Sundbybergs Köksbryggeri
I first visited Sweden in 2001 and I remember how I often found the range of foreign beers more impressive than the range of domestic beers. Eleven years later and things have definitely changed as the Swedish brewing scene is going from strength to strength. The number of breweries has also risen quite dramatically since I first visited Sweden.
I have received news that a new brewery will be opening up in Sundbyberg in Stockholm. The brewery will be called Sundbybergs Köksbryggeri (kitchen brewery) and should be in operation by the end of this year. Sundbybergs Köksbryggeri (SKB) is the brainchild of Peter J Bergholtz, Per Stocke and Thomas Lindberg.
These guys have been home brewers for a number of years and even won a medal at the 2011 Swedish home brewing championships for their imperial coffee stout ‘Lasse i gatan’. This beer is one of the beers that the guys hope to brew commercially.
The brewery will be based in an old church in Sundyberg. The plan is to also make the brewery a place for brewery tours, meetings and brewing courses, as well as a pub to sell the beers in tiptop condition. The aim is to to brew a variety of styles, but most of them will be ales with more of an English influence than American. The beer range at the beginning should include a pale ale, a brown ale, a stout and a beer made with ginger.
This all sounds like great news for the Stockholm beer scene and I am already looking forward to seeing these beers available commercially. Let’s hope the beers are as tasty as they sound!
Website: http://sundbybergsbryggeri.se/
Facebook: Sundbybergs-köksbryggeri
Twitter: –
E-mail: Info@sundbybergsbryggeri.se
Phone: –
Gamla Enskede Bryggeri
I like to drink all types of beer, but my tastes can vary depending on the the time of the year, the weather and other factors. I have to say that there’s one thing that I particularly enjoy and that is to drink beers that have a low ABV, but plenty of flavour. After all, it means that I can drink quite a lot of it without losing my sobriety so quickly and it’s usually (but not always) cheaper too.
A new brewery called Gamle Enskede recently opened in Gamla Enskede (a suburb of Stockholm) and the brewery will only brew lättöl (brewed to a maximum of 2.25%). The brewer and owner, Robin Johnander, was first inspired to become a brewer after he went for a tour at Nynäshamns Ångbryggeri. Not long after this, Robin purchased books about brewing and began to brew beers at home.
That was a few years ago and now Robin has realised his dream of opening Gamle Enskede Bryggeri. The community spirit in Enskede is strong with there already being a Gamla Enskede Bakery, Gamla Enskede Restaurant and so on. Robin felt it was only a matter of time before there was a brewery in Gamla Enskede and in May this year decided to register the name himself.
He realised that you do not need special permission to be able to sell lättöl and that it is essentially the same as selling homemade bread. Robin feels there is a dearth of good quality lättöl available and he wants to be able to make beer that is not only a good accompaniment to food, but is also able to stand on its own as a good session beer.
The first beer should be available in bottles from next month and is called EPA (Enskede Pale Ale). The second beer should be a Christmas beer brewed to be sold at the annual Christmas market in Gamla Enskede. Robin doesn’t currently have any regular stockists for his beer, but hopefully that will change soon. More information can be found on the Gamla Enskede Bryggeri Facebook page.
Location: Enskede
Website: http://www.gamlaenskedebryggeri.se
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gamlaenskedebryggeri
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E-mail: info@gamlaenskedebryggeri.se
Phone: +46 70-229 87 15
Best Served Coldboy
It used to be fairly easy to work out the country of origin of any given brewery, but now it seems to be more and more common for brewers to give their brewery an English name, even if English is not the native language spoken in that country.
One such example is the Coldboy Brewery in Askim, Norway, with their slogan “the uncompromised nature of Norway in a bottle”. The brewery’s founder, Arvid Helstedt Tennefoss (also known as Mr Cold!) used to reside in the north west of England and this is where he first got the inspiration to become a brewer.
He got the taste for local handcrafted beers and after returning to Norway, he started to miss drinking such beers and contemplated importing locally handcrafted beers from the UK. It was around this time that Norwegian beer consumers became more and more interested in real ale and craft beer. This then helped him to make the decision to open his own brewery.
He was initially going to name the brewery Ask, after Askim, his hometown in Norway. He eventually decided, however, to name his brewery Coldboy, after in recognition of his Norwegian roots, his friends in England gave him the nickname of Cold Boy.
