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Swedish beer

strange weather today

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Summer is still creeping up, giving warning signs along the way, and it’s another good day for a sour. Fruit sour, let’s not go too crazy. I have had Fermenterarna before, in a similar style, but this one was particulary appealing. The mix of berries, the underground comic label, it’s something that calls to you. It’s kind of an odd mix with those Scandinavian breweries; on one hand they make fantastic stouts, which seems to be fitting, but they also bring out some great fruit sours, very creative, which is a little less predictable. Let’s see how Wild Berry Shower stacks up.

Big fruit aroma, with that little bit of gassy sulfur that I’ve come to expect. Balanced out with bubble gum. It’s a slightly more solemn fruit punch color, a winey pink rather than bright red. The head starts off beautifully, mostly white with just a tinge of pink, but disappears in the blink of an eye. The taste is like a liquid Fruit Roll-Up (remember those?), although a more sour version. It’s less lambic sour than candy sour, and beyond that very clean, without a lot of aftertaste or clinging. While it’s on the tongue, there’s a battle of flavors, raspberry, currant, blackberry…what’s on the can, basically. Not being much of a blueberry fan, I can’t identify them in the mix, but I think I do get just a tiny hint of vanilla right before the whole thing disappears down the throat.

Supplier: Más Que Cervezas
Price: €6.57

what we could wish for history

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At some point I’ll have to be more careful with my receipts. For the moment it’s just a minor annoyance that I don’t have the exact price of this fruit sour from my dear good beer place, but I can be pretty sure it’s close to the other two. I’m straying from my path of darkness, but once in a while we need a little contrast to know where we like to be. It’s a good northern beer, from the Swedish Fermenterarna brewery. They know how to make some wild and tasty stuff, so I’m not too concerned about trying a sour. Also, raspberries are awesome, even in beer. There’s No Better Rhyme. Raspberry, Ginger & Lime, down the hatch.

There’s that gassy sour beer aroma! It’s also tinged with raspberry and lime, as advertised. I don’t think I get any ginger in there, although there is sort of a crackery scent hiding in the background. There was an exuberant head at first, but it vanishes within seconds, not like last week, although that head did collapse eventually too. Tangy raspberry sails in first, and the others might scurry behind it in its shadow. I manage to catch some lime trying to sneak by, but the ginger is well hidden. After I while I think it must be in the richness of the beer with a depth of flavors that fruit alone wouldn’t give you. It isn’t exactly an earthiness, but there’s a definite flooring to the taste. it also turns a little dusty after a while, lending more texture and making you take more notice. It’s one of those beers that doesn’t quite quench your thirst as you’re drinking it, one along the lines of wine and champagne. I could blame the fruit, I guess. Still, a fresh flavor and a pleasing color with a spectrum of sensations to please the whole year through.

I forgot to take the picture! Believe me, it was a raspberry sorbet

Supplier: La Buena Cerveza
Price: ~€6.50

digging for history

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Darker and darker are the days, finally raining a little bit. If we had a good old downpour, that would clean up the streets too. But as always, I’m in the mood for dark beers no matter the weather, so it’s just a flimsy excuse to pull out a porter. And what a porter it seems to be! The Kernel’s Victorian, historic London porter, presented by Stigbergets no less. It looks to be on the heavy side for a porter at almost 6%, but there’s a strange cheeriness to the can. Even though those badgers remind me of Edward Gorey illustrations somehow.

A membrane of bubbles forms on the sides of the glass, but also a respectable head. It does descend, but only slowly, gradually getting more and more Swiss cheese holes in it. This is a brown porter rather than a black stout, but it’s a tarry and precious stone kind of brown. There’s a mild smokey roast aroma, but no smoke alarms. It has a heavy and earthy taste, but the beer still manages to be very drinkable. There’s a little plumminess raising the flavor off the ground, but it doesn’t quite get to sweet, exactly. It has the feel of a spectator’s drink, one you have while watching a game show. Especially trivia, when you always know the answers without the pressure of being on the stage.

Supplier: Be Hoppy
Price: €5.50

mine!

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It’s a almost a new month, with old tastes. Sure, there will be some surprises later on, but for now, my old reliable stouts. There’s something both ancestral and futuristic about this label. That animal could easily be some kind of heraldic symbol, but it could also be a modern fever dream. The website for Stigbergets does not provide much history, so I’m guessing they aren’t some off-shoot of a traditional brewery. Fever dream seagull it is. The name Batch 1000 gives the impression of some kind of experiment, although it could also be that they’re just counting their production closely. 1000 is a big number, but with a number of beers going on, it could also be fairly soon after founding. Let’s see if it lives up to the aura of the big, round number.

Extra dark and heady, with almost a milk chocolate foam crowning this beast. The aroma is subtle, peeking out from under a bush, just light touches of malt. Somehow I smell more forest than field, it’s interesting. It’s quite a thick and heavy stout, oozy yet smooth body. Even the earthy bitterness is mild and muted, leaving the mouthfeel to do all the work of making you work at drinking it. It has a sophisticated and classic taste, leaning on tradition and history rather than any sort of experimental surprise. After some time it develops a warmer, woodier, toastier flavor, while maintaining a good amount of body without falling into stickiness. It’s not dazzling with bells and whistles, but it’s a beer you might fight off a seagull to keep.

