Only a couple of days until I fly into Stockholm for Det Goda Köket – the largest food and consumer show in the Nordic region.

Squeezed in among all the fine wines, whiskies and spirits, exclusive Italian coffee machines and cookery demonstrations will be me and a handful of other beery types pushing our wares.

I’ll be on the Bibendum AB stand (B40 and B41) talking up Shepherd Neame’s range of ales. Come by and mention BeerSweden and I’ll see if I can give you a sample of the brewery’s 2009 Christmas Ale – a whole week before it gets released at the Systembolaget! While stocks last of course……

Good to see there will be a couple of other beer-centric importers there, plus stands from Swedish breweries Nils Oscar, Oppigårds and  Nynäshamns Ångbryggerier. We may be outnumbered but the beer stands will be the places to mingle out!

It might look a bit Star Trek now, but come Friday it will be full of wonderful, colourful beer lovers!

Britain’s oldest brewers Shepherd Neame are hoping they have something to celebrate following the launch of their 1698 Strong Ale at the Systembolaget this month.

At 6.5% ABV this is the strongest British ale available in the monopoly and comes repackaged in pasteurised form in a classy looking 330ml bottle.

Previously known as 1698 Celebration Ale (and a few years back available in the Systembolaget as a bottle conditioned beer) it was first released by the brewery in 1998 to mark its 300^th anniversary.

What makes this beer a little special is the use of English hops three times during the brewing process (at the start and end of the boil and dry hopping before fermentation). These hops work in perfect counterbalance to the rich bread and toffee malts and alcohol body to produce a deceptively drinkable beer considering its strength.

I managed to track down Sheps Head Brewer David Holmes, who said this of 1698:

“It’s an incredibly well balanced beer, with fragrant Kentish hops matching the sweetness of the malts perfectly. We wanted to come up with a beer that had that little bit ‘extra’ to commemorate our 300th birthday and with 1698 I think we’ve done just that”.

A great cheese and desert beer in my opinion. Try it with a chunk of Västerbottensost or a tangy goats cheese and I promise you’ll feel like celebrating!

1698 Strong Ale

An English Strong Ale from Shepherd Neame, England

Article Number: 1698 (now that’s easy to remember isn’t it?)