D: So Sweden, just because of your Swedish husband? Not the weather?

S: Hahaha… definitely not the weather. I moved from Melbourne here, so a completely different climate. And I completely adapted… climate-wise.

D: Is that a good thing, bad thing?

S: I have no idea. I would probably burn to a crisp and not be able to deal with the heat at all if I had to move back to Australia. I do miss the sun every once in a while. But I like the fact that it’s not overwhelmingly hot and you have no choice in it.

D: So what are you doing at Beerbliotek?

S: I’m doing everything the others don’t want to do anymore. Pretty much. Hahaha…

D: Hahaha… Did you you figure that out or did they tell you?

S: I kinda figured that out.

D: Do you want to do it though?

S: Yep. I’ve been trying to get back to working in an office for the past few years.

D: What do you think makes us different from other breweries?

S: The ambition part definitely. They have ambition, but in a different way. They want to grow, sell more and become successful, whereas you guys want to do that too, but in a different way. You want to have your own twist on it. Which, yeah, definitely stands out. I’ve never worked at another brewery, but I get the impression that you guys develop good relationships with the other breweries as well, all over the world.

D: And the fact that four of the owners aren’t Swedish?

S: Yes, that actually makes me feel a lot more relaxed i think. There’s less stress about speaking Swedish all the time. Whereas we all speak Swedish quite often, we can switch to English if we need to. So it feels good to be able to communicate well. So I told Henke, who I’ll be sharing an office with, to only speak Swedish with me.

D: And Henke will struggle cause he only speaks English here.

S: If he’s only going to speak English, then I’m terrified I’ll lose my Swedish.

D: But you can’t, you live in Sweden and you adapted and you like the country and you’re married to a Swede.

S: Hehehehe…

D: Are you always going to live in Sweden?

S: It’s always going to be our home base, but I can see us living in a couple of other countries. And then coming back. For longer periods of time.

D: And husband likes beer?

S: Husband loves beer. He’s a whiskey man and likes beer, whereas I love beer and like whiskey.

D: And he was happy you started working here?

S: Ooh yeah. He’s bragging. Hahahaha.

D: What’s your favourite beer from us at the moment.

S: One of the new IPAs, “I don’t want to change the world” and “A Moment of Clarity” would be a close second. And I love “Whoop Ass” as well.

D: Ok, and best Swedish beer or brewery?

S: I absolutely love Omnipollo. The stouts especially. Their Imperial Stouts… loooove them. I love how thick they are, the mouthfeel, and the flavour. He’s so talented. It’s like eating desert, or like drinking your desert and it really is like a desert.

D: And that trend with Imp Stouts, is it going to be there forever?

S: I hope so.

D: And your go-to beer?

S: At the moment, my top beer is Omnipollo’s Yellow Belly. And I think part of it is because it was one of the first Imperial Stouts that I really sat, and enjoyed. With the same woman that introduced me to craft beer. We shared a bottle at Bishops and it was amazing. It’s not too sweet, don’t like it when it’s too sweet either.

D: Where do you think this Craft Beer market is going?

S: I think there’s still space to grow in Europe, definitely. But I think there’s some countries that are catching up to liking the taste of hops. Whereas before they could only do Blondes and Belgian Styles.

D: From a Swedish perspective, how should we grow? Cause if Sweden grows, everybody grows.

S: I think the breweries should work together to distribute together throughout the rest of Europe. That would help. Like grass-roots, connecting with other people that are in both the beer-making, and the hops growing and those kinds of businesses, that are related to beer. That’s a global trend, smaller businesses, which is more sustainable in the long term. And if you work together it makes a huge amount of difference in the long term.

D: And Sweden, where’s Gothenburg going, with 20 plus breweries?

S: I think Gothenburg is heading to where the US market is at the moment with regards to being saturated. But I don’t we’re there yet. And then like you said, we’ll have the Creme de-la Creme, who produce amazing beers and the other who are trying to get there. But I think it’s important to keep investing in the market where you come from.

D: That’s why we opened the Tap Room. And we even get tourists coming to the Tap Room from time to time. So exports and tourist money is helping us stay local.

S: And also for the restaurants and pubs that buy our beers. Everyone has friends coming to visit.

D: To end off with, what are you looking forward to here at the Beerbliotek?

S: I’m looking forward to learning lots and getting busy. And the role I’m in growing and being able to do new things.

D: What is your role?

S: Brewery Administration and Sales Assistant.

D: Lots to do?

S: Hahaha… definitely lots to do.

I’ll start this part, in the same way that Josh Weikert does… “This isn’t for all of you.  Some of you should be opening breweries.”

Well to get down to why I decided to include this post in this week’s brewery update was not to show we’re perfect as a craft brewery. We’ve had a few cans explode cause they were filled too much, and we all know what happens to carbonation when the beer gets warmer, but so we learned.

I included it cause this is an important discussion to have if you’re thinking of opening a craft brewery. There’s people on both sides of this argument, and it’s important to hear both sides, whether you’re interested in opening a craft brewery, or just have an interest in craft beer.

If you’re interested in reading the article, please don’t miss the comments at the end 🙂

Internationally

Have a look at the beers from our Standard Assortment, or the new beers from our Special Assortment.

If you’d like to get hold of our beers from the distributors, then get in touch, and we’ll link them up with you. If you’re keen to distribute our beer in your country, then get in touch, and we can discuss possibilities with you.