Hind·sight  (hndst)

n.

This post has everything to do with the first definition (and thankfully nothing to do with the second) because a wave of 15 new beers crept into the Systembolaget over the weekend largely unnoticed.

As October 1st fell on a Saturday this month I failed to give the launch the attention it deserved during a week that was dominated by all the action from the Stockholm Beer and Whisky Festival. This post is my way of setting the record straight.

Lets take a look at the 15 beers that are now available in selected Systembolaget stores for at least the next year:

A few potential diamonds among some lumps of coal in my opinion. I was delighted to see Adnams in the monopoly again with a 4.1% version of their Southwold Bitter which is a slightly fatter version at 4.5% in the UK and which I’ve drunk many a pint of for its honesty, Britishness and the fact it is dry hopped with Fuggles.

Moving down the list we come to BrewDog Riptide, a smooth Imperial stout of 8% brewed with muscavado sugar that I reviewed on BSTV a while back.

Like buses it was only a few weeks ago I was moaning about how few Dugges beers we get up here in Norrland then Höstbrygd came along and now another beer from the Gothenburg craft brewery appears on the shelves! This time it’s an impressive T1 listing (which means almost all the Systembolaget stores can order it) and it’s for Dugges Gustaf’s Finger, a strong bitter forged with dark caramel malts to give it body and flavoured with Chinook, Brewers Gold and Cascade hops for a snappy bitter bite.

Mahou Negra is a dark lager in the Dunkel style brewed by Mahou Brewery in Spain, and comes at an attractive price of 13.90SEK a bottle. For this I think you’re getting a pretty good sweetish beer (in a pretty smart looking bottle) with soft coffee and roasted notes that could make it a good companion to food. I will review it shortly to find out!

Old Tom from the UK’s Robinsons Brewery is a beer that has been crowned (by whom I’m not entirely sure) the World’s Best Ale. There is no doubt it has scooped a raft of prestigious international beer awards. I actually got a sneaky taste of it over the weekend and my reaction  was more positive than a TV-shop presenter. This 8.5% British strong ale oozes elegance and charm, with rich red and blackberry hints and a thick, treacly finish. A must try!

Then come the two Pistonheads, Kustom Lager (kool name) in a can and Plastic Fantastic in a squeezy PET bottle. I’m hoping to try both, seriously and objectively, at the SBWF later this week where I also hope to have a chat with the team from Brutal Brewing, so check back for an update!

Svart is a distinctly dry roasted (and ecological) drinking porter from Slottskällans that reflects perfectly the type of beer I want to drink as I stare out of the window at the trees as they drop their leaves.

Finally the Russian beer Zhiguli Barnoe is interesting for the fact it is Russian but I’ll reserve any further judgement until I’ve tried it.

Good things, they say, come in threes, so Swedish beer fans should be feeling really good about themselves as the Systembolaget launches not one but three releases of new beers this Thursday (September 1^st).

Following the monopoly’s re-jigging of the way it launches beers over the summer (the more ‘exclusive’ middle-of-the-month releases are now history and have been lumped together with the ‘start-of-the-month’ releases) you’re going to need strong arms and a big wallet if you’re going to take home a bottle of everything coming your way later this week.

That’s because the combined temporary seasonal and exclusive launches are coinciding this month with the annual release of Octoberfest beers, bringing the total number of new brews going on sale to a whopping 34!

To avoid exceeding this blog’s storage limit in a single post I’ll break the beers down into their respective releases:

Temporary Seasonal Release September 1^st (Autumn release)

This smoked beer from Jessica Heidrich is a great introduction to the style.

