Stockholm next week

I'll be at the Stockholm Beer & Whisky Festival next week. No Borefts for me this year. I can put my imperial pint pot back into sotrage for another year.

I'll probably have some free time on Friday 25th September. Any sugegstions as to what I might do?

Stockholm (part six)

Dodgy theorising. One of my specialities. I promised you some yesterday and I'm not one to renege on my promises. Not unless I feel like it.

Our next destination was one of Stockholm's classic beer bars, Oliver Twist. As a loyal, card-carrying CAMRA member I'm obliged to like it. They sell cask-conditioned beer. All the time. There's a reassuring set of handpulls on the bar.

Though I didn't drink any of the cask. It would have been crazy, as they were all British. Bit pointless coming to Stockholm and drinking British beer. I went for something from Jämtlands (can't remember which, exactly). It's probably my favourite Swedish brewery. I wasn't disappointed. Now I think about it, I can remember which it was. Postiljon. A very tasty and well-crafted Bitter. Dolores just had an iced water.

It's now time for more of my half-arsed thoughts. This struck me when wondering what to order for my second beer. How beer cultures can be moulded by restrictions that no longer apply. Like how British beer staying rooted at an average of 1037º for 40 years.

Sweden used to have some of the silliest beer laws. Like the one limiting beer to a maximum of 5.6% ABV. And a tax system that encouraged brewers to always brew to that maximum strength. Most Swedish beers are still 5 - 5.6% ABV. You find very few between 4 and 5% (Jämtlands are an exception in this regard). And little above 5.6%. Except for dodgy strong lagers from multinationals like Pripps and the odd Nils Oscar Barley Wine or Imperial Stout.

Why did that thought come to me? Because, knowing it would be my final beer of the evening, I was after something a little stronger. And, unless I went foreign, there wasn't much of a choice. In the end, I chose another beer of modest strength. A Jämtlands Porter at just 4.8% ABV. Very nice it was, too.


Oliver Twist
Repslagargatan 6,
118 46 Stockholm.
Tel. 08 - 640 0566
Fax: 08 - 641 1566
Email: restaurang@olivertwist.se
Homepage: http://www.olivertwist.se/

Stockholm (part five)

Thursday evening I had a chance to return to Glenfiddich Warehouse No. 68. Yippee! A proper beer pub at last. A proper beer pub that was open.

Three evenings out with Dolores. That's more than I usually get in five years. I'm not joking. I blame the children

Glenfiddich Warehouse No. 68 (is it me, or is that a slightly unwieldy name?) is much more modern inside than out. Quite trendy, in fact. Dolores liked it.

Like everywhere else, it was suffering from the sunny weather. That's why we sat close to the entrance, to get a little breeze.

This was exciting. A real choice of beer. What should I have?

Sometimes, I just don't learn from past mistakes. Now don't take this the wrong way. Please don't. But I blame the Americans. For buggering up Brown Ale. I quite like Brown Ale. The sweet, malty stuff called Brown Ale in Britain. But there's another type of Brown Ale. The hoppy type, with bugger all malt and not a trace of sweetness. It's like a darker version of Pale Ale. A bit of a waste of time as a beer style, to be honest.

The BJCP has to take some of the blame. They obviously just guessed how British brewers made Brown Ale and assumed that the colour came from dark malt. Even worse, from brown malt. that adds an inappropriate roastiness that has no place in a proper* Brown Ale. Not my sort of Brown Ale. Caramel, brewing sugars and crystal malt. They should be the source of the colour.

And the poor bastards in Scandinavia have just followed the American lead. Producing Brown Ales that have almost no similarity to a proper* Brown Ale.

I rashly ordered a Dugges Fuggedaboudit. Even though I couldn't pronounce the name. I'll be honest, it was the ABV that swung it for me. I should have paid more attention to the ABA after the name. I realised what it meant between ordering and receiving. "Bugger. I bet ABA stands for American Brown Ale" What's wrong with that?" "It'll be like that beer the first night. The horrible one"

It wasn't quite as bad as that. Just not at all like a Brown Ale. I envied Dolores. She got herself a rather nice wheat beer (Helsinge Veteöl). "Do you want to swap?" I asked and let her try my "Brown Ale". She didn't have to say anything. The sucking lemons expression was enough.

We only stayed for the one. Nothing to do with the beer. It was purely a technical public transport thing. We had exactly enough strips on our ticket to complete all our intended journeys. As long as we moved on to the next pub within an hour. The system is very like in Holland. You can travel for an hour after the time stamped on your ticket.

God, that was a dull explanation. I shouldn't have bothered, should I? Just as well I put in the provocative stuff about Brown Ale.

