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Beer in Sweden: bevy of brews greets the autumn

Beer blogger Darren Packman offers his thoughts on a slew of new beers set to hit the shelves in Systembolaget stores in September, as Sweden's state-run liquor monopoly stays true to the old saying - all good things come in threes.

Published: 31 August 2011 14:36 CEST
Beer in Sweden: bevy of brews greets the autumn

Swedish beer fans should be feeling really good about themselves this month as the Systembolaget launches not one but three releases of new beers this Thursday (September 1st).

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 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 an article of ‘War and Peace’ proportions I’ll break the beers down into their respective releases:

Temporary Release September 1st (Autumn release):

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

The Beer Here HöstCitra 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 HöstStout is a re-working of its Ammestout, a sweet porter whose original label (depicting a mother swigging beer out of a bottle while breast-feeding) would have been disqualified faster than Usain Bolt at the Systembolaget.

Octoberfest Beers (availability will vary):

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 BeerSwedenTV 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 tend to either go traditional (only breweries located within the city limits of Munich can truly call their beers Octoberfest beers) or totally the other way and go for beers with a contemporary spin.

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

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

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

Fuller’s is a given with its retro recreation, as is the Nils Oscar Jubileum 15 (a saison-style anniversary beer) 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 last, but certainly not least, ‘Hello, My Name is Ingrid’, a beer that I helped brew together with cult craft brewery BrewDog.

This Double IPA brewed with Swedish cloudberries sold out in record time when it was first released earlier this year so you’ll need to be quick to get your hands on it this time around.

I’ve recently tasted old and new Ingrid side-by-side and can only echo the words of BrewDog’s founder James Watt when he said: “”The new batch of Ingrid rocks – better than the first”!

Good luck and let me know what the beers which you got your hands on!

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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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