Here’s yet more proof that Swedish craft beer is on the up and up with news earlier this week that Nynäshamns Ångbryggeri is a triple winner at the recent World Beer Awards 2011. 

The brewery’s Bötet Barley Wne 2009 won the coveted ‘World’s Best Barley Wine’ award and ‘Europe’s Best Barley Wine 2011 Dark Ale* category, while Sotholmen Extra Stout took home ‘Europe’s Best Export Style Stout 2011′.

All the entries in the annual World Beer Awards are judged blind with regional style heats held in Europe, the USA and Asia. Style winners are selected in each region, which are then tasted against other regional winners to select the overall ‘world’s best’.

The judges described Bötet Barley Wine as ”Bitter orange aroma, orange marmalade. Lime, lemon and hint of nuttiness. Bittersweet, tangy hops. Full bodied. Rich and spirituous, fiery, dry expressive finish”.

Of Sotholmen Extra Stout they said: ”Espresso tan-coloured head. Excellent coffee aromas. Gorgeously chocolaty, roasted barley, a luscious creamy character. Bitter flavours with ash, liquorice, fruit and more chocolate. A dry grainy finish, very dark – delicious”.

Congrats to the entire team at Nynäshamns. If you want to taste their world beating beers both of them go on sale at the Systembolaget in the morning!

Next weekend it’s ”all London Baby!” as I pack my bags and head over to the UK capital for the first ever European Beer Bloggers Conference!

Now I can practically hear the sniggering in some quarters already. A conference for beer bloggers? Are you serious? Whatever next? A conference for hundreds of fans of a particular make of American BBQ that like to call themselves Eggheads? (actually there already is one of those).

The serious truth is that beer blogging as a genre has developed in recent years to such an extent it now feels grown up enough to stage its own conference. In fact the first North American Beer Bloggers Conference was held back in November last year in Boulder, Colarado , where over 100 delegates participated.

The first European sister event runs over a packed two days and has attracted some of the most influential beer bloggers, food and drink writers and drinks industry figures, mainly from the UK but also Italy, the Netherlands and yes me representing Sweden!

And the good news is I won’t be all by myself as I’ve managed to talk Sigtuna Brygghus’s Head Brewer Mattias Hammenlind and flying brewer Jessica Heidrich (the creator of the S:t Eriks series of beers) into joining me in London to spread the buzz about Swedish beers among conference-goers.

Not only that but both Oppigårds Bryggeri and Nynäshamns Ångbryggeri are also sending over cases of their beers which will contribute to a formidable Swedish table that we are jointly hosting at the main ‘Night of Many Beers’ event being held at the Camden Town Brewery.

I’ll also be joining an international panel of bloggers to share experiences with delegates about the pitfalls and pleasures of writing and running blogs and to explore the possibilities of cooperating on an international scale.

I’m unbelievably excited to be a part of this inaugural conference and have high hopes it will underline what I have been saying for years now about the increasingly import role of blogs in spreading the word about great beer to a growing community of ‘on-line drinkers’.

To borrow a line from an article I wrote for Maltsen a few months back: “The responsibility to improve the status of beer blogging, is, of course, largely that of the bloggers themselves. As a group we need to take ourselves seriously first before we can expect anybody else to”.

This conference is a giant step towards this goal. The fact that four of Sweden’s most ambitious craft breweries will be represented at the conference in London next week also tells its own story.

I’ll of course be blogging the whole trip (you can’t attend a bloggers conference and not blog it now, can you) so remember to check back to see how we get on!

(ps: It’s still not too late to join us if you fancy a few days drinking world class beer in one of the most exciting cities in the world!)

When I said ”the man that has been on the lips of everyone in the beer world” what I really meant to say was ”the man whose name has been on the lips of everyone in the beer world”.

Just so you know.

As I reported yesterday on the blog the mystery ‘phantom brewer’ known as Tjinooken is still at large – but the mystery surrounding the beer he and his accomplices brewed and locked into a fermentation tank at Nynäshamns Ångbryggeri is a step closer to being solved.

