It’s time for my second beer from Dugges Ale & Porterbryggeri this week. The first one left me feeling a little flat but my hopes were high for their 1/2 idjit Imperial Porter, the ‘younger brother’ of Dugges floor-kissing’15% ABV Idjit Imperial Stout.

At a ‘mere’ 7% ABV 1/2 idjit is still a porter worthy of it’s imperial tag. When the word imperial is used in conjunction with a beer these days it really means ‘drinker beware’, as imperial-style beers are invariably extreme both in terms of flavour and strength.

The term imperial doesn’t originally relate to porter at all but in fact to Imperial Russian Stout, a beer brewed in the 18th century in England for export to the court of Catherine II of Russia (who  apparently liked a drop of the strong stuff). It had to be strong (normally around 8-12 % ABV) to stop the beer freezing on its way to the Baltics.

That’s enough history lesson for one day. Let’s get to the beer.

Dugges 1/2 idjit pours an inky black with a short-lived praline-coloured head. The dominant aroma is instantly recognizable – burnt toast – backed up with smells of bitter dark chocolate, cold black coffee and charred wood.

Dugges themselves promise a distinctive taste of salt liquorice and yes it was there but not at the levels I had feared (I bloody hate salt liquorice. It’s supposed to be a sweet for goodness sake. Salted tyre rubber more like).

Much more pleasant were the beer’s delicious coffee and cocoa tones, a burnt brown sugar sweetness and a sprinkle of cigar ash in a bitter/dry finish. There was some salt and sappy pine courtesy of the hops, which played nothing more than a supporting role to this porter’s impressive malt cast.

Oh yes, my faith in Dugges is restored! No half measures with this beer. You’d have to be a complete idjit not to try it.

Dugges 1/2 idjit

An Imperial Porter

7% ABV

Systembolaget Article Number: 11729 (but only available for a couple more months, so hurry while stocks last).

Swedish microbrewery Sigtuna Brygghus isn’t putting all its Easter eggs into one basket this year as it gets ready to launch not one but two Easter beers at the Systembolaget next month.

BeerSweden is thrilled to be the first blog anywhere to try them out almost 5 weeks before they go on sale on March 15th!

This Easter it basically comes down to a choice of colours. Do you prefer yellow or red?

Choose red and you’ve got yourself an American amber/red ale by the name of Sigtuna Röd Påsk. Brewed with an equal split of Centennial and Amarillo hops it pours a glowing sunset red and despite its 65-70 IBUs (international bitterness units) has a wonderfully balanced sweetness courtesy of dark crystal malts. At 6.2% ABV it has all the ‘weight’ and richness a red ale should have. Watch out for this one!

However, pick yellow and you’re in for a real treat. Sigtuna Easter Ale may not have the most imaginative brand name but I’m going to stick my neck out here and predict this is going to become one of the most popular Swedish beers launched this year.

Why? Well because it exemplifies everything Sigtuna Head Brewer Mattias Hammenlind believes a beer should be – big but balanced.

He’s taking a calculated risk by moving away from the British and US hops Sigtuna normally uses and instead has experimented with New Zealand Pacific Gem and Riwaka hops, the latter of which has achieved something of a cult status down under where it is considered by many to be more than a match for US favourites like Centennial and Cascade.

But boy was the risk worth taking! Open a bottle of Sigtuna Easter Ale and the aroma will literally demand your immediate attention. The Riwaka hops burst out of the bottle with thick, oily, luscious smells of tropical fruit, sweet lychees and lemons. The taste of this 5.6% ABV beer is as invigorating as rolling around naked in snow, with lots of fresh citrus flavours and a welcome and assertive bitter finish.

It’s simply amazing stuff, and together with a beer from another Swedish micro I recently raved about is yet more proof that Swedish craft beer isn’t only catching up with the US and other craft brewing nations- it’s leaving some of them behind.

Put the date of Monday, March 15th in your diary right now so you don’t miss the chance to try these two colourful Easter beers from Sigtuna Brygghus.

(BeerSweden spent a great afternoon at Sigtuna Brygghus earlier this week, sampling new beers  – some of which haven’t even been named yet – and talking about the brewery’s explosive growth and exciting plans for the future. Full coverage of the visit will being posted very soon here at BeerSweden!)

Bottles from Swedish microbrewery Oppigårds are the beer equivalent of Paul Potts. From the outside they can look rather boring, a little awkward and forgettable. If you didn’t know you might even pass them by without ever giving them a try.

They may not look all that amazing from the outside, but it's what's on the inside that counts!

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But if you do give their beers a chance, if you do allow them the opportunity to open up then oh how they sing!

Rarely have I felt so elated as a beer drinker as the moment I opened my first bottle of Oppigårds’ Amarillo Spring. Just like that magical moment when Mr Potts the goofy-toothed mobile salesman from south Wales walked onto the stage and said he was going to sing opera, I had absolutely no idea what magic was coming next.

The aroma of freshly picked, green leafy hops was simply overwhelming. It stopped me in my tracks.

I can’t recall a more exhilaratingly hop nose on a Swedish beer. It reminded me of the smell of broken Dandelion stems I used to snap as a child playing outside during the summer. If every colour had its own unique aroma then this beer is how green would smell.

