Turn of the century market

On saturday me and Karin went to Sigtuna to visit the turn of the century market. It was a market as it could have taken place somewhere in the late 1800s or begining of the 1900s. There where people dressed up, they where selling hats, bread, sausages, candy and all kinds of stuff. There was even a guy walking around playing one of thoose boxes that makes music when you crank the lever.

They had a wedding at the town ssquare and then they had a dinner close by.

I finally found an open delicacy shop (had some bad luck during my vacation) and bought some cheese, strawberry marmelade with balsamico and some olive mix that was really nice. I also bought a garlic salami, some bread and a kg of freshly picked corn.

The music box, you can see him cranking that lever with his right arm.

I did have a "hidden" (tbh not very hidden) agenda to visiting Sigtuna, I wanted to find some beer from Sigtuna Brewery. However none of the restaurants I visited had it, not even Systembolaget. After asking around for a while I found out that you couldn't find it in town but that Systembolaget in Märsta had all their beer. Sadly it was closed when we went through Märsta on our way home. The answer I got when wondering why nobody had the beer was that it wasn't good enough. Now I haven't tried any beers from that brewery in a while but I'm sure it can compete with Pripps Blå, Zeunerts, Åbro and other low quality lagers that seemed to be the only supply available. To bad, I think it might draw allot of tourists. I don't think only beer geeks would find it fun to have a Sigtuna beer in Sigtuna. Well at least I was told that they might get some Sigtuna beer in Sigtuna this fall. Guess I'll have to look around again next time I'm there.

Some vacation beer

I've been re-testing some beers from the standard supply at Systembolaget (Regeringsgatan), just to rate them at ratebeer. Since I've been on vacation I took the opportunity to do some rating.


Jämtlands President Lager (Bottle) 5,2%
It poured a clear golden-yellow liquid with a medium sized foam that lasted a fairly long time for a lager and left a little bit of lacing.

It had a noticable scent of sweet malt, hops, white bread and a hint of citrus and honey.

It tasted of malt, hops and with a hint of citrus and honey. The hops was allot more noticable as the carbonation dissapeared at the end. It was also fairly smooth with just a little bit of acidic bitterness. A very nice lager.
Total: 2,8/5



Jämtlands Postiljon (Bottle) 5,8%
This is an english style Strong Pale Ale.

It poured a very dark amber liquid with a big light brown foam that left a medium amount of lacing. It looked very appealing.

It smelled a bit sour malty if that is even a way of describing it. It also had a scent of something burned and sweet.

It tasted of caramell, malt and with a hint of something sweet and burned. I can't really put my finger on what it tastes like exactly. It was fairly smooth but also left a dry sensation in my mouth.
Total: 3,1/5

Wells Bombardier (Bottle) 5,2%
It poured a clear dark amber liquid with a medium foam that left a nice big lacing on the side of the glass.

It had a fairly weak scent of caramell, malt, grassy hops, hay and a hint of rosehip.

It tasted of caramell, butter, hay and grassy hops. It also had a quite thick and creamy body with some stingy bitterness. Not very smooth or easy to drink.
Total: 2,8/5

Cleaning out the beer storage.

I've been cleaning out the beer storage a little bit at the time. Here are a couple of beers I tried during my vacation:

Anchor Steam Beer (Bottle) 4,8%
It poured a hazy amber liquid with a thick medium sized foam with some craters. It left just a little bit of lacing though.

It had a fresh smell of pine needles and citrus.

It had a medium body with some citrus but also a bit bland. It felt stingy in my mouth. IT feels like it’s lacking something. It got some bitterness but not in a hoppy kind of way, more like overboiled tea. An ok beer.
Total: 2,8/5

Traquair House Ale (Bottle) 7,2%
I've had this beer lying around for quite some time now and I think it might have been a bit to long. It looked great and smelled pretty good as well. But once I tried it I was really dissapointed. It tasted like watered down red wine. Since I have had this beer before I'm fairly certain something has gone wrong while storing it, since I remember it as a quite good beer. So I won't rate it this time, instead hope to get a new bottle soon and re-rate it.

St Peters Cream Stout (Bottle) 6,5%
It poured a pitch black liquid with a big light brown foam that left some lacing. Looked very appealing.

It had a fairly strong smell where chocolate and coffey where the two dominant aromas. It also had a hint of nuts and something burned and toasty.