Falcon Pilsener (SB nr 11606-03) Sweden 12,90 SEK
Mohawk Rye Lager (SB nr 95370-01) Sweden 26,90 SEK
Sigtuna Dunkel Lager(SB nr 11236-03) Sweden 17,90 SEK
Dugges Höstbrygd (SB nr 11703-01) Sweden 27,50 SEK
Beer Here HöstCitra (SB nr 11733-01) Danmark 37,50 SEK
Sigtuna Höstporter (SB nr 11806-01) Sweden 24,90 SEK
Beer Here HöstStout (SB nr 11803-01) Denmark 37,50 SEK
S:t Eriks Rauköl(SB nr 11705-03) Sweden 23,90 SEK

You can read and see what I think about Sigtuna Höstporter, Sigtuna Dunkel Lager and S:t Eriks Rauköl by following the links. The Beer Here Höst Citra is a name-change for Danish brewer Christian Skovdal Andersen’s risqué Karma Citra brown ale. Check out the details – if you dare!

Similarly Beer Here Höst Stout is a re-working of its Ammestout, a sweet stout whose original label (depicting a mother swigging beer out of a bottle while breast-feeding) would have been disqualified faster than Usian Bolt at the Systembolaget.

I’m really looking forward to some Dugges up here in Norrland but I think I’ll pass on the Falcon.

Octoberfest Beers (availability will vary)

Black, moody and perfect for the colder Autumn nights.

Flying Dog Dogtoberfest Märzen (SB nr 11231) USA 355 ml 25,90 SEK
Herslev Bryghus Oktober Bock (SB nr 11229) Denmark 500 ml 39,90 SEK
Hofbräu Oktoberfestbier (SB nr 11298) Germany 500 ml 19,90 SEK
Kaltenberg Oktoberfest (SB nr 11278) Sweden 500 ml 18,50 SEK
Löwenbräu Oktoberfestbier (SB nr 11210) Germany 500 ml 19,90 SEK
Oppigårds Oktoberfestbier (SB nr 11238) Sweden 500 ml 25,90 SEK
Paulaner Oktoberfest Bier (SB nr 11250) Germany 500 ml 20,90 SEK
Red October (SB nr 1246) Sweden 330 ml 15,90 SEK
Samuel Adams Octoberfest (SB nr 11261) USA 355 ml 17,90 SEK
Sigtuna Black October (SB nr 11262) Sweden 500 ml 23,90 SEK
Spaten Oktoberfestbier (SB nr 11281) Germant 500 ml 19,90 SEK
Weltenburger Kloster Oktober-Festbier (SB nr 11290) Germany 500 ml 23,10 SEK

I recorded a BSTV show last year that features two of these beers (Hofbräu and Samuel Adams) plus gives you a bit of the background behind the world’s biggest beery knees-up. To be honest Octoberfest beers aren’t my favourite style, tending to be somewhat bland. I either go traditional (only breweries located within the city limits of Munich can truly call their beers Octoberfest beers and be served on tap at the festival) or totally the other way and look for contemporary spins.

Special mentions here for Flying Dog Dogtoberfest Märzen (coolest name of the release), Sigtuna Black October and Oppigårds Oktoberfestbier.

‘Exclusive’ Release September 1^st (in around 30 selected stores)

10,000 bottles of Ingrid will go fast so you'd better be quick!

Black Rooster The Hoptimizer IPA (SB nr 11021) Denmark 500 ml 49,90 SEK
Bröderna Andersson´s Brutal Oak Edition (SB nr 1404) Sweden 250 ml 79,90 SEK
Caracole Ambrée (SB nr 11019) Belgium 330 ml 26,90 SEK
Fuller’s Past Masters Double Stout (SB nr 11018) UK 500 ml 34,50 SEK
Hello My Name Is Ingrid (SB nr 11177) UK 330 ml 36,90 SEK
Jai Alai India Pale Ale (SB nr 1596) USA 750 ml 109,00 SEK
Maduro Brown Ale (SB nr 1547) USA 750 ml 99,00 SEK
Nils Oscar Jubileum 15 (SB nr 11022) Sweden 750 ml 99,00 SEK
Nøgne Ø Imperial Brown Ale (SB nr11025) Norway 500 ml 49,90 SEK
Shipyard Smashed Blueberry (SB nr11740) USA 650 ml 69,00 SEK
Saint Amatus (SB nr 1626) Belgium 330 ml 59,90 SEK
Thisted Black Ale (SB nr 11017) Denmark 330 ml 24,90 SEK
Thisted Limfjordsporter(SB nr 11237) Denmark 330 ml 23,10 SEK
Tournay Noire (SB nr 11020) Belgium 330 ml 29,80 SEK