Supplier: La Mundial
Price: €9

faded but fine

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I’m getting a little international with this selection, since we might as well. Who knows how long the world will last? It feels like it’s been a while since I’ve picked up a Scandinavian beer, although there was a Lervig not too long ago. I know it’s been some time since I’ve had a Swedish beer, probably the last one was in Taproom many months ago. It was definitely not a sour, though, and not from Brekeriet. This Wrapped In Red is a wild ale, with a collection of fruit of that color, even though black currant sounds like it should be slightly different. If you recall another certain curranted brew, it was so red it was almost purple. I wonder if I’ll get a Kool-Aid in my glass this time?

It looks like a typical sour with a little bit of red fruit, although the color is not especially saturated. It’s sort of a watermelon color. The head also isn’t very resistant, which also is not too unusual for sours. There’s barely any aroma, just a hint of scrubby fruit, I think it’s only strawberry that I can identify. It’s kind of dry and sharp on the tongue, but definitely with a juicy sourness, much like its purported ingredients. I’m not sure if I can tell that there are cherries and raspberries, but the currants and strawberries are front and center. It’s a mellow and light example of a wild ale, not overwhelmingly sour but with just enough to keep your attention. There’s also some sediment in the bottom, so don’t lose focus when emptying the can.

Supplier: Más Que Cervezas
Price: €5.45

not so alarming

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A little spot of light after some dark drinks? A rosy spark of dawn, it seems. Like I say, every once in a while I feel like I should try something different, and The Rowdy Rooster looks like something different. It’s a raspberry kettle sour, not the type of beer I normally pick up, but as summer becomes more evident, it might be a welcome change. The Pine Ridge Brewery out of Sweden might be seeing summers more like Spain’s so a little lightness might go over well even up north. Not only that, I recently learned about more traditional beers of those latitudes being on the sour side, so maybe they’re getting back to their roots.

Rosy red and lightly headed, tangy sour fruit aroma. It seems a little heavy for raspberry, but it is identifiable. It’s one of those dry fruity beers, with little sweetness in the immediate flavor, although it isn’t over the top sour. While bubbly, it’s smooth and easy to drink, very summery. Still there’s a weight of body to it that would also make it palatable for a winter party drink. There’s no weird aftertaste like some sours, no sulfury taste or anything. Long ago I had a raspberry ale from a now disgraced brewery and there’s a certain similarity. I don’t know if the name quite fits, to be honest, but it’s bright and happy enough, perhaps a wake-up call for the afternoon, although not so much for the crack of dawn.

Supplier: Labirratorium
Price: €3.90

plainly labeled

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Despite the temperatures, I cannot contain my hankering for stouts. I got one from Más Que Cervezas, thinking I would hang onto it for lazy Saturday. This isn’t quite lazy, but it is the kind of day that I would rather take to sit with a drink than do most other things. This one does have some fruit content, so maybe I can convince myself that it’s a healthier choice than a more popular IPA or sour. Well, sours do tend to have some fruit too, so I guess my justification falls apart. Oh well, Imperial Chocolate & Cherry Liqueur Stout will be a joy to taste anyway, I predict. This collaboration from The Garden Brewery and Nerdbrewing definitely promises.

It pours out like an otter after its favorite toy and hides under a pretty substantial, dark mocha head. It has mostly a toasty aroma, but there are notes of fruit, not as tart as I would expect a strawberry to be but still identifiable. It makes me think of the old Strawberry Shortcake toys, actually. The beer is stouty and bitter, with a good serving of toast, but also a touch of strawberry whipped cream. The pastry stout maintains its body, but it isn’t as sticky as some of them can get, and the strawberries have been tamed into something smooth and very comfortable in the throat. Even after warming up some, it’s a pleasant weight without going weird in sweetness/tartness/other odd flavors, and while it’s not the best choice (for most) for a seat in the sun, I’m very happy with it in the shade.

Supplier: Más Que Cervezas
Price: €6.05

that stuff’ll kill ya

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I saw it sitting on the shelf behind the bar, raising its glass, winking without eyelids. Burger Burger was not a beer to be rejected. I did have a moment’s hesitation seeing it was a sour, but it was also a milkshake inspired sour, and packed with fruit that make almost anything worth drinking – raspberries, black currants, even the strawberry. A black jacketed skeleton doesn’t seem like the most appetizing choice for the label, but the brewery, Fermenterarna from Sweden, might be making a reference to their ghostly lack of internet presence. There is a Facebook page, but their website doesn’t have much to speak of, except the posts from said Facebook page.

Slightly shocking color, although with the fruits listed I shouldn’t have been. It does give off a little puff of that fruity sour gas, along with some overripe banana. The top layer of flavor is pretty much strawberry milkshake, tangy fruit and fluffy creaminess, but there’s an undercurrent of banana and vanilla too. The raspberry and current are not immediately apparent but I suppose they add to the tanginess. On a relatively cold and wet evening, I might have preferred to pull out a stout that’s waiting in the wings, but there’s also a feeling of fun in a less common style and a creative can design. Also, skeletons totally go with windy, rainy weather. Early Halloween!

Supplier: La Buena Cerveza
Price: €7.30

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