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Beer in Sweden: a look at new springtime brews

Beer blogger Darren Packman offers his thoughts seven new beers set to hit the shelves in select Systembolaget stores in May, as Sweden's state-run liquor monopoly does its part to mark the arrival of spring.

Published: 4 May 2011 12:01 CEST
Beer in Sweden: a look at new springtime brews
Photo: Systembolaget

Now that Sweden’s Walpurgis bonfires are nothing more than smoldering memories, it’s Systembolaget’s turn to celebrate the onset of spring with the May release of seven new beers in around 30 stores around the country.

First out is Bödeln IPA from the gang at Hantverksbryggeriet based in Västerås. I believe this might be the first time the brewery has managed to break away from their three closest Systembolaget stores, finally giving the rest of us a chance to try some of their excellent handcrafted beers.

And Bödeln (which means ‘the executioner’) is a beer that the brewery promises can do some serious harm to your taste buds with an aggressive American hop character of grapefruit and spice that leaves a long 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 such beery classics 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 11 percent US-style Belgium strong ale now that the sun has made a comeback.

Grebbestad Lunator is a beer that has popped up for 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.

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 percent 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 27 kronor ($4.50) a bottle I’m all in.

Ichtegems Grand Cru is a beer I reviewed a year ago on my blog BeerSweden 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”.

If you haven’t tried a Flemish red ale before this could be a good place to start.

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!

Darren Packman started writing about beer in the UK in the mid-90s. Now based in Umeå in northern Sweden, Darren now writes about the beer scene in Sweden from the inside out on his “decidedly un-lagom beer blog” BeerSweden.se.

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BEER

How the Covid crisis led to a boom in Swiss beer production

Switzerland now boasts the highest density of breweries anywhere in Europe, with the Covid crisis a major factor in transforming the country into a beer hub.

Published: 20 August 2021 16:06 CEST
Updated: 25 September 2021 07:24 CEST
How the Covid crisis led to a boom in Swiss beer production
The Feldschlösschen brewery. While Feldschlösschen might be the country's best known beer, there are hundreds of smaller breweries worth checking out. Photo: Wikicommons.

When it comes to food and drink exports, Switzerland is best known for cheese and chocolate. While Swiss wine has carved out a niche on the global stage, it is Swiss beer which has recently started to make its mark on the global stage. 

In 2020, 80 new breweries were established in Switzerland. 

Switzerland now has 1,212 breweries – which gives it a higher ratio of breweries to people than any of the other big brewing nations in Europe, including Germany, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Belgium. 

Just ten years ago, Switzerland had only 246 breweries, while in 1990 there were only 32 breweries in the entire country, the Neue Zürcher Zeitung reports. 

Switzerland is getting thirstier

The explosion in brewery numbers is a consequence of a change in the Swiss appetite for beer. 

Reader question: Can you drink in public in Switzerland?

In recent years, the classic lager variety has gradually fallen out of favour, with the share of craft varieties growing by 43 percent over the past five years. 

The change is a genuine example of quality trumping quality when it comes to beer consumption. 

In 2010, the average amount of beer produced by each brewery in Switzerland was 11,000 hectolitres, while that is now less than 3,000. 

According to Switzerland’s NZZ, only 14 breweries produced more than 10,000 hectolitres of beer last year, while more than 1,000 breweries produced less than 50 hectolitres. 

While the variety of beers being consumed has expanded – particularly those made in Switzerland – the amount of beer each Swiss consumes has fallen slightly in recent years. 

In 2008 the average Swiss consumed 58 litres of beer, with 55 litres being consumed in 2019 – the last year for which figures are available. 

In 1980, the average Swiss consumed around 70 litres of beer per year. 

The following chart from Statista shows these trends. 

Beer consumption over time in Switzerland (per capita). Image: Statista

This pales in comparison with serious beer drinking countries, with the average yearly consumption in Germany being 140 litres. 

Wine still leads the way however in Switzerland. Of those who consume alcohol in Switzerland, 32 percent drink beer while just under half (49.4 percent) drink wine). 

While anyone bragging of cheap beer in Switzerland might have had a few too many, for people living in Switzerland the costs are relatively affordable. 

In addition to the high wages paid in Switzerland, the Swiss VAT rate of 7.7 percent is the lowest in the OECD, a 2021 study found. 