Of these Fuller’s is a given, as is the Nils Oscar Jubileum (I have a thing for saison-ish beers from NO) and Nøgne Ø Imperial Brown Ale. Neither can I resist a bottle of Saint Amatus from the acclaimed De Struise Brouwers in Belgium or (checking my wallet) the big bottles from Cigar City (Jai Alai and Maduro).

Which leaves lastly, but not leastly, our dear Ingrid. I don’t think there’s very much left for me to write about her is there, but I’ll sign off this monstrously long post by saying I’ve tasted old and new Ingrid side-by-side (video coming very soon) and can only echo the words of BrewDog James when he said: “”The new batch of Ingrid rocks – better than the first”!

Good luck on Thursday everyone. I hope you get the beers you’re after

If you haven’t already bought your beers for midsommar you’re not alone – over 1 million of us are expected to pay a visit to the Systembolaget to stock up the day before midsommarafton.

Ahhhh - a typical midsommar scene. But where's all the booze?

In what is the busiest day of the year at the Systembolaget sales of beer this week are expected to rise a whopping 100% to 7 300 000 litres compared to a normal week at the monopoly.

And it’s not just beer we’re putting into those little blue and purple plastic bags – sales of kryddat brännvin (spiced liquor) are expected to reach 175,000 litres (a colossal rise of 1 400% on a normal sales week), wine sales to top 4 900 000 litres (+50%) and alcohol free drinks increase +200% to 60 000 litres.

Which is why Rebbeca Blomberg, Press Officer at the Systembolaget is recommending you get to your local store as early as possible this week to ensure you get the drinks you want.

“Even if it is often the weather that determines when we shop I advise people to shop early this week if possible”, says Rebecca.

Last year 2.5 million customers paid a visit to the monopoly stores during the 4-day long ‘midsommar week’ compared with 2 million people during a normal 6-day week.

In total they bought 1 300 000 litres of pure alcohol, an increase of 77% on a standard week, making this by far the booziest Swedish national holiday of the year.

If you’re one of the lucky ones who just got a little bit of tax money back then you might just have enough cash to buy a bottle of each of the six beers being released at the posh Systembolaget stores* in the morning.

I say might because this is one of the most expensive releases for some time at the monopoly – adding up to a grand total of 907.70SEK to be exact.

Of course if you’re like me and only get letters from the tax office asking for more money rather than ones where they give it back to you the question “are they really worth it?” becomes even more important.

Let’s start at the top of the list with BrewDog’s Abstrakt 06 which is an 11.5% ABV triple hopped Imperial Black IPA which those shy and retiring Scottish craft brewers say boasts the most amount of bitterness and more hops than any beer they’ve brewed to date. This says a lot from a brewery that often hangs out on the other side of the 100 IBU (International Bitter Units) barrier so if you’re not a fan of ultra-hoppy beer then this one comes with a big fat red flashing warning.

However if you, like me, occasionally like the sensation of hops as they sandblast the lining of your mouth and throat then this latest Abstrakt beer could well be for you. Check out this article about how it was made (and check out the amazing amount of malts used too).

Amager Bryghus is one of my favourite Danish micros and their latest beer at the monopoly needs no words of hyperbole to get across the message of its massiveness. Amager Colocoff is a 12% ABV Imperial Coffee Porter that uses malts from Denmark, Germany and the UK, coffee from Kenya and hops from the USA. As if this wasn’t enough the beer is then aged for 28 months in whisky casks from a craft distillery in Denver, Colorado.  All I will say is that I hope you’re sitting down when you drink it.

