlsberg Sweden that examined the beer drinking preferences of over 1,000 Swedes in recent years.

I already covered the story here but it is particularly interesting to note that the number of brands in the Systembolaget’s beer selection has risen by around 20% in the past three years. Also encouraging is the percentage of those who participated in the survey who had tried beer styles other than the usual lager.

To discover that 48% had tried wheat beer means people appear to be more and more willingly to experience new styles, which must be music to the ears of our blossoming microbrewery industry.

Finally more encouraging news from the Systembolaget, who a few weeks back predicted that Swedish craft beer (along with rose wine) was predicted to become the hottest sales trend this summer.

Put these three unrelated events together and I hope you’ll agree with me that craft beer has finally taken the training wheels of the bike and with our continued support we can all look forward with confidence to an exciting beery future.

BeerSweden has learnt that the Swedish government alcohol monopoly Systembolaget has suspended sales of the US beer Founders Breakfast Stout over concerns about the use of a child’s face on the bottle’s front label.

Founders Breakfast Stout, an 8.3% beer from Grand Rapids in Michigan, USA, is considered one of the absolute best stouts in the world and went on sale at the Systembolaget on March 15th as part of the monopoly’s regular ‘mid-month’ release of new beers.

It appears that Swedish beer enthusiasts are now unable to buy the remaining 257 bottles left in the country. Approximately 1400 bottles of the ‘offending’ bottles have already been sold since it was launched.

BeerSweden is currently trying to reach the Systembolaget’s press office for a comment. Expect an update shortly.

UPDATE- this comment from Marc Schuterman of Brill, the importers of Founders into Sweden.

”Darren, what you heard is correct. The remaining bottles will be taken back, and a sticker will be added on the front to cover the baby. And then the bottles will be sold to restaurants and possibly some private imports. We are sorry for the mistake and actually learned something from this (that in Sweden beer and wine labels are not allowed to show people under the age of 25). Once again, we appologise to any person who got offended from the label”.

So there you have it people. Do you think the Systembolaget took the right action or is it all a little bit too ‘nanny state’ for your liking? Give us your comments below!

UPDATE MARCH 31st: Just received this email from the Systembolaget:

Good morning Darren,

Dan Ihrelius
Purchaser Beer, Cider, RTD
Supply Chain Management

In another first BeerSweden can today reveal the news that Brewdog’s experimental range of Abstrakt ‘concept’ beers will being going on sale in the Systembolaget throughout the remainder of 2010.

The Abstrakt series from BrewDog. It's likely the labels and colouring may change before they get over here to Sweden.

I have been told that all four of the Abstrakt beers will be available to buy through the government alcohol monopoly stores, starting next month (April) with the launch of Abstrakt 1 – a 12.1% ABV vanilla bean infused Belgium Quadruple beer. Details of the remaining 3 concept beers are as follows:

Abstrakt 2 will be released in June and is an Imperial Ale at 10% ABV that has been aged for 12 months in oak casks with strawberries.

Abstrakt 3 will go on sale in September and will be a 16% Tripel Red Ale.

Abstrakt 4 will be available in December and will be their much talked about Tokyo Imperial Stout in Islay casks with raspberries thrown in for good measure.

All four bottles will be bottle conditioned and presented in limited edition, corked, half-size champagne bottles with minimal branding and will only ever be made available once. All four Abstrakt bottles will cost 125 SEK each.

The guys at the acclaimed Scottish microbrewery BrewDog describe the Abstrakt series as an ”outlet for our creativity”.

This from their website: ”BrewDog and Abstrakt will only ever brew and release a beer once.  BrewDog’s Abstrakt is about exciting, progressive and conceptual beers, beer which not only push the boundaries but smash them up completely”.

Exciting stuff indeed! A vanilla bean infused Belgium Quad you say? It seems like BrewDog continues to push the boundaries of beer and it will be interesting to see whether the Systembolaget beer buyers (who must be taking a bit of a punt on this idea) will be smiling come Christmas time. I’ve got a sneaky suspicion they will!

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Remember, you read it here first!

Whenever I feel like drinking a beer that reminds me of being back ‘home’ in England I turn to Oceanbryggeriet, a Swedish micro that holds true to British styles of beer rather than constantly treading the more trendy American path.

I just got this email from Ocean’s head brewer Thomas Bingebo with news on what’s coming out of his brewery over the next few weeks and thought I would share it with you all:

Says Thomas: ”One brew of Ocean Vienna Lager, 5,4% ABV, is coming out next week to pubs and restaurants on keg. Vienna malt and 12% Caramalt. Amber colour, the Vienna malt from Thomas Fawcett is quite pale. Slightly sweeter than 12 Plato Lager. Bittering hops are Pilgrim (25%), Perle (25%) and Galena (50%). The Galena makes the sweetness come through nicely (just tried some from the cooled fermenter). 30 minute hop is Saphir and 0 minute hop is Tettnanger. I think ít´s going to be a very drinkable lager. BU: 25 + the 30 minute hop so about 30 I would reckon.”

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oh boy!

Master of Beer? Like the sound of that! I think I’ll add it to my other titles Master of the Universe and Master Of My Own Destiny.