It was smooth and tasted of chocolate and coffey. It also had a hint of nuts and that burned sensation that I felt in the smell. It wasn't overwhelming though and quite easily drinkable. Very enjoyable beer overall. But it didn't stand out in any special way.
Total: 3,7/5
Black Boss Porter (Bottle) 7%
It poured a pitch black liquid with a big light brown foam. It had some really nice craters in it and when it receded it left quite allot of lacing.

It had a smell of chocolate.

It tasted of dark chocolate and coffey. It was smooth yet dry and didn't feel very complex or balanced. Felt like it was lacking something.
Total: 2,8/5

Kriek and chocolate

I don't think I've made it a secret that I love kriek and chocolate. A couple of days ago we bought a bunch of luxury truffels from a store in Waxholm and on saturday it was finally time to try them out. I was prepared with two bottles of Timmermans Kriek, one sweet and one sour (Retro). I have already rated the sweet version and gave it a 3,9/5, but apparently I have forgotten to do the Retro one.

First of all the chocolate was really nice, my personal favorites where the chili and the lime truffels. The chili truffel had a very distinct spicyness which was really interesting. The lime looked like a lime with a green crust around a soft pale yellow centre, it was white chocolate with a fresh lime taste.

Timmermans Tradition Kriek Retro Lambic (Bottle) 5%
It poured a clear, yet slightly faded, red liquid with a medium sized light red foam that quickly dissapeared and left very little lacing.

It had a very strong sour scent which included cherries and a hint of wood.

It also had a very sour taste with a high acidicity. At first the cherries was a bit hidden by the high sourness but when I mixed it with the chocolate the beer really improved. It got much smoother and I could clearly distinguish both cherries and some marzipan. Fairly nice kriek but I prefer the original sweeter version.
Total: 3,4/5

Eskilstuna Ölkultur, part 3

Here are the two last beers I tried while visiting the pub and also some final thoughts.

Faktoriet Real Ale (tap) 4,5%
This beer is dry hopped with diffent types of hops each week, this week it was Styrian Golding.

It poured a hazy copper-amber liquid with a big creamy foam that left big chunks of foam on the side of the glass. As with the other beers from this brewery it looks very appealing.

It had a spicey scent of grassy hops.

First thing I noticed when tasting it was that it also had a very slight sour taste. But not as dominat as with Bälgvikens. It also had a strong taste of grassy hops. Very smooth and served at the perfect temperature. Very nice!
Total: 3,6/5

Skogstorp IPA (tap) 5,6%
It poured a hazy golden liquid with a big ice cream looking foam that resembled a mushroom and finally left allot of lacing. It had the best foam of the evening.

It had a strong scent of grassy hops.

It tasted of hay and grassy hops. It also had a medium body and bitterness. Very nice and my personal favorite. To get a better score I would have loved some more hops and bitterness.
Total: 3,7/5

Overall they have done a great job with the five brews that where available when I was there. They all scored top points for appearance. However some of them suffered from some sourness. But they have a great thing going and I hope they keep doing a great job in the future.

If I where to wish anything from future brews I would love to see some other styles besides differnt types of ale. Maybe an imperial stout, or a quadrupel and while I'm at it, how about a lambic made from locally produced fruit? Either way the brewery has allot of potential and I look forward to what they cook up next.

Eskilstuna Ölkultur, part 2

I tried all of their current own beers on tap. Here are the first three:


Fröslunda Tjeckisk Pilsner (Tap) 5,2%
It poured a slightly hazy golden liquid with a big ice cream looking foam that left big chunks on the side of the glass. I think this might be the most appealing lager pilsner I have ever seen.

It had a distinct aroma of grassy hops, some honey and white bread.

It was smooth with a light body with a noticable grassy hops flavour that brought a medium bitterness. It was easy to drink without being to bland, felt great in my mouth and it was hard to stop drinking it. Felt well balance and is one of the best of its kind I have tried. The only beer that rivals it is one of the beers served at the monestary brewery in Prague, located close to the castle.

I realise as I calculate the final score that it might be a bit over the top. But it should definitely be in the 3,2-3,5 range.
Total: 3,5/5

Bälgvikens Pale Ale (tap) 5,5%
It poured a hazy golden liquid with a big ice cream looking foam that left allot of lacing. Very appealing!

