09 Jul European beer styles seem to inspire the US plus you get a chance to ask our brewers some questions. All of that and more in our weekly brewery update.
It’s been another busy week at the brewery. Even busier than usual, what with people on holidays and all. No complaints, just more beer for us.
The week started with a canning day, of Hip Hops. And on a personal note, there’s nothing quite like ending a Monday, the first day of the week with a three hour old can of Hip Hops. The sound from opening a can is really great, isn’t it?
Bottles are better than cans, because cans don’t make a noise when you say CHEERS!! and bump them against each other.
The week ended with a brewery tour with a group from Volvo. The same topic of cans vs. bottles always pops up, because on arrival, every person gets a can of beer and a glass. Most are happy with the first beer after work, but there’s always a few that’s surprised that they got a can. Apparently craft breweries should only be in bottles. Apparently bottles feel more authentic. All valid remarks, but the best one I heard last night was from a German lady, who said that bottles are better, because cans don’t make a noise when you say CHEERS!! and bump them against each other.
One of the magazines on my reading list is the US outdoor magazine called Outside. Without fail there’s always an article on beer. In this issue they covered European beer styles that are busy inspiring the US Craft Beer market. It’s usually been the other way around, especially if you consider IPA’s and Pale Ales. More Hops, Hops forward, all inspiring words such as Hop Heads and Hop Porn.
Now it seems the styles that we’ve been used to as part of Europe, has started creeping over the Atlantic. The styles that have become trendy include Belgian & French Ales and German Beers, such as Pilsners, Radlers, Farmhouse Ales, Wild Ales, Goses, Wheats, Sours and Berliner Weisses. All in all, very good news.
A lot of photos taken of our beer, whether bottles or cans, always seem to have food in the photo. So it must go without saying that if you like craft beer, then you probably like eating good food. And not just beer and food for the sake of it.
Another magazine with great recipes and more often than not, an article about craft beer is “Foodism“, by Square up Media. It’s available for free on the publishing platform ISSUU.
In this article they don’t discuss food, but just Craft Beer and the journey we’re all on. Worth a read.
Ask our brewers a question
During events and festivals we’re always swamped by beer questions. They can range from simple questions about styles and ingredients to others that can be considered a bit more nerdy, like the exact brewing temperatures or yeast cultures. Whilst I can answer the most, I decided to open the floor to our brewers Adam and Richard, so they can answer the questions you may have.
So don’t hold back. Ask what you want. We’ll pick the most interesting ones, and publish them and the answers here on a weekly basis. Just keep them coming.
The photograph you see below, is one of the originals taken right at the start by our good friend Martin Niklasson. It is Adam Norman on the left, and Richard Bull on the right. They’re the reason I got into the craft beer business in the first place. #goodtimes
Research has shown that exposure to light damages beer and affects its flavour
Since we started Beerbliotek, we’ve always tried to educate our customers and consumers. Not because we know everything, because we don’t. What we’ve tried to share is the stuff we have learned from having started two breweries, installing a bottling line, a canning line and having brewed 162 different beers in three years. Some lessons were easy to learn, other were harder, but one thing’s for sure, the learning process is never finished.
One subject getting a lot of attention at the moment is how sunlight affects beer. The advert below is from Estrella, where they changed the colour of their bottle from light brown, to dark brown, and as they say “Research has shown that exposure to light damages beer and affects its flavour”. This may be the reason why certain beers with see-through glass bottles need a slice of lemon?
This is one reason why cans are so good. No air, and no light.
Walking through Gothenburg as we regularly do, it’s always great to see our beer on display. This morning we went for an early morning coffee at Da Matteo, where they sell our low ABV beers Session IPA and Sockerbruket Saison. Now they’re not just customers, but also collaborators, cause we’ve brewed a couple of beers using their coffee. Don’t miss them if you ever visit Gothenburg.
To end of, we’d just like to remind you that our #FreshestCanInTheLand competition ends at the end of this month. See details below, as well as some inspiration from our other entrants.
Below you can see where to get hold of our beer, plus links to our webshop, as well as our Instagram feed.