Yesterday Stockholm pub owners Jörgen Hasselqvist from Oliver Twist and Stene Isacsson from Akkurat visited the Swedish craft brewery and using weilding equipment managed to break open the lock and sample the contents inside.

According to an eye witness brewery personnel ”held their breath” while Jörgen and Stene tentatively tasted the golden coloured liquid before letting out jubilant cries when the pair exclaimed: ”This tastes amazing! We’ll take the lot. We don’t give a monkey’s* what Tjinooken thinks!”

The beer will now be served at both Akkurat and Oliver Twist this coming Thursday (May 12th). It is unclear how the fugitive Tjinooken will react to the news his beer has been commandeered . BeerSweden is currently searching the country to secure an exclusive interview with the elusive rogue.

More to follow…….

*In all the excitement this may not have been exactly the expression used. BeerSweden reserves the right to a certain degree of dramatic interpretation.

Almost there...it looked like an episode of American Choppers as Jörgen and Stene broke the lock off the tank.

The excitement was palpable as the first of the beer was poured out.

After a close inspection.....

the beer tasted fantastic!

The mysterious beer bandit known as Tjinooken has been spotted again, this time trying to unlock a fermentation tank containing beer that it is alleged he brewed along with three other accomplices after breaking into Nynäshamns Ångbyrggeri last month.

The beer bandit known as Tjinooken was caught on camera trying to attach a hose to a fermentation tank.

The shadowy figure was captured on camera by a member of brewery staff as he frantically tried to remove a number of padlocks and attach a hose to one of the brewery’s fermentation tanks. Upon being discovered he ran off before staff could apprehend him.

According to a source close to Akkurat and Oliver Twist – two of Stockholm’s most popular pubs that are spearheading the hunt for Tjinooken – police have found a set of padlock keys in the söderledstunneln in Stockholm that they believe may belong to the fugitive.

This evidence strengthens the theory that Tjinooken lives or works in the Södermalm area of the capital after a picture believed to be of the culprit carrying a sack of malt stolen from the brewery was taken on the day of the May 1^st protest marches.

Brewery staff at Nynäshamns have repeatedly but unsuccessfully tried to break the locks off the fermentation tank in order to examine the liquid inside and it is believed they have now called in a team of experts to assist them.

The mysterious figure managed to escape before brewery staff could stop him

BeerSweden is appealing to the beer community in Sweden to remain calm and vigilant at all times. If you know of the whereabouts of Tjinooken or have any leads on how to contact him please send me a mail at the normal address.

And Tjinooken – if you are reading this -  I urge you to get in touch so you can tell me your side of the story. The beer drinkers of Sweden deserve to know the truth.

Be safe out there everyone.

Darren

En oidentifierad person har ikväll gjort ett tafatt försök att låsa upp tanken med det innehåll som vi numera kallar Tjinooken. Jag lyckades komma in i tankrummet just som figuren höll på att koppla på en slang på den låsta tanken. Misstanken om att det är Tjinooken som jag fångade på bild är inte obefogad då det sägs att han har setts vid ett flertal ställen på Södermalm i Stockholm de senaste dagarna. Då bärandes på en maltsäck från vårt bryggeri. Låsen som fortfarande sitter kvar verkar vakta en värdefull skatt…

There was something strange in the brewery during the night of April 23^rd when a mysterious group of phantom brewers were caught on surveillance cameras at Nynäshamns Ångbryggeri.

Despite the poor picture quality you can clearly see the outline of a Phantom brewer.

Despite the poor quality of the tapes you can clearly make out the ghostly outlines of up to four apparitions who materialised around 1 AM and spent several hours apparently brewing beer.

According to shocked staff at the popular Swedish craft brewery in Nynäshamn nothing was stolen except the ingredients the ghostly gang used to brew and a single keg that cameras caught them walking off with after they were finished.

On their brewery blog workers describe the ectoplasmic intruders as having conducted their forage with “military-like precision”.

“They left behind a big sign on the floor that says “Tjinooken was here”. They then locked the results of their spooky brew in one of our tanks”.

