We’re growing again. Say hi to Sky. – Weekly Brewery Update
In this week’s brewery update we wanted to introduce Sky Andreasson, our latest addition to Beerbliotek, by doing an interview with her about beer, moving countries and the future of Swedish Craft beer.
Say hi to Sky.
Brewery Admin & Sales Assistant.
Sky Andreasson’s been with us for about two weeks now, so I decided to interview her for this week’s Brewery Update, as a way to introduce her to everyone out there. She’s taken over all administration in the brewery and will also be working with Henrik, or Sally the salesman. When you start a brewery, there’s always a ton of paperwork to do. Not something you think about in the beginning. Fortunately for all of us, Richard took that on, God bless him. But now it’s over to someone that know’s what she’s doing 😉
Sky will also be the one you hear on the phone most often and the one answering emails. Be nice to her 🙂
Darryl: So to start off with, who are you? Where are you from?
Sky: Haha… Who am I? Mmmmm. I was born in Australia, but went to High School in Canada. A parent from each of the countries.
D: And now you’re not living in either?
S: Now I have a Swedish husband, living here in Gothenburg. There’s also Switzerland mixed in there somewhere.
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: And what did you do before you got here?
S: I was working in Public Infrastructure in Australia.
D: And when did you first bump into Beerbliotek?
S: The first time? I would have to say when I was working in BrewDog Gothenburg.
D: What were you doing at BrewDog?
S: I was pouring beers. Hehe.
D: Have you always liked Craft Beer?
S: Nooo. I have not. I drank beer when I was in my twenties, then I stopped drinking beer for a while, while I was in Australia. I have no idea why. I just kinda went through a none beer phase. Then the first job I had in Gothenburg was working at Bishop’s Arms near Domkyrkan. The woman who was managing at the time looooved beer and kinda kick started my interest in beer.
D: Ok, and what did you think about Beerbliotek the first time?
S: One of the first beers I tried from you guys was a Saison, and it still had the old label on, the one with the Älvsborgs Bridge. And I was actually under the bridge when I had the beer… which was kinda cool. And I think Eternal Darkness was the second one I tried.
D: And what do you think about the brewery?
S: The brewery is lots of fun. Definitely fun people. Smells a lot like Oatmeal all the time. Hehehe 🙂
D: And who was the first person from Beerbliotek you met?
S: I think it was you… actually. I distinctly remember meeting you at Brewdog bar.
D: Give me three things you you learned about us from then, until now.
S: I like how ambitious the brewery is trying to brew a new beer every… what is it nine weeks since you started?
D: 9 days.
S: Ok wow…
D: Just to clear it up, we don’t try and make a new beer every nine days, but since we started, that’s been the tempo. It’s been higher in the beginning, and slowing down a bit, but still high. So ambitious? What more?
S: You make a lot of work for yourself… (laughs hysterically)… everyone who works here, loves beer… oh my that sounds stupid.
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.
Some News.
For God’s Sake, Stop Opening Breweries – The Normals Are Noticing.
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 🙂
And finally.
Another Tap Room Weekend come and gone.
This past weekend we had our tap Room open again. It was sunny and warm and we had five fresh IPAs on the beer list. If you missed out, we’re open again on the 4th and 5th of August.
We’ve even added some decorations on the tables in the form of empty cans with a succulents, that don’t need a lot of care, in them. Hope to see you next time.
That’s it for this week, until next week.
Cheers
Get hold of our beers.
Systembolaget
Visit our Systembolaget page, to see the entire range. All of them can be bought can buy in-store at certain stores, or you can order them to your closest store via Systembolaget.se.
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Folköl (Low ABV Beers)
On our Folköl page you can see our entire assortment, as well as the Stores & Supermarkets, such as ICA & Hemköp that stock them across Sweden. When our Tap Room is open every second weekend, you can also come past to buy them directly from us. We always have a 4-pack or 6-pack available.
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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.
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