You'll have to wait until tomorrow to read about the remainder of the evening. And I'll be throwing in some more dodgy theorising about beer types. Don't miss it. Could change your life.**



Glenfiddich Warehouse No. 68
Västerlånggatan 68,
111 29 Stockholm.
Tel: 08 - 791 90 90
Fax: 08 - 791 70 70
http://www.gfw68.com/


* the type of Brown Ale actually brewed in the UK, something like this.
** slight exaggeration.

My Swedish book haul

You're probably not interested in this in the slightest. But here goes.

I manged to pick up a few books while in Stockholm. One new and four secondhand. Despite Andrew's chiding "You've already got enough books, dad." "You can never have enough books." "Yes you can, dad."

The city is pretty good for secondhand bookshops. And all the ones I tried had at least something about beer. Unlike the Akademiska Bokhandeln that just had air on the shelf marked "öl".

The new book, "Svensk Ölbok" by Örjan Westerlund, looks pretty handy. A bit on the history of Swedish beer and articles on every Swedish brewery. Two of the secondhand jobbies are just booklets. Though "Stockholms ölcafeer" has some good old photos of Stockholm pubs.

"För gott öls skull" ("For the sake of good beer") is more substantial. It's a collection of pieces by various writers on the topic of beer. "Jacobsen of Carlsberg" is an English translation of a Danish biography. It looks pretty academic. Hopefully it will contain something useful.

Uppsala

We promised the kids a little train excursion. Uppsala, a university town 45 minutes north of Stockholm, was our chosen destination.

It was another hot day. We carefully selected seats next to a window that opened. Lexie had been a big disappointment so far. "You've been a big disappointment, Lexie." "Why? I've been a good boy." "Exactly. You're not providing me with any material. If you don't do something crazy soon, I'm going to have to make it up. Like a proper journalist."

I didn't feel like looking around Åhléns with the rest of the family. You can guess what I wanted: beer. I arranged to meet them in 30 minutes. Now where was I likely to find a pub?

It didn't look promising at first. Like most town centres, the shopping district was full of, well, shops. I've picked up a few things of my decades spent travelling in search of booze. I headed towards the cathedral.

Sure enough, refreshment possibilities began to appear. Mostly of the posher kind. Down by the river I found something more suitable. "A beer, please. Do you have any bigger glasses than that?" "No." I had to make do with a 40cl measure. Only 49 crowns, though.

Sitting in the shade at the side of the river, I was soon in relaxation mode. The place was called Åkanten, so I'm guessing the river is called the Å. (I should really look that up, shouldn't I? Perhaps that could be a little project for you.) The weir was close by, adding a natural background music of tumbling water. A breeze cooled my brow. Perfection.

The beer? It was cold and Carlsberg. I couldn't afford to be fussy. Cold and alcoholic was good enough. Hang on, that could be a description of me, cold and alcoholic. That's not really true. I'm hot in every sense of the word. Except the sexual one. So let's change that. I'm like Irish coffee, hot and alcoholic. Like many of the English, I'm an emotional type. Excitable even. But that discussion is for another time. I was just chilling. Literally.

I took the family back to Åkanten to eat. Just 79 crowns a pop. Very nice it was, too.

On the way back to the station Lexie bought some long balloons in a toy shop. They were about the only thing he could afford. The type of balloon clowns bend into animal shapes. (A skill Lexie has picked up since our return.) I should get him more tired. Then he might become entertainingly crazy again. "Do you fancy shouting 'vodka!' in the Systembolaget?" "Daaad."



Åkanten
S:t Eriks Torg 8.
75310 Uppsala.
Tel: +46 18 15 01 50

Stockholm (part four)

That's right. I'm not done with Stockholm yet. Oh, no. Lots more to come. Unless I get distracted.

Wednesday, that's where we were, wasn't it? After the Vasa museum we didn't just hide in our hotel. Let's be more specific, me and Dolores didn't hide in our hotel. The kids did. At least that's what we told them to do. They could have crept out. But I'm pretty sure Lexie was too interested in "A Shot at Love" to leave the room.

Stockholm is a big city. Which there's much more to it than just the centre. For pubs, the Södermalm district is hard to beat. Both Akkurat and Oliver Twist are located there. But neither were our destination on Wednesday evening. Akkurat was out of the game, being closed for Summer. As we were planning on eating, our choice was simple: Soldaten Svejk.

There's a big difference in the price of lunch and dinner in Sweden. At lunchtime, you can get a main course, salad and soft drink for 70 - 80 crowns. In the evening, you'll be lucky to get just a main course for double the price. Soldaten Svejk is an exception. They have meals for around 100 crowns. That's roughly 10 euros. Bargain.

Those of you with a shred of culture will have already guessed what sort of pub Svejk is. For the ignorant amongst you, it's a Czech pub. And not a bad one. There's a great range of draught Czech beer. Not just obvious stuff like Pilsner Urquell, Budvar and Krušovice. Quality stuff like Bernard. I had a dark Bernard, Dolores a light.