Two of the shady spectors can be seen here leaving with a keg of beer.

A warning note has been attached to one of the locks urging brewery personnel not to open the tank until the middle of May. It is unclear what type of beer – if it is indeed beer – is fermenting inside.

More to follow……..

Background: Phantom brewers have been sighted with increasingly regularity at breweries around the world, where they often suddenly materialise, brew a beer and then mysteriously vanish without a trace.

One of the most famous and most active Phantom brewers is Danish, although strange sightings have been reported even closer to home. Some of them are credible, but several turn out to be merely elaborate hoaxes.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

There’s been a lot already written about the Stockholm Beer and Whisky Festival on the blogosphere (as well as probably the most film footage of any of the 19 shows to date) so I think it’s about time for closing statements and a verdict.

I’ve already written quite a lot about the show itself and despite a few on-line moans the overwhelming majority of people I have met and shared beer with over the two weeks of the show agree that this was one hell of a showcase for the beer scene here in Sweden. At times standing in ‘Snickeriet’ (a hall dedicated to the Swedish craft breweries) was about as hot. sweaty and uncomfortable as rush hour on the London Underground but it didn’t stop people cramming in all the same to try some of the best beers this country has to offer.

Some people have complained there were too many people. I say look at it another way – there was not enough space. Clearly something for the organisers to think about next year!

One of the most fascinating (and least covered) sections of the show was the Danish craft brewing contingent brought over the Baltic Sea by Swedish importer Elixir Wine.

Amager has produced its own version of the trendy 'Cascadian dark ale' beer style that is all the rage in the US right now.

A total of 7 Danish craft brewers were conscripted by Elixir to invade the show and they seemed to relish taking the fight to the Swedish craft brewers, presenting beers that in my opinion sent out a clear message that although craft brewing might be growing up in this country in Denmark it has already moved out, got a job and drives a nice car.

I loved the label artwork on all the Hornbeer bottles. The beer wasn't too bad either!

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The sheer breadth and ambition of the Danish beers meant I spent nearly two hours glued to the stand, during which time I tried around 15 beers, ranging from the delicious partnership of Hr and Fru Frederiksen (he just pipped my vote) and a bitter chocolate (and I mean 200 IBU bitter) Black Double IPA from Amager to an Oak Aged Cranberry Bastard from Hornbeer that somehow blended the sourness you get from crushing freshly picked cranberries in your mouth with a whisper of smoke and the smell of an antique oak chair. Talk about complex!

The fast-talking Eddie Szweda, brewmaster at Midtfyns, is clearly passionate about his beers. He's also not scared of experimenting with new flavours!

As if to drive the point home I marvelled at the cleverly subtle yet warming use of chilli in Midtfyns Chili Tripel (you just need to sip it and wait 10 seconds….) before struggling to come to terms with the brewery’s appropriately named Rough Snuff, a Belgium strong ale brewed with seaweed (and as if that wasn’t weird enough) snus. It came a close second to Närke and their Bäver Beer, a blend of Örebro Bitter spiked with the stinky spray of a beaver’s butt.

I then moved on to a range of wheat beers from Indslev Bryggeri who seem intent on redefining what you can do with wheat. Their Sort Hvede was my personal favourite, with a runny caramel nose and a thick. velvety chocolate and coffee body. My Danish tour ended at the Bryggeriet Djævlebryg taps, where I gladly sold my soul for a taste of Pride of Nekron and ended with a smoked brett beer in the form of Mareridt that was so wonderfully confusing all I could manage to scribble on my notepad was ”?”.

In closing it would go against all my journalistic training if I didn’t formally record all the winners of the Festival beer competition. The full list can be found here. Good to see Nynäshamns Ångbryggeri bring home gold in the ‘Best Swedish Bottled Beer’ category while the hotly tipped Oppigårds Bryggeri didn’t disappoint the bookmakers, taking gold for the ‘Best Swedish Draft Beer’.

So the final verdict? It was a great festival. In my opinion the best one yet.

That’s it. Next stop for me is the Örebro Beer Festival in November. See you there!