Arvid currently brews three beers, Coldboy Stout, Coldboy Pale Ale and Coldboy Premium Ale. Hopefully we will get to see some of these beers appear in Sweden before long, but if not, it will give me more than a decent excuse to visit the beautiful country that is Norway.
Location: Volleneveien 15 1831 Askim (Norway)
Website: http://www.coldboybrewery.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coldboybrewery
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E-mail: post@coldboybrewery.com
Phone:
Hoppily Ever After
One of the (many) interesting things about beer are the seemingly endless possibilities when it comes to combinations of hops, malt and yeast (as well as other ingredients, of course) that help to create such tasty concoctions!
I enjoy drinking single hop beers in order to try and distinguish the different aromatic qualities and flavours that each hop can bring and therefore hopefully become a more discerning drinker. It’s certainly easier and more objective to judge these qualities when the single hop beers concerned are part of a series where the malt recipe is the same and where the same yeast and same quantity of hops have been used to brew the beer.
A new English hop variety called Endeavour has been used by a few breweries, but hasn’t really taken off as of yet. I was lucky enough to recently sample a (single hop) beer brewed with Endeavour hops. The beer concerned comes from the Magpie Brewery in Nottingham, England. The brewery is located near the home of the oldest professional football club in the world, Notts County FC. Notts County wear black and white and are nicknamed the magpies, so it doesn’t take a maestro to work out where the inspiration for the brewery name came from!!
A little bit of trivia for you here!! It’s because of Notts County that Juventus wear black and white!
Very little information can be found on the internet about this new hop variety, but I did find this.
The UK National Hop Association now has a breeding programme run on its behalf by Wye Hops. Most recently off the blocks is a new variety, Endeavour, which has just reached the farm trials stage. With a distinct citrus note, it provides a unique flavour for an English-grown variety and has been likened to some of the imported flavour hops from the US. Endeavour is only available in limited quantities whilst it is being established on a few farms. Like many of the flavour hops, it has an alpha-acid content well above that considered typical of a classical aroma hop.
The beer I sampled was called Hoppit, but has recently changed its name to Hoppily Ever After following some legal action from another brewery that owns the copyright to Hoppit. The beer weighed in at a modest 3.8% and was golden with a slight haze and a white head. I could detect lemon and honey (similar to some throat sweets called lockets) in the aroma, as well as some biscuity malt. The taste also offered honey and lemon and was very refreshing. Above all, I found it to be an enjoyable and refreshing brew.
It’s difficult to judge this hop based on this one beer as I am not sure about the quantity of Endeavour hops that were used in this brew (especially as it has been likened to American hops), but I shall endeavour (no pun intended!) to try more beers hopped with this variety in future, and hope that more breweries try to experiment with it.
by Matt Williams
Bålsta Bryggeri
Like in many other countries in Europe, more and more new breweries seem to be opening up all over Sweden. This is great news for the industry, as well as for beer enthusiasts. One of the newest breweries to have opened is Bålsta Bryggeri, unsurprisingly located in Bålsta which is north west of Stockholm.
The proprietor and brewer, Richard Eklöw, had been brewing beer for his own consumption for over 20 years before deciding on a change of career and opting to become professional and open Bålsta Bryggeri. Most of Richard’s spare time had been taken up with brewing and other beer- related activities, so with some encouragement from his wife, he felt the time was right to work full-time and start his own brewery.
Two beers are currently available, Eklöws Röda, hopped with Cascade and East Kent Goldings, and Eklöws Ljusa, hopped with East Kent Goldings, Cascade and Citra, although recent batches have used Styrian Goldings in place of Citra because of some supply issues with Citra hops.
Both of these beers are available from some outlets in Bålsta, and Eklöws Röda can be ordered in any quantity from Systembolaget and be delivered to the store of your choice. Richard is currently brewing another beer called Eklöws Vintage 2012 and he would like to brew a Christmas beer, but as he is currently brewing only 70 to 80 litres per week, he is not sure if this will be possible or not.
I ordered a bottle of Eklöws Röda from Systembolaget and found it to be a nicely balanced brew with an enticing aroma and a hoppy, fruity and slightly sweet taste. I will certainly be ordering some more bottles of it and look forward to tasting more Bålsta beers in future
By Matt Williams
Website: http://www.balstabryggeri.se/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/balstabryggeri
E-mail: info@balstabryggeri.se 
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