Next out is the first of two beers from US Uinta Brewing Company based in Utah called Crooked Line Cockeyed Cooper. At a thumping 11.1% you might be able to understand why this barley wine can send your eyeballs into a spin but remember there’s a lot more to this beer than just the booze. It’s aged for months in bourbon casks so expect lots of hot oak, vanilla, dark chocolate and dried fruit.

Uinta’s second beer from their Crooked Line range of high alcohol beers designed, as they put it, to be savoured and shared is Crooked Line Labyrinth Black Ale. This is an Imperial Stout (or porter, depending on who you ask) with a capital I. At 13. 2% it’s the heavyweight in a battle royal of big beers being released today.  Get lost in huge bourbon and malt flavours. If you like liquorice you’ll particularly like this one!

Let’s for a second step back to a place where the A in ABV stands for Attitude rather than Alcohol. At a ‘mere’ 6% Drie Fonteinen Doesjel is certainly no lightweight when it comes to flavour. It’s a gueuze in style and blends lambics that are 1, 2 and three years old. It’s typically tart and sour and displays notes of grass, horses, sour apples and oak (to name just a few).  If you like Belgium ‘wild’ beers then don’t miss this one.

Finally we arrive at a beer with one of the greatest stories behind a beer name I’ve ever heard – The Angel’s Share from cult US craft brewery Lost Abbey.

Legend has it that whisky distillers in Kentucky and Scotland coined the phrase ‘the angel’s share’ to explain the evaporation of spirits in oak casks as they age.

Every time a cask is filled a proportion of the whisky is drawn into the wood, never to be seen again. However rather than being lost the distillers like to think it goes to the angels instead.

Lost Abbey The Angel’s Share is a burgundy coloured barley wine at 12.5%ABV that has spent no less than 6 months in oak. An almost sinful amount of dark caramel malts has been added for texture and balance. It’s not cheap stuff but if it’s good enough for angels……….

*These beers go on sale at the Systembolaget’s vinkällarbutikerna in Stockholm, Malmö and Gothenburg but you can order a bottle of each on release day at your local store. Good luck!

The beer reviewed in today’s episode of BSTV is bound to leave a sour taste in your mouth, which is of course entirely intentional.

Mariage Parfait from the respected Boon brewery in Belgium is an intoxicating union of young and old lambics which have been stepped in sour cherries for months to allow the ferocious wild yeasts that define the lambic style time to eat away at the cherry flesh and develop the lemon-and-lime-juice acidity and almond flavours they are famous for. The result is a captivating beer that tastes wild and yet refined, sweet and yet sour, with the effervescent tingle of fresh lambic breathing new life into its older, more cultured (and altogether more sour) partner.

It’s the first bottle I’m recommending from tomorrow’s modest but high quality release of new beers in around 30 Systembolaget stores. Here’s the complete list of what’s coming your way in the morning:

Staying with the ‘pink drink’ theme Oud Beersel Framboise is another fruit lambic beer that favours fresh whole raspberries rather than sour cherries – 250 grams for every litre of beer to be exact – to create the taste of a dry raspberry flavoured champagne. In fact that’s exactly how I like to treat this beer, serving it in fluted glasses to unsuspecting guests as an aperitif. If you’ve popped cherries but never raspberries then it’s about time you started. Recommended!

No need to pinch yourself - you're not dreaming. It's a multipack at the Systembolaget! Is this the start of a new beer trend at the monopoly?

The launch of BrewDog’s IPA is Dead four-pack is one of the most significant in recent years, not so much because of the individual single hop beers themselves (although as you’ll see from my video they are all pretty amazing) but because this is, by my reckoning, the first time the Systembolaget has ever made room for a multipack of beer in the ordinary assortment. Only 6,000 4-packs will be available and I’d urge you to consider buying one, not for the obvious reason that I help out BrewDog in Sweden (Ed Note: that’s a transparency statement by the way) but because if this multipack flies off the shelves the chances are the monopoly will look favourably upon future multipacks from other breweries. I for one can’t wait for the day we regularly see mixed selection of beers from the likes of Flying Dog, Mikkeller and our own Swedish craft breweries in the Systembolaget stores, can you?