My first thought when smelling it was fruit candy. After a while I also found a strong scent of hops, citrus and grapefruit. Not sure where the first idea of fruit candy came from.

It had a slightly sour taste which made me think of gueze or some seisson brews. After a few sips I realised there was also allot of grapefruit, citrus and hops. It had a medium body and medium bitterness that lasted a long time. It was also smooth and easy to drink. However the sourness feels a bit missplaced for this type of beer which makes it loose a couple of points.
Total: 2,9/5

Eskilstuna Jubileumsöl (tap) 5,1%
Before drinking this I was warned that it wasn't as good as it used to and that it had gone a bit sour.

It poured a hazy golden liquid with a big ice cream looking foam that left allot of lacing.

It had a slightly sour smell and I couldn't really distinguish any other smells, but it was fairly weak.

It had some sourness in the taste but not as bad as Bälgviken. I was warned that it was and it wasn't as bad as I expected. It was still very much drinkable and enjoyable. However I suspect allot of the flavour is hidden behind the sourness. It had a medium body and was slightly dry.
Total: 2,7/5

Eskilstuna Ölkultur, part 1

Me and Karin made a roadtrip to Eskilstuna on friday. First we visited the Zoo and then we drove into the centre of town. Karin went to look at the local shops and I went to Eskilstuna Ölkultur. It's a home brewers club that has their own pub and a fairly large brewery. To enter the club you need to be either a member or a guest and you can read on their website how that works.

The pub doesn't have a sign so it might be hard to spot if you don't know what you are looking for. I missed it completely and had to call them to show me the way.

The pub-brewery is located on a small island in a river. It used to be an arms factory and the area has several museums and a hotel. The old factory look really gives the right atmosphere for a pub.

This is the view you get when crossing the river.

The club has exploded since it started and in a year they have gone from 400 to 2200 members. I can really understand why. If I lived in Eskilstuna I would be there all the time. The staff are all members that work without pay, they were all very friendly and loved to chat about beer and happy to answer any questions I had.

The guys working the opposite side of the counter for the evening.

The pub is basically one big room where the brewery is present close to and around the big bar, they also had a smaller room downstairs with some sofas, books and empty beer bottles. I was suprised to see the size of the brewery and apparently they can brew 1000 litres at the time. Which made the only comparable place in Stockholm, ie Monks, seem like a home brewery in comparison. At the moment they have 5 of their own beer on tap and I managed to try them all and you will get a review of them in the next post.

A view of the bar with a bunch of different taps and fridges with bottled beer. In the background you see two big copper containers which are part of the brewery.

Besides their own beer they also had a large number of swedish micro brewerys on tap. A left over from the Swedish Micro Brewery Associations meeting that was hosted here recently. They also had a nice supply of bottled beer.

Overall this was one of the high points of my vacation and I hope to visit this place again. It's just a 1 hour train ride from Stockholm and the pub is very close to the train station. So I might "force" some friends to come with me some time. I hope these types of clubs spread and I would love to have one close to where I live.

Fortress Waxholm

On wednesday me and Karin drove out to Waxholm. A small town on the edge of the archipelago just a short drive from out appartment. We have been there before several times but never visited the fortress.

A view from the top of the big tower.

It was originally built on the order from king Gustav Vasa in the middle of the 16th century. Since then it has been renovated and improved over the years. For a long time it was a strong hold that held of the russians during the 18th century and protected Stockholm from foreign attacks. But technology finally cought up when cannons could easily blast through the stone walls. Since then it has served as a training facility and now it's a museum and bed & breakfast.

A view of Waxholm from the top of the big tower.

Me and Karin started out with visiting the fortress and then strolled through town for a while. I hoped to grab a sausage from Rombergs, but sadly they where closed. Instead we grabbed a shrimp sandwhich at a café close to the guest harbor.

Me and a really big gun.

Before going home we visited a chocolate store. We bought some nice mixed truffels, a bag of chocolate covered nuts and fruits and also some chocolate on a stick. The last is a piece of chocolate that you should stir into a cup of hot milk to make hot chocolate drinks. We bought a couple of sticks and will try them out later on when the weather is a bit colder.

Castle Gripsholm

On monday me and Karin took a trip to Mariefred. It's a small town about an hour west of Stockholm. We started with visiting the caste Gripsholm that had housed several kings and queens. I honestly didn't expect it to be so big though.