There’s a dash of white wine in there to, along with subtle hints of red berries and pine needles. Malt must be present too but if it is it’s not telling anyone – and quite frankly who cares.

In the mouth this maestro continues to perform beautifully, delivering a fleeting sweetness before a swell of citrus climaxes in a crescendo of lingering balanced bitterness.

Oppigårds Amarillo Spring is an outstanding example of the role hops can play in the aroma and taste of a beer. It is one of the absolute best European versions of an American Pale Ale I have ever tasted.

The beer was originally released to celebrate Oppigårds’ 7th year in business and has been renamed to fit in with the current seasonal theme at the Systembolaget. With its assertive bitterness (measuring 50 IBUs for you beer nerds) it almost strays into IPA territory, so if you like hops you’re going to love this.

But here’s a warning – the beer is only available at the Systembolaget for the next three months. I therefore urge you to go and buy it – lots of it. Then go home, throw all the food out of your fridge and fill it with bottles of this beer instead.

It’s that good.

Oppigårds Amarillo Spring

5.9% ABV

An American Pale Ale from Oppigårds Bryggeri

Systembolaget Article Number: 1440

Despite a haul of medals at recent Swedish beer festivals it can’t really be said that success came to Dalarna’s Oppigårds Bryggeri overnight. In fact it took a whole 8 years for the first proper batch of beer to be brewed!

But as the saying goes ‘good things come to those who wait’ and Oppigårds’ hand-crafted range of beers are now firmly established favourites in the Systembolaget and at pubs throughout the country.

Björn is delighted his beers are getting recognition.

BeerSweden has spoken to founder, brewer, Managing Director and ‘handyman’ Björn Falkeström about how he built a brewery practially from scratch and what he’s doing to try and keep up with demand for his award-winning beers.

BeerSweden: First of all congratulations on your success at the recent Stockholm Beer and Whisky Festival where you took home six medals, including 3 golds. How did it feel to get such a positive reaction from the judges and what does it mean to you to win medals at the festival?

Björn:We´re always pleased when we get acceptance for our beers. The competition this year was harder than ever. We see more and more good beers from small Swedish brewers. This is good for the beer consumer and the beer culture in this country. However I doubt that the medals will make any big change in our sales figures but if you do not get any medals your beer is not good enough to compete in the market.

BeerSweden: Oppigårds has grown from a small operation making just 8,000 litres of beer in 2004 to an established name in Swedish brewing producing almost 250,000 litres last year. How have you managed to keep up with demand?

Björn: I started the brewery project on my own with the goal to be able to produce 400.000 per annum. The brewhouse has a capacity of 2.350 litres. The problem in the first year was when the demand was small but the batches were too large. Today it is the brewhouse that is the bottle neck, but you always have the possibility to work around the clock! It took 8 years from starting up the project until I brewed the first batch. During the construction phase I did most of the work myself and I also managed to finance the investment with my own money. So when we expand the business today we are not forced to pay old loans.  Instead we can pay the new investments mostly with the cash-flow from the brewery business. There are never any quick fixes. You just have to work.

BeerSweden: Since you first experimented making your own beer in a saucepan you borrowed from your mother back in 1984 what are the biggest changes you’ve seen in the Swedish brewery scene?

Oppigårds' Winter Ale won gold for Best Christmas Beer at the Örebro Beer Festival last weekend.

Björn: Well, during that time in the 80′s I was not very aware of what was happening in the brewery scene. But in the last five years a lot of new small breweries have started up in Sweden. Some are in the bottling business but many are still only distributing their beers in kegs. You can also see more types of beer in the market, both domestic and imported beers. The competition with imported beers is good as it makes the Swedish beers better and the influences and ideas makes the beers available more diverse.

BeerSweden: What is your philosophy regarding the beers Oppigårds brews?

Björn: We have no hidden agenda. We make all our beers in Ingvallsbenning. We can never blame someone else for doing a bad job. I think it is important when producing food and beverages to be honest. Much of the supply in this market is something quite different.  The problem is that the consumer is not aware and the big market players do not take the responsibility.

We believe the formula to great beer is that the recipe is about 25%, the soul is 75% and the water and brewing process goes on top of that!

BeerSweden: And finally what do you think the future holds for Swedish microbreweries in general and Oppigårds in particular?

Björn: The pub market is controlled by the big market players. I would like to see a law as England has with ”guest taps”. I think that is important for very small breweries and for the Swedish beer and pub culture. We are growing in the pub and restaurant markets due to the cooperation with TOMP Beer & Spirits. This is good for our volumes and for our brands. The retail market is not designed for very small-scale breweries yet but I think that we will see a development during the next few years that will be good for the Swedish small-scale breweries.

Oppigårds’ goal is to make our product portfolio more complete. We are finishing our largest investment ever this winter which will make it possible to grow in capacity and also make some stronger beers in smaller batches. Our new visitor centre will be able to hold up to 50 visitors. This is important for us when developing our brand and it is also fun to be able to develop the Swedish beer culture.

See all of Oppigårds’ beers available at the Systembolaget here.