For a second opinion on the BrewDog IPA is Dead 4-pack check out Schnille and Schmack’s latest slick video. A third one is here! Recommended!

I fell head over heels for Brooklyn’s Sorachi Ace when I first tried it over a year ago and this time around the sparks flew again for this invigorating farmhouse ale wrapped up in one of the most stylish looking beer bottles I’ve seen for ages. Think midsommar, think matjessill, think fresh potatoes dripping in butter and sprinkled with chopped chives and then think about washing it all down with sips of lemony Sorachi Ace. Need I say more? Recommended.

It took at least 3 minutes rummaging around Google to find out what Soft Dookie means (that’s ages in Internet time). The answer came from the Urban Dictionary (which, worryingly, I seem to need to refer to more and more these days) as: brown pasty substance from one’s asshole.

Hmmm.

In my opinion there’s two ways to look at a beer named after poop. Firstly you can dismiss it as a crass and attention-seeking stunt or you reason that the brewers of the beer are so supremely confident of their art and the beer itself that they can call it shit and people will still go out and buy it. Considering the Evil Twin in question are none other than the Bjergsø brothers (with one of them being the Mikkel of Mikkeller) I suspect the latter scenario may be true. Haven’t tried this beer yet but Mikkel’s last poop beer was pretty special wasn’t it!

If you’ve been praying for a huge US Belgium-inspired quadruple beer (haven’t we all) then your prayers may just have been answered in the form of Avery’s The Reverend. With a rather unholy 10% of ABV and ”as many authentic imported Belgian speciality malts as the brewers could cram into their mash tun” this beer promises to be sinfully sweet and sticky. Amen to that.

Lastly comes a beer I know very little about, Bière Nouvelle Sur Lie, although I do know I am a big fan of the Bière de Garde style, typically strong pale ales brewed in farmhouses in the northern regions of France during the winter and spring in an attempt to avoid the problems caused by over-excited yeast during the hot summer months. Like saisons there’s an almost tangible connection to the land with beers like this, with earthy, musty aromas and light fruit estery hints of apples often detectable. It’s a shot in the dark but I’ll be buying a bottle and pairing it with some home-made feta cheese cream spread on freshly baked knäckebröd.

Reading back over this post it seems that once again I appear to have recommended you go out and buy everything.

Quite right. Quite right.

It’s always good to come back home to good news and if you’re a fan of one particular Scottish craft brewery (yes, that one) then I’ve got your number.

It’s 1591-03

That’s the Systembolaget article number for the beer that BrewDog co-founders James Watt and Martin Dickie claim is their proudest achievement to date, Hardcore IPA, which has just qualified into the ordinary assortment at the monopoly and goes on sale from Monday, May 30^th.

Hardcore IPA is a monster of a beer, hopped to hell with bossy US Centennial, Columbus and Simcoe hops and then dry-hopped to hell with them too. At 9.2% it’s not for the faint-hearted but despite being brewed to a recipe that would make Charles Bronson cry like a baby (probably) its greatest strength is its balance.

This was probably the main reason why it scooped Gold at the World Beer Cup in 2010 held in Chicago in the Imperial India Pale Ale category, snatching it away from the backyard of the US who invented and ‘owned’ the style until then.

Hardcore IPA will cost 36 SEK for a 330ml bottle and will be a T9 launch, which means it’s up to individual SB store managers to stock it, and they’re far more likely to do that if you ask for it. So if you want to get your hands on this deliciously dirty beer you better start asking!