You where allowed to enter the castle and a big part of it was avaible for tourists. Unfortunately you weren't allowed to take any pictures. The castle contained allot of paintings of royalties and other people associated with the royal families and some celebrities. It also had some rooms which you could only look at and they contained old furniture and other items.

The most impressing was the theater, it had a realy nice atmosphere and really gave the place a sense of luxury. It would be awesome to visit that place during a show. But I wonder if it is ever used these days. We also walked down under it and could see the wodden structure that could change the setting on stage.

After walking around for a few hours we went to Mariefred for lunch and just to stroll around and look at the store. My goal was to visit a cheese shop but unfortunately it was closed on sundays and mondays. However I had also heard about a farm called Furukulla where you could buy some locally produced items. However I didn't have any luck their either as it was only open on weekends. I did however run into the old lady that runs the farm and she told me that she mostly sold sheep that she mostly sold sheep meat in big packs of a full or half sheep. However she also had some fruit, potatoes, eggs and other produce when they where in season.

Karin in front of the castle. It rained every now and then over the course of the day.

Just inside the front gate.

Stefan and his big guns :)

On our way to the entrance of the castle.

We strolled through the park on the other side.

The castle seen from Mariefred.

Mariefred seen from the castle.

Crayfish and beer

When I got home from Monks on friday I was greeted with a little feast. Karin had bought some crayfish and made a Västerbotten-cheese pie. The pie was amazing with a distinct cheesy aroma from the salty cheese.

The crayfish was also nice. They had soft shells, nice texture and saltyness. However they where a bit small and lacked some dill flavour. I don't know for sure which ones we had but they where from Pandalus and bought at Vinn stormarknad.

But now I had a small problem that I've been thinking about for a while. What beer works well with crayfish? Personally I went with a nice wheat beer. But maybe something else is more suiting. So I stretch the question forward to whoever might read this: What do you prefer to drink with your crayfish?

It appears that I have already rated Franziskaner. I did however rate it yesterday as well and came up with an almost identical score. Only differed 0,2 points.

On vacation again

I'm on vacation again this week. Due to bad weather it's been a slow week so far but we got some stuff planned up. We also plan to continue touristing around the local area.

Regarding beer I don't allot of interesting stuff happeing this week. I really hope I get to visit Eskilstuna Ölkultur before the vacation is over. I also intend to try and clean out my beer storage a bit to make room for more exciting beers. I've had some beer lying around for far to long. I also intend to continue rating beer from the standard supply at Systembolaget. I got allot of english ales lined up for rating.

However in the next couple of months I got allot of interesting beer related stuff coming up. First of all we are gonna brew a new version of Death By Hops. Which is partly the reason why I need more space in the beer storage. I also intend to visit Stockholm Beer and Whisky Festival on the 19th of September. Then SMÖF on the 25th of October and in the end of November I hope to visit Örebro Beer and Whisky Festival.

After work at Monks

Viktor had his last day at work yesterday before he went back to the university. So me, Per, Lina and Viktor swung by Monks (Sveavägen) on our way home from work.

Me and Per managed to get Viktor to try Struisse Pannepot. I think I really enjoyed it even if it was a bit to much for him. Luckily for me and Per we got a couple of mouthfulls of that great beer.

Well me and Per started out with the new Monks brew they had on tap. Lina and Viktor had a Monks Light Lager.

Monks EPA APA IPA (Draft) 6,1%
It poured a very dark hazy amber liquid. It had a medium foam that left some nice lacing as it receded. It had a fairly week smell of caramell and citrus. It tasted like spruce needles (granbarr), caramell and citrus. Easy to drink with a light body, but also a bit bland and watery. An interesting project but the beer was a bit boring.
Total: 2,6/5

Monks Light Lager (Draft) 5%
It poured a clear pale yellow liquid with a small white foam that left some lacing. It had a smell fairly strong smell of honey and also some malt and bread. It was smooth to drink and had a taste of honey and malt, with a very low bitterness and I couldn't sense any hops at all. However no bad tastes, a pretty nice lager.
Total: 2/5

Then me and Per finished up with two bottles that we bought very much on chance. I wanted an american IPA with lots of hops but couldn't find one that I haven't tried yet so the bartender suggested an IPA from Argentina instead. I also wanted a tasty stout and found one from Goose Island which I hadn't tried yet.


