Starobrno

Again at the Skybar in Stockholm, Sweden the next beer that I encountered as I drank my way down the row of taps hiding behind the bar was Starbrno (5.0% abv) which is a Czech Pilsner which has been improted from teh town of Brno in the Czech republic. As far as Pilsners go, this is a very good example - more refined than Staropramen which I find really dry, but also not as buttery as Pilsner Urquell. If only I had a nice pork knuckle to enjoy with the beer!

The Starbrno brewery started brewing in 1872 and underwent a major refurbishment in 1995 increasing both its brewing capacity and also upgrading its packaging facility. The brewery buildings themselves are now a major tourist attraction along the lines of the Guinness store house in Dublin. Anyhow you can find our more info if you speak Czech! http://www.starobrno.cz/

Mariestads Export

Once again in the Skybar and the beer of tipple amongst the Stockholm crowd appeared to be Mariestads Export (5.3% abv). This beer is a pale Pilsner style beer with a clean malty taste and a nice bitter aftertaste. The beer is nice and well balanced and is considered one of the leading Swedish beers. I am not going to argue with that, however the dominant style that I noticed was the Vienna Lager style? Maybe this is environmental with the climate providing barley that malts with a lot of mellanoids, whilst hops grown in the area are lower in alpha acids? Anyhow the Mariestads brand is one of several owned by Spendrups, who acquired the former Mariestads brewery in 1967. On an interesting note, and arguably more interesting than the beer is that Sir Richard Branson's Virgin have an interest in the brewery and it is the Swedish licence holder for Virgin cola. http://www.mariestads.se/

Spendrups

Whilst in Stockholm I went a little bit more upmarket than I usually do when traveling and stayed at the five star Radisson Viking, smack in the center of town near central station. Now the best part about staying here was the magnificent Skybar on the top floor, which offered awesome views over the harbour and the old town (Gamla Stan). To kick off drinking festivities I was told by the barman that I should go for a Swedish classic and he offered me a pint (well a schooner ~400ml) of Spendrups (5.0%). The beer was pretty ordinary really and did not have a lot to offer besides being cold. It is vaguely pilsner like in taste but more along the lines of a North German pils than a Bavarian or Czech one. Anyhow, the view more than made up for the shortcomings of the beer. And as a bonus, the sun even came out! More info is available via the Spendrups website: http://www.spendrups.se/ (if you can read Swedish) otherwise enjoy the attached clip.