*Transparency Statement* As many of you know I spend some of my time travelling around Scandinavia tasting and talking about BrewDog beers. It’s no secret I think they are all generally amazing. I would have written this article regardless of this fact but felt I should point it out anyway.

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.

Now that the bonfires lit to celebrate Valborg (which outside of Sweden is known – or as is often the case not known – as Walpurgis night) are nothing more than smouldering memories it’s the Systembolaget’s turn to herald in Spring with the release of seven new beers being released in around 30 stores around the country from 10am today.*

Unlike the last release which burned a serious hole in our wallets you can buy all seven of these beers for a rather more reasonable 290.30SEK. Question is; do you really get more for less?

Let’s work from the top down. First out is Bödeln IPA from the gang at Hantverksbryggeriet based in Västerås. I believe this might be the first time Raimo and his crew have broken away from their three closest Systembolaget stores, finally giving the rest of us a chance to try some of their excellent hand-crafted beers. And Bödeln (which means ‘the executioner’) is a beer that the brewery promises can do some serious harm to your tastebuds with an aggressive American hop character of grapefruit and spice that leaves a lååååååång after-taste. Any beer that wins a Gold Medal at the Stockholm Beer and Whisky Festival is worth a punt in my book. Highly recommended!

Great Divide is a US brewery that I hugely admire. After all they’ve given us classics such as Yeti, Old Ruffian and Titan IPA. This Denver-based brewery brews the US way, and that means big. However their track record with Belgium beer styles isn’t quite as impressive and in the case of their Grand Cru I’m not so sure I want to be drinking a sweet tasting big-arse 11%  US style Belgium strong ale now that the sun has made a comeback…..

Grebbestad Lunator is a beer that has popped up several years in the monopoly, although exactly when can vary from year to year. Again I feel this release is about as well timed as a Paul Scholes tackle, with another powerful beer that for me is best drunk during those long months when the sun struggles to crest the horizon. Having said that this Swedish produced doppelbock is a finely crafted beer so you might want to do like me and buy a few bottles to squirrel away for when the snow returns (Ed Note: which in Norrland is in about a fortnight).

It’s back to Belgium again with the fourth beer on the list but this time it comes from a brewery that I know understands Belgium beers beautifully. After all, Brouwerij De Ranke comes from there and who can forget their unforgettably puckering XX bitter? Guldenberg is another Belgium Strong Ale (albeit slightly tamer in alcohol at 8.5%ABV) and I’m willing to bet De Ranke’s customary abundance of hops will scratch away much of the sweetness to deliver an assertively bitter and refreshing drink. For less than 27SEK a bottle I’m all in.

Ichtegems Grand Cru is a beer I reviewed a year ago on this blog, when I wrote of its smell: ”a splash of vinegar, some light berry and red onion aromas and old leather” and of its taste: ”loads of wood throughout and the finish is tannic, dry and long” (read the whole review here). Personally it feels like I’ve done this one but if you haven’t tried a Flemish red ale before you really should.

Oh Mikkeller, Mikkeller, Mikkeller. Can you do no wrong? Is there nothing you can’t brew a beer with and catapult it to the top of the Ratebeer rankings? Take, for example, the idea of making a coffee IPA. On paper it sounds like a train wreck and yet somehow this Danish brewing virtuoso manages to pull it off. I tried the first incarnation of this beer using a different (although equally impossible to pronounce) type of Ethiopian coffee. Word is that this Odoo Shakiso version doesn’t quite reach the heights of the original but I for one want to find out for myself. A must buy!

Finally we arrive at a beer produced by a pair of young Danish brewers who were inspired to start brewing after a late night conversation with their teacher – none other than Mikkel Borg Bjergsø (that’s the Mikkel in Mikkeller in case you were wondering). To Øl Frontier IPA is exactly the kind of beer I do want to drink this spring, dry hopped as it is with heaps of Warrior, Simcoe and Centennial hops to deliver a sharp, fruity, floral taste with just enough muscle to ward off the crisp chill of a May evening. Recommended!