Beagle Roja IPA (Fuerte) (Bottle) 6,6%
It poured a hazy orange golden liquid with a medium foam that left allot of lacing on the side of the glas. It had a very weak smell, I couldn't really distinguish anything and they smell from the kitchen covered anything that might have been there.

When I tasted it I was a bit dissapointed as I expected an american style IPA. Not even sure if this qualifies in any of the IPA styles and I now see that it is supposed to be an amber ale. Anyway, it tasted of honey, some malt and alcohol. It had a very low bitterness and I couldn't sense any hops at all. Quite dissapointed since I expected something else. Neither me or Per enjoyed this one.
Total: 1,8/5

Goose Island Oatmeal Stout (Bottle) 5%
It poured a pitch black liquid with a medium foam that dissapeared fast and didn't leave any lacing. The first thing we noticed when smelling it was an aroma of soy souce, after a while a chocolate and coffey scent took over and was more noticable. It also had a hint of something burned, like toast or similar.

It tasted of coffey, smoked ham, chocolate, butter and burned toast. It wasn't very smooth and felt dry in my mouth. Even though the different tastes sounds nice it felt like it lacked something to bind it all together. I couldn't quite put my finger on it but it felt like a half-finished brew.
Total: 3/5

Testing Harviestoun

A while back I went on a cruise with a couple of friends. To my suprise I found a couple of interesting beers from a brewery I had never heard of: Harviestoun. They had three different beers in the tax free and I tried them all a couple of weeks ago. My notes where a bit sparse and my memory is apparently shorter then I thought. But here is what I could get out of it:

Harviestoun Schiehallion 4,8% (Bottle)

It poured a hazy golden liquid with a small but big bubbly foam that made it look very fresh. It had a strong smell of honey and hops, both flowery and grassy. The flavor was fresh with grassy hops and a hint of citrus. It was a bit watery but overall very nice, without a doubt one of the best lagers I've tried.

Total: 3,1/5

Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted 4,2% (Bottle)

It poured a hazy golden liquid with a small foam that left some lacing. It had a fresh aroma of citrus and hops. It tasted fresh with some citrus and hops. But also a bit watery and bland, it smelled better then it tasted.

Total: 2,9/5

Harviestoun Old Engine Oil 6% (Bottle)

It poured a dark liquid with a small brown foam that left some lacing. It had an aroma of chocolate and coffee. It tasted of chocolate, coffee, something burned and a bit bitter.

Total: 3,4/5

New computer and beer

Last week I bought a new computer. I bought it in parts and then a friend of mine, Niklas, helped me assemble it. Once we got it started we celebrated with two very interesting beers.

First a couple of pictures from building the computer:




Then onwards to more important stuff, the beer:


Brooklyner-Schneider Hopfen-Weisse (Bottle) 8,5%
This is the other beer in the experiment between Brooklyn and Schneider. This one has been brewed by the Schneider brewmaster Drexler in the Brooklyn brewery. I have already tried the one Garret Oliver made at the Schneider brewery and I gave it a 3,4/5.

It poured a hazy pale golden liquid with a big foam that left allot of lacing along the side of the glas.

It had a very pleasent smell of both foam banana and hops. Also some yeast, passion fruit and other sweet fruits. Very nice!

The first thing I noticed after trying it was the high carbonation that clouded all the flavor in the beer. After whirling it around a bit and with less carbonation it was allot better. It had a flavor of foam banana, hops, yeast with a medium bitterness. The alcohol was hidden by the high carbonation but was soon noticable. Some chemical bitterness but not so bad, it was worse in the other version and one of the things that lowered the score a bit. This one also felt more balanced then the Garett Oliver version. Very nice beer overall, I hope they do a similar experiment soon again.
Total: 3,9/5


Chouffe Houblon Dobbelen IPA Tripel (Bottle) 9%
It poured a hazy golden liquid with a huge icecream looking foam that left allot of lacing on the side of the glas.

It had an aroma of yeast, hops and ripe fruit.

It was smooth with a flavor of grassy hops, honey and yeast. The alcohol was well hidden and I didn't expect the 9% that was printed on the bottle. It was also a bit dry. All in all a very nice beer as well.
Total: 3,7/5