Falcon

Hmm, it appears I have duped! In an Italian restaurant in Gamla Stan, Stockholm (ie the only place still open late on a Sat night) I ordered the only draught beer on the menu - Falcon. The beer tasted ok, slightly bland and a little soapy. Low and behold I get back to London and start to do a little research for the blog and I find out its a low alcohol beer! Falcon is 2.8% abv... According to the official Carlsberg website (they brew the stuff);

"Falcon beer is Sweden’s second most popular beer sold through groceries and the service sector. It has an alcohol content of just 2.8% ABV, making it an excellent choice for weekday meals. Since 1896, the Falcon Beer family has represented traditional Swedish brewing at its best. Brewed from pure spring water, this bottom fermented lager has a rich, malt taste and a bitter hop aroma. "

I am lost for words - its a boys beer!

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/

Norrlands Guld

The day after my bday, Mrs CB and I went for a walk around the harbours of Stockholm taking in the scenery and admiring the maritime heritage the Swedish capital has to offer. We planned to ultimately visit the Vasa museum to pay tribute to the 15th century warship which was raised and restored 40 odd years ago after sinking in the 16 hundreds. Obviously whilst in Sweden we also needed to have some Swedish meatballs! So we pulled into a little riverside café where the fine Swedish girl behind the bar (all people in Sweden are hot for some reason?) suggested that I go for a Norrlands Guld (5.3% abv). This beer I found to be refreshing, but its in the mould of a standard swilling lager rather than anything interesting. Apparently its the biggest selling brand in Sweden! So I feel a little bit duped into drinking Swedish mega-swill, but then again, the meatballs more than made up for it! http://www.guldsits.se/en/

New Sweden

The final beer I had on my birthday was in a little beer café that I can't find any info about online (or even its name or google maps listing). This place was awesome though, with approx. six or seven international microbrewed beers on tap and a beer fridge that will give any rate beer die hard a boner!

At the recommendation of the bar staff I opted for New Sweden (5.3% abv) which was again in the malty amber Vienna lager style. After reading this and this online, I have come to the conclusion that they are not talking about the same beer!

New Sweden is very similar to Spendrup's Mellanol, with its balance shifted heavily to the malty side with little hop flavour in the overall product. These amber lagers are a refreshing beer and a style I did not really expect to come across whilst in Sweden. My tip is, if you find this beer on draught in Sweden, then give it ago, i probably would not bother with the canned variety after the ratebeer ticker opinions though!

Nils Oscar God Lager

Again at the posh noshery, I decided to explore the beer menu and went for Nils Oscar's God Lager (5.3% abv) which roughly translates to "Good Stocks". Again, like Spendrup's Mellanol, this beer is a Vienna Style lager with strong a really strong malt profile. Slightly darker than your average lager the texture is also thicker as the beer is unpasteurised, which leaves the beer tasting fresh and new.

I should also spend some time describing the restaurant! Fem Sma Hus (five little houses) is located in Gamla Stan on Nygrand, a narrow alley just off Skeppsbron. It occupies a series of arched brick cellars which get lower and more atmospheric as you go deeper - some are well below water level.
The restaurant is very popular, is mentioned in the 2008 Michelin guide. The food is traditional Swedish, with dishes such as Gravadlax and reindeer (which was awesome, although it had a slightly putrescent odor!), in reasonable-sized portions. The cooking was perfectly competent and the service helpful - as you would expect at the fairly high prices. Our waiter was a surprisingly camp bloke who should go into comedy!
In summary, worth a visit for traditional Swedish food and a romantic setting!

If you want to find out more about Nils Oscar beers, and you can speak Swedish the try the following website: http://www.nilsoscar.se/se/nilsoscar/

UPDATE 27/08/08: This beer is now available in the UK from Waitrose supermarkets.

Abro Sigill III

Abro Sigill III (5.2% abv) is a little known microbrewed lager which I tracked down in posh noshery "Fem Små Hus" which translates to - "Five small houses". The beer is a crisp general lager, not exploding with flavour but far from bleak either. I can't seem to find a great deal of information on the beer, obviously as it has a limited distribution. It surprises me that micro's bother producing beers in this style as it forces them to compete directly with megaswill producing mainstreams. Anyhow, a nice beer if a little bit plain. Website: http://www.abro.se/

Spendrups Mellanol

Continuing with the theme of my birthday, we cruised on downtown where I grabbed a quick schooner of Spendrups Mellanol (4.2% abv) which is a nice Vienna style lager complete with a strong Munich malt/ melanoid flavour that works quite nice. The initial taste is malty upfront, but there is a nice grassy hop aftertaste with a lingering bitterness which is surprising for such a malty beer. The pub I was in on the other hand was quite dull and uninspiring, with staff who obviously didn't want to be there. Anyhow, you only turn 30 once so I was making the most of the evening! If you can read Swedish, then you can find more info here.

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.

Krusovice Dark

Some of the more observant readers may have noticed that my age has risen from 29 to 30. To mark this occasion, my wonderful wife decided to take me to the exotic/cold and expensive town of Stockholm in Sweden. The day was as usual to be a boozy affair and much to my delight SWMBO wanted to grab a coffee at around 10.30 am. I took full advantage of this situation to have my first beer of the day!

Krusovice Dark (3.8% abv) is a Czech dark lager which probably falls into the category of Schwarzbier. The beer is spritzly carbonated and has a long sour aftertaste which is pretty refreshing. I can recall the first time I had this particular beer in Prague at a little beer garden down by the river - and whilst drinking this in the rain on my bday in Gamla Stan, Stockholm I was solely reminded that good beer is rare find, and that this is defiantly a good beer! A good way to kick off my 30's!

More info is provided on the official website.