* The rest of us can order in bottles via the Web to our chosen store.

Within the last few hours word has reached BeerSweden HQ that the Systembolaget has officially confirmed the launches of three new BrewDog beers later this year: Abstrakt 06, Bitch Please and yes, the second coming of Ingrid!*

Jaw off the ground yet? Let’s break this mind-blowing news down a bit.

First date for your diaries is 15^th June when 720 bottles of Abstrakt 06 will be launched. Abstrakt 06 is an Imperial Scottish Black Ale at 11.5%. The price, as before, will be 125 SEK per bottle.

Second out will a limited release of just 2,000 bottles of Bitch Please, the schizophrenic offspring from a collaborative brewing tryst between BrewDog and the legendary US craft brewery Three Floyds. The date to remember is 1^st August, price is 59.90SEK for a 330ml bottle and I’m warning you now you’re going to have to be quick to get your hands on it!

Last out is the return of a beer that made cloudberries sexy – ‘Hello, My Name is Ingrid’ is making a triumphant return to the Systembolaget as part of a T5 launch (around 45 stores) from 1^st September!

This time 10,000 bottles of this Bergmanesque DIPA brewed with cloudberries and hops from the USA, New Zealand and the UK and designed by the followers of this blog will go on sale for 36.90SEK a bottle.

This time there’s no need to order Ingrid by the case so we’re hoping to avoid a system meltdown like the first time Ingrid paid a visit to the monopoly.

I’m also hearing word that some fresh kegs of Ingrid and Bitch Please might just make their way to Sweden in time for the Stockholm Beer Festival 2011!

Got to say great work Cask Sweden for getting these listings. I don’t know how you do it – but please, just keep doing it!

When I get more details you’ll read about them here, first. Got to run now – off to try and find some cloudberries (although that’s going to be tricky this early in the season…)

*Is it legal to even write that?

Of the 30 beers released at the Systembolaget on 1^st April there was one beer in particular that stood out for me – for all the wrong reasons.

Cheap Thrills from Brutal Brewing (Spendrups) is a 4.6%ABV lager that costs 7.90SEK for a 330ml can, making it the lowest priced beer along with three other industrial lagers currently on sale at the monopoly.

The first time I saw the name Cheap Thrills I reacted strongly to it. At first I thought it must be some elaborate April Fools joke but alas, writing this post on April 2^nd I can report that the cans are still sitting there on the shelves, and furthermore are scheduled to be there for at least another year.

It’s certainly no joke that a beer that clearly promotes the message that beer is both cheap and thrilling is now on sale at the monopoly. The serious question is how did it ever get there?

Lets for a moment take a closer look at the brand name. Breaking it down into its constituent parts the word cheap in the online dictionary is listed as meaning:

Cheap -

Of poor quality; inferior:

Achieved with little effort:

Of or considered of small value:

Worthy of no respect; vulgar or contemptible.

Not exactly the sharpest example of brand management Spendrups, is it?

Now for the word thrill:

thrill –

(From the online dictionary) ”the swift release of a store of affective force; ”they got a great bang out of it”; ”what a boot!”; ”he got a quick rush from injecting heroin”; ”he does it for kicks”

In other words thrill refers to the sensation of having a high, a rush, a kick, a boost. A perfectly harmless word on its own, but put it in front of the word cheap and associate it with alcohol and the resulting message is anything but positive.

And it’s a message that, in my opinion, has no place in the Swedish alcohol monopoly.

By allowing Cheap Thrills to go on sale the monopoly is unravelling some of the great work it has done in recent years to raise the beer category as a whole. It is figuratively and literally cheapening the image of beer by flooding its stores with a brand that presents beer as an inferior product designed to provide a quick ‘fix’ of alcohol.

But unbelievably it may not be the brand name that’s the most controversial thing printed on the Cheap Thrills can.