The food is proper Czech fare, too. Schitzel, goulash and an old favourite of mine, smazeny syr (fried cheese). Which is what I ate (just in the remote chance that you might be interested in my diet.)

We only had the one beer. Not been a very beery trip so far, has it? Will it get more so in the last two days? Tune in tomorrow to find out.



Krogen Soldaten Svejk
Östgötagatan 35,
11826 Stockholm.
Tel: 08 641 33 66
http://www.svejk.se

Stockholm (part three)

Wednesday was Vasa day. That's the 17th century warship. The one that, like a surprising number of other flagships, never made it out of harbour on its maiden voyage.

But this is a beer blog, not a history blog. So back to the fizzy stuff. The plan was to take the ferry from Gammy Stan (I wonder who Stan was? Must have been important if they named the centre of town after him.) I live in Amsterdam, so I know all about tourist overload. But Vasterlangatan was still a shock. Lexie was happy, though. He bought himself a Swedish flag. He has a thing about flags. I wonder where that DDR flag is? I hope Dolores didn't throw it away like the portrait of Erich Honecker.

It was hot. Very hot. And 11:15. Time for a beer. I would have gone into Zum Franziskaner. But they don't open until 11:30. I wasn't going to wait 15 minutes for a beer. I'm not made of steel. Luckily there was an O'Leary's at hand.

"A Carnegie Porter, please." "A what?" Unlike the O'Leary's built into our hotel, they didn't sell Carnegie Porter. The draught beer selection was totally thrabbly. Falcon, Carlsberg, Guinness, Kilkenny. Multinational shit. The nice waitress brought me a menu so I could give the bottled options a look over. The choice wasn't much better. I did something I usually try to avoid. Ordered a non-local beer. A Spaten. I know, Spaten is part of a multinational concern. But it's better than Carlsberg.

The nice waitress brought us some popcorn. For free. That's lunch for the kids sorted out. Possibly dinner, too.

Almost forgot to mention. I almost fell over the Glenfiddich Warehouse No. 68. I was attracted by the German inscriptions on the first floor. It was a while before I noticed it was one of my target pubs. What luck. And only 5 hours to go before it opened. "Dolores, do you mind waiting here a little?"

We didn't take the ferry to the Vasa museum after all. There was a queue several hundred yards long. We took the rather more prosaic option of the bus. I would relate our experiences inside the museum. But I'm hot and typing ties up my drinking arm.

Stockholm (part two)

Two days gone already. And do you know what? I still haven't made it to any of my target pubs.

I was already aware that Akkurat, Stockholm's premier beer boozer, would be shut for the summer. Well, you can add to that Monk's Cafe. At least for this week. They're decorating.

We're staying fairly centrally in town. It can't be more than a ten-minute walk to Centralstation. So yesterday, after a hard day hiking around Skansen (the open-air museum) me and Dolores dumped the kids in the pool and headed off for Monk's Cafe. Over the bridge with the vertiginous views of the railway tracks. Monk's Cafe isn't much past that. But, as you already know, it was closed.

We went in search of somewhere else to have a quiet beer. The only other place in my guide reasonably close by is Belgo Bar. Now that's something I'm not doing. Coming to Sweden and drinking Belgian beer. I can - and do - do that at home. Ten minutes stroll uncovered nothing but cafes. I thought everyone here was a raging alcy. Turns out they're actually coffee addicts. What a disappointment.

We did find a Styembolaget. One of the shiny new ones, with even the spirits enticingly draped across the shelves. It takes some getting used to. Do you know something weird? I sort of miss the Soviet-style queueing ones, where all the dangerous booze was stored well away from the eyes of the putative punters. I got an Arboga Majbock, Jamtlands Pelgrim and a couple of Oppigards beers. The Oppigards Porter wasn't bad. And the Majbock at least had a little poke.

Sweden has changed a lot since my first visits. Beer stronger and 5.6% ABV is now legal. The systembolaget shops have the drinks arranged on shelves and everything is dirt cheap. Sorry, the last one isn't true. Just my wishful thinking.

Yesterday, Dolores and I ended up in the uninspiring sports bar on the corner. Her Falcon Export and my Carnegie Porter only cost 12 euros. What a bargain.

Stockholm (part one)

Summer holiday time. The Pattinson family is spending its summer holiday in Stockholm.

Why Stockholm? It was Andrew's choice. Just like me, he dissolves into sweat the moment the temperature hits 20.000000000001 degrees C. He was dead disappointed when we arrived yesterday. With the weather: sunny and warm. I bet he plumps for Iceland next year. He's already started softening me up. "It's dead cheap now, dad. Since their economy collapsed. Things only cost a third of what they used to, when you pay in euros." I didn't spoil things by pointing out that everything used to be four times the price of Holland.