That’s it for this week, have a great weekend.
Webshop
If you’d like to get hold of the same Beer T-Shirt Richard is wearing then you’d need to get to our webshop soon. We have limited stocks available.
But fear not, we’re releasing our new merchandise range soon, so keep watching this space.
#FreshestCanInTheLand #Competition
One month left to compete in our freshest can in the land competition and stand a chance to win tickets to the All in Beer Festival.
Festivals
All in Beer Festival 4-5 November 2016
One of our favourite festivals is the All In Beer Fest. The reason? It’s just about beer.
We’ll be attending again this year, but if you’d like to attend, then there’s two ways to go about it. Buy a ticket, or enter our #FreshestCanInTheLand competition, where you stand the chance to win two entrance tickets.
Finding our beers in Sweden
Systembolaget
Have a look at our Systembolaget page, where you’ll find a map that features the stores that have our beers on their shelves. If you live in other parts of Sweden, then you can follow this link to order the beers directly from Systembolaget.se to your closest store.
Folköl (Low ABV Beers)
Visit our Folköl page if you’d like to find out which Stores & Supermarkets, such as ICA & Hemköp stock our low ABV or “folköl” across Sweden.
You can also follow us on Instagram
Our brewers didn’t go with the flow, but crossed the stream to brew up this crossover between the forgotten Black IPA, and the big New England IPA.
This Black IPA, Crossing the streams in the dark, will be available @systembolaget Monday 1st march 10:00 online and in stores all over Sweden.
Out now at all good bars and restaurants in Sweden, and the rest of the world, at all our usual export markets.
You can cross over to our blog to read more about this Black IPA. Follow the link in our bio.
#beerbliotek #bryggeri #swedishcraftbeer #craftbeer #beer #craftöl #öl #starköl #folköl #systembolaget #bolaget #systemet #sweden #gothenburg #beercans #cans #can #canart #blackipa #bipa #cascadiandarkale
As a brewery we are constantly taking on the challenge to brew new kinds of beers. Sometimes, as the name suggests, we brew Even more of exactly the same.
🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪
Available @systembolaget Monday 1st March at 10:00.
🗺 🗺 🗺
For those not in Sweden, this juicy Double IPA is out now at our usual Export markets all over the world.
💛💜🍻
You can read more juicy details about our latest DIPA on our blog. Follow the link in our bio.
#evenmoreofexactlythesame #ipa #doubleipa #beerbliotek
#beercans #systembolaget #cans #can #canart #craftbeer #beer #sweden #gothenburg
Our brewers have brewed our second White IPA to add to our beer library. The first one we did was our collaboration with @moondogbrewing in Australia, called Modersmjölk, way back in 2017.
Inspired by the classic Belgian Witbier, or ‘white beer’, our brewers decided to mix things up. This White IPA is a marriage of two distinct beer styles; the American IPA with its high hop character and the wheat-based Belgian Wit with its refreshing and spicy presence. We punched up the orange zest and pulled back on the Citra and Cascade hops to let the typical Witbier tones of orange, citrus and a light spiciness from the coriander through.
#beerbliotek #bryggeri #swedishcraftbeer #craftbeer #beer #craftöl #öl #starköl #folköl #systembolaget #bolaget #systemet #sweden #gothenburg #beercans #cans #can #canart #whiteipa #ipa #squarepegroundhole
This afternoon we walked down the road from our brewery for the opening day of @hermanos_tacokiosk to support Niklas and his fun new TacoKiosk adventure! 🌮 And of course we dropped off some beer to add to their menu. We thought our little Pilsner, Li’l Pils, would pair nicely. 👌
Niklas has been a big part of the beerbliotek family and friends with us for a very long time. We wish him and the Hermanos TacoKiosk team the very best of success! We’re all excited to have a new lunch destination.
If you’re in or around Majorna, Gothenburg 🇸🇪 and in the mood for a ‘not entirely traditional’ tasty taco menu with some folköl, this is the new place to be.