Statistics show that Switzerland has an above average consumption of beer per capita when compared to OECD countries. 

Just one in five Swiss abstain from alcohol completely, which is low by OECD standards. 

Why now? 

The proliferation of new breweries is obviously welcome for the nation’s beer drinkers, but it seems that Switzerland is coming late to the party. 

According to the NZZ, a major reason is Switzerland’s alcoholic drinks ‘cartel’, which meant that all alcohol was sold in standardised form nationwide. 

The cartel “regulated sales, prices, quality, recipe and range of products for which the whole country was advertised collectively and uniformly,” with the result being bland, mass market beers in each of Switzerland’s 26 cantons. 

The rules were so pervasive that even pub owners were in many cases restricted from choosing which beers they wanted to have on tap. 

Created in the early 1900s, this cartel survived until 1991, when it finally fell. In typical Swiss fashion, it was even kept in power by a referendum which took place in 1958. 

As a consequence of the change, it is now easier than ever to start smaller breweries – which in turn influenced the Swiss palette to move away from the standardised cartel lager and to more adventurous brews. 

Seven beers to try in Switzerland

Whether you’re a beer enthusiast or a sometime sipper, you’ve probably heard of the big market brands like Feldschlösschen, Haldengut and Gurten. 

Here are some lesser known brands which will tickle your fancy. 

Quöllfrisch

While most of the beers on this list are relatively unique, Quöllfrisch is a standard lager type beer with which most people will be familiar. 

However, it’s anything but standard and represents perhaps the best a blonde lager can be. From Appenzell, this beer is relatively easy to find no matter where you are in Switzerland. 

In fact, it’s served on Swiss airlines. 

De Saint Bon Chien

The L’Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien is a truly unique beer. With a strength of 11 percent, the sour beer is aged in wooden barrels that previously contained red wine. 

Highly sought after, the beer comes from Saignelégier in the canton of Jura close to the French border. It is the highest ranked Swiss beer on the beer ranking site ‘Untappd’, with several discontinued beers from the same brewery sitting alongside it. 

Relatively difficult to get, it is available in small bottles or 20 litre kegs. 

Brüll!Bier

Zurich’s Brüll!Bier is one of the city’s best microbreweries.

Unlike many other Swiss breweries which tend to focus their efforts on only a few beers, Brüll!Bier brew several varieties touching on traditional styles, contemporary classics and experimental offerings. 

While the red ale and the helles are excellent session beers, one speciality is the Prince of Ales Yorkshire Pale Ale, which can only be found at the British Beer Corner in Zurich. 

Brewed to resemble a Yorkshire Pale Ale, it’s tasty and delicious – and will go down well even if you’ve never had a YPA before. 

Calvinus

Another beer that can be found in most parts of the country, Calvinus has several different traditional beer styles including a wheat beer, a thick dark ale and a Belgian pale ale. 

Originally from Geneva, it is now brewed in the mountains of Appenzell using only organic ingredients. 

According to legend, it is based on a recipe handed down in Geneva by Calvin the Reformer. 

Ittinger Klosterbräu

An amber ale with a relatively standard alcohol content (5.6 percent), Ittinger Klosterbräu is bitter but fruity. 

The beer is brewed in a former Carthusian monastery on the banks of the Thur river. 

It’s also one of the rare Swiss beers to be made with local hops – which are actually grown by the brewery itself – with more than 90 percent of beers made with hops exported from elsewhere in Switzerland. 

Bier Factory Rapperswil

Rapperswil, on the outskirts of Zurich, is not only a great place to live if you work in the city – but also a great place to have a few beers. 

The brewery has a taproom where you can try many of the beers they brew, including some staples and some experimental favourites. 

One of the best is the Wanderlust Pale Ale, a hoppy pale ale which can easily be a session beer. 

Appenzeller Castégna

Another beer from the beautiful Appenzeller region, Appenzeller Castégna is brewed with chestnuts grown in the southern canton of Ticino which give it a “sweet, chestnutty aroma” according to a rather uninventive online review. 

Brewed by Brauerei Locher, the Castégna is relatively difficult to find throughout the country other than in Ticino. 

It’s a proud vegan friendly beer, whatever that means, and is often served with desert due to its sweet taste. 

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