Click on the image to zoom in

If you look at the sales text printed on the side of the can you’ll see that at the end of the ridiculously self-contradicting sales pitch about the beer appealing to the beer lover who cares more for what’s on the inside (of the can) rather than what’s on the outside it finishes with the line: ‘Cheap Thrills – Good Beer for Good People’.

Does that line sound suspiciously familiar to you? The beer enthusiasts among you will have heard of Maryland-based US craft brewer Flying Dog, whose bottled beers are well known for bearing the catchphrase of Flying Dog fan and inspirator Hunter S Thompson “Good People Drink Good Beer”.

Which is why, until April 1^st, we have never seen a bottle of Flying Dog’s world class beers in the ordinary assortment of the monopoly, because it is my clear understanding that this catchphrase has been rejected for years by the monopoly on the grounds it improperly promotes the consumption of alcohol.

One of the reasons, as I understand it, why Flying Dog’s Gonzo Imperial Porter was able to go on sale on April 1^st was because the offensive line was removed. If you have a bottle check for yourself – it’s not there.

Which leads me to ask the obvious question. If it is true that the catchphrase “Good People Drink Good Beer” has been rejected by the Systembolaget in the past why has it allowed Spendrups/Brutal Brewing to use an almost identical line on cans of Cheap Thrills?

Check out the tag-line on another Flying Dog beer. Looks familiar doesn't it........

According to an email sent to one BeerSweden reader in the past few days it appears the Systembolaget sees things rather differently. This is a copy of a response the monopoly’s customer service department issued to the aforementioned reader after he questioned the use of the name Cheap Thrills and the tag-line ‘Good beer for good people’. I will leave the text in Swedish for now to avoid any possibility of translational error:

”Jag har nu varit i kontakt med både ansvarig inköpare och märkningskontroll och de har i sin tur varit i kontakt med både chefen för varumärke och våra jurister. Både ”Good people drink good beer” samt ”Cheap Thrills – Good beer for good people” är godkända av oss.

”Cheap Thrills är en av våra ansvarsfulla lanseringar då den har en lägre alkoholhalt. Detta är en volymprodukt och det låga priset kan förklaras med att vi vill att våra ansvarsfulla lanseringar ska få så stor genomslagskraft som möjligt.”

The first paragraph utterly contradicts how I believe Flying Dog and its importer understands the situation. I have already sent messages to Wicked Wine (the importers of Flying Dog beers in Sweden) to confirm if this is indeed their understanding of the situation and will report any eventual response.

However I find it very strange to believe anyone would go to all the trouble and expense of having to produce country specific export labels if there was no reason to do so.

The second paragraph contains, in my opinion, such twisted logic about the socially responsible supply of alcohol that for now I’m just going to leave it hanging there, like a bad smell in a room, and will return to it at a later date.

I apologise this post has dragged on so long but to summarise I have two clear and direct questions I’d like to ask the Systembolaget:

1)   Do you believe launching a beer called Cheap Thrills at 7.90SEK a can complies with the core principles of the Systembolaget, specifically to work to reduce the damaging effects of alcohol in society and, in line with Swedish alcohol politics, to reduce the nation’s total consumption of alcohol?

2)   Was the catchphrase on Flying Dog beers “Good People Drink Good Beer” rejected by the monopoly in the past and, if this was the case, why, and why has the sentence ‘Cheap Thrills – Good Beer for Good People’ subsequently been approved?

Let me finish by saying that this really isn’t meant to be a witch-hunt aimed specifically at Spendrups/Brutal Brewing, which is of course perfectly entitled to seek profits by using its economies of scale to mass-produce cheap lager (although I do have a huge issue with them trying to pass it off as anything remotely associated with craft beer).

My main concern as a beer enthusiast is that any brewery should be allowed to name their beer in a way that drags the image of my favourite drink back down to the gutter while using a catchphrase almost identical to that of another brewery whose beers were apparently rejected because of it.

If there are rules to follow that’s fine. As long as everyone follows them.

Please comment everyone. It’s important.