Take Care & Stay Safe
#supportyourlocal #hermanostackokiosk #majorna #gothenburg #beerbliotek #folköl #lilpils #pilsner
We don’t know about you, but we’re ready for the snow to disappear and longing for warmer, sunny days to come 🌞
#sunnydisposition
#supportyourlocal
This is Riccardo, the newest member to grace the beerbliotek brewing team, brewing what is to be the latest beer in our single hop series, Single Hop Idaho 7! More will be revealed soon.
If you enjoy tasting single hop beers as much as we do, our Single Hop Mosaic is currently out in the world, and at @systembolaget , Sweden, right now.
#beerbliotek #supportyourlocal #supportyourlocalbarsandbreweries #swedishcraftbeer #sweden #gothenburg #craftbeer #öl #hop #humle #singlehop #singlehopmosaic #singlehopidaho #singlehopidaho7 #mosaic #idaho
Is the world getting you down?
We have a proposition.
Do the same as a funny clown,
put on a sunny disposition.
🌞
Sunny disposition, a 5,2% New England Session IPA. An ideal springtime beer for all of you hop heads looking for a fresh IPA. The first batch will be heading out the door in a few weeks. More news to come.
#beerbliotek #bryggeri #swedishcraftbeer #craftbeer #beer #craftöl #öl #systembolaget #bolaget #systemet #sweden #gothenburg #hazy #session #ipa #sunnydisposition
Hello world. Happy Shrove Tuesday, or as we say in Sweden, Fettisdagen! Which is also known here as Semla Day.
Way back in 2018, when collaborations were a thing, our old local bakery @sanna_konditori__bageri experimented with our beer in these sweet buns, as can be seen in the video, and won the competition for “Gothenburg City’s best Semla”. Pretty sweet! 🤙
We loved testing their baked goods as much as they enjoyed baking with our beer. What’s your favourite recipe to make with beer? 🍻🧑🍳
For this year we recommend pairing your semla (or semlor) with our newest Porter, Follow me into the dark. Available @systembolaget 🇸🇪
If you’re not Swedish, and a bit confused as to what all the fuss is about, then here’s some Semla facts 👇
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The name semla (plural, semlor) is a loan word from German Semmel, which was the name used for the finest quality wheat flour or semolina. The oldest version of the semla was a plain bread bun, eaten in a bowl of warm milk. In Swedish this is known as hetvägg, from Middle Low German hete Weggen (hot wedges).
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Today, the Swedish semla consists of a cardamom-spiced wheat bun which has its top cut off, and is then filled with a mix of milk and almond paste, topped with whipped cream. The cut-off top serves as a lid and is dusted with powdered sugar. Today it is often eaten on its own, with coffee or tea. Some people still eat it in a bowl of hot milk. (Many bakeries distinguish between the two by decorating the traditional bun with almonds on top, whereas the jam-filled version has powdered sugar on top).
#bakingwithbeer #semla #pancakeday #shrovetuesday #fettisdagen #öl #beer #gothenburg #göteborg #sweden #beerbliotek #swedishcraftbeer #craftbeer #porter #ipa
Our next Single Hop brew is on the way!
Idaho 7 is one of our favourite Hop varieties, so we decided to show off its peachy characters in this beer. Full bodied and fruity, this is going to be a luscious IPA. 👌
#singlehopidaho7 #singlehop #idaho #ipa #beerbliotek #bryggeri #swedishcraftbeer #craftbeer #beer #craftöl #öl #starköl #folköl #systembolaget #bolaget #systemet #sweden #gothenburg #beercans #cans #can #canart
#supportyourlocal
This is Axel, one of our Brewers, and Madison, one of our Marketing people, in the midst of filling some Red Wine and Bourbon barrels with one of our favourite dark beers we’ve done, Eternal Darkness.
More will be revealed soon on our recent Barrel Ageing project.
In the meantime, Sweden, if you want to have a taste of Eternal Darkness, an Imperial Stout, you can grab a can or two at @systembolaget to #supportyourlocalbrewery.
#beerbliotek #supportyourlocal #supportyourlocalbarsandbreweries #swedishcraftbeer #sweden #gothenburg #craftbeer #öl #barrelageing #redwine #bourbon #eternaldarkness #stout