There hasn't been much time for dragging the kids around pubs yet. I did get them into one, just around the corner from our hotel. An American-themed sports bar. They insisted we went in. Really. OK, they were starving and wanted a cooked meal. I wasn't desperate to eat, but I thought I'd join them in a little snack. Things didn't work out quite as planned.

I had 650 crowns on me. That's about 60 euros. Surely plenty. I carefully added up the price of the kids food and drinks. 460 crowns. What a choice. If I ate, there wouldn't be enough money for a beer. No contest, really. I had two Carnegie Porters. A liquid meal, of sorts.

With the kids safely locked in hotel, there was time for parent time. The special parent time. Just like the happy time (before the kids were born.) I was prepared for exactly that eventuality. I've two pubs in my Stockholm Pub Guide that are on the same island as our hotel, Kungsholmen. The Nils Oscar Bar and Mackinlay's Inn. Within spitting distance of each other, too.

My guides are renowned for their detail and accuracy. It's just keeping them all up to date is a pain in the arse. My Stockholm guide really needs attention. Just as well I'm here. The Nils Oscar Bar was nowhere to be found. Oh well, at least Mackinlays Inn was at hand.

We found a seat at the back and took a look at the beer menu. There was a whole row of stuff from Nynäshamns Ångbryggeri. Dolores had a pint of Bedarö Bitter. I went for a Brännskär Brown Ale. What can I say. I've rarely drunk something that tasted less like a Brown Ale. Way too bitter. And with all the wrong malt flavours. It tasted like bitter gall. As did Dolores's beer. We only had the one.

Early Swedish lagers

Did I tell you a pile of Swedish brewery histories arrived last week? I'm sure I've already mentioned it somewhere. A bloke called Samuel E. Bring seems to have single-handedly tried to document Stockholm's brewing industry. I have three volumes (out of at least six, as one is numbered VI). They are providing fascinating insights into the early days of lager brewing in Sweden.

Bayerskt öl
The most popular style in Sweden in the period 1870 to 1920 was, by a street, Bayerskt öl. I had been assuming that this was a dark lager in the Munich style. As so often is the case, it's actually a little more complicated than that. According to the Svenska Bryggareföreningen's magazine of January 1887, there were many differences between the Swedish version and the original. Bayerskt öl:

1. had a higher OG
   
2. used lower quality hops so wasn't as bitter
   
3. was paler - between pale yellow and pale brown, whereaas the original was closer in colour to Porter
   
4. had a higher alcohol content because of the higher OG and because the paler malts used meant it was more highly attenuated
   
5. had a higher CO2 content because:
   1. it was served directly from the barrel and not bottled
   2. Swedes liked highly-carbonated drinks
   
   

You may (or more likely not) be interested to know that one Swedish brewery, Falkenberg, still brews a Bayerskt. It's pretty pale, and is only just about dark enough to count as amber.

In 1884, the Bayerskt öl of Nürnbergs Bryggeriet in Sweden had a gravity of 13.8° Balling and was 3.84% ABW (5.3% ABV). In the same period, Pripps Bayerskt öl was 16° Balling and 6.7% ABV. By way of comparison, Löwenbräu (Munich) Lagerbier in 1887 was only 4.25% ABV, despite having a gravity of 14.75° Balling.

Pilsner öl
The first Swedish Pilsner was brewed in 1877 by Hamburgerbryggeriet in Stockholm. Paler and much bitterer than the better selling Bayerskt öl, it immediately found a market, though quite a small one. For both Pripps and Nürnbergs Bryggeriet it only made up around 5% of output in the period 1880-1920. Though, unlike some other styles, its popularity was relatively stable.

The Pripps version was around 15° Balling and 6.4% ABV. Just as with Bayerskt, this is considerably stronger than the original. Even the export beers brewed in Pilsen were only 5.25% ABV.

Pilsnerdricka
In the 188o's Grönwallska Bryggeriet introduced a new style of pale lager, Pilsnerdricka. It was a realtively weak beer, intended to offer a cheaper alternative to Pilsner. Many breweries introduced their own versions under a variety of names (Nürnbergs Bryggeriet's was called Iskällerdricka - "Ice cellar drink").

These are the details of a few beers of this type:

S:t Eriks Bryggeriet 7.4° Balling 2.8% ABV
Nürnbergs Bryggeriet 10.8° Balling 4.5% ABV
F.R. Neumüllers Bryggeriet 8.6° Balling 3.2% ABV
Erlangens Filial 8.2° Balling 3.2% ABV
Münchens Bryggeriet 8.8° Balling 3.4% ABV