SMÖF 2009, part 4

As we started to finish up in the beer hall we made our way across to Folkets Hus where they had all the bottled beer (except for the ones in the singles bar). Here they had a wide range of swedish micro brewed beer but also a couple of foreign breweries like: Antares, Hoppin Frog, Holgate and a couple more. I wonder who brought them along? Was it Monks?

Fairly soon after we arrived they released a suprise beer. Apparently the organizer of the festival had met the brewer from De Molen and he had been impressed by the festival and decided to dedicate a beer to it. I couldn't quite hear the whole story due to bad sound but it was something about a keg being left behind in his back yard.

Bloed, Zweet and Tranen (bottle) 8,1%
It poured a dark liquid with a small light brown foam. It had a smell of something burned and smoke, also some sourness and stingy on the noose. It had a smooth mouhfeel. It had a sweet taste of smoked ham, honey and vanilla. Decent beer but it felt a bit watered down.
Total: 3/5
Just as with last year we made our own Närke Stormaktsporter testing. I think it will be a returning edition to SMÖF for me. Me, my father and Nicklas shared a sample of each bottle: Kaggen Stormaktsporer 2008 and Närke Stormaktsporter 2007 and 2008. I have already rated Kaggen and gave it a 4,9/5, the highest score I have so far given to a beer. But I haven't rated Stormaktsportern even though I have tested it several times. Looks like I didn't take notes this time either so I will leave the proper rating for another day. Great beers though.

All in all a great festival. I tried 76 beers where I think 65 where new to me. I actually didn't have anything interesting left to try at the end, which is a new feeling for me. But I got a chance to re-try some great beers such as Three Floyds Behemoth Barley Wine. The next festival is Örebro Beer and Whisky and I hear allot of interesting brewers and importers are coming.

SMÖF 2009, part 3

There was a new edition to this festival, the singles bar. No, this wasn't a place to meet single men and women. It was a place for beer geeks to meet single bottles of beer and I think allot of love was created this evening. They served one bottle at the time and as soon as the bottle was finished they opened a different one. I didn't try them all but a couple of noticable beers where: Mikkeller Simcoe Single Hop IPA, Old Viscosity, Three Floyds Behemoth Barley Wine. I didn't see the full list of beers but I know Chrille and his friend worked very hard to finish them off so that they could taste the next one.

Berith and H-G from Närke Kulturbryggeri together with my father and Erkki in front of the singles bar.

Another change was that they didn't brew any beer outside this year. Which was a nice addition but I can imagine it wasn't allot of fun for the person having to stand outside in the cold all evening.

Another addition to this years festival was a cheese stand. They sold nice cheeses at really affordable prices. I personally bought a pot of Stilton for 60 sek, and 100g of Gamle Ole for 20 sek. The cheese platters where great snacks with the beer. I really hope they got the cheese mobile next year as well.

My brother, grandfather, Toivo and myself tasting some tap beer.

After a while I finished off most of the tap beers. I had only left a couple of stouts and porters which I planned to go back and taste later in the evening. So I crossed over to Folkets Hus where they had all the bottled beer. But more about that tomorrow...

SMÖF 2009, part 2

They had a competition for the best beer of the festival called Guldskum. I’m not sure how they choose the beer but there where seven beers from different breweries participating in the competition. I tried them all and below is the score with a short comment:

Irish Pub Sundsvall Guldkusten (tap) 4,3%

It poured a hazy brown-golden liquid with a dirty yellow foam. Strong smell of malt and yeast. Very smooth and easy to drink. Taste of malt and hops.

Total: 2,8/5

Eskilstuna Oktoberfestöl (tap) 6,2%

It poured a hazy golden liquid with a small white foam that left some lacing. Very weak smell. Some sourness, a bit stingy mouthfeel. Decent beer.

Total: 2,5/5

Tanngnjost och Tanngnisrir (tap) 7,5% (couldn't find it at Ratebeer)

It poured a dark hazy golden liquid, with a small yellow foam that left some lacing. Smelled of smoked ham. Smooth mouthfeel and very smokey, like it had been poured through a large chunk of smoked ham.

Total: 3/5

Oppigårds Pale Ale (tap) 5,5%

It poured a slightly hazy golden liquid with a small white foam. It had a fresh smell and taste of grassy and flowery hops, citrus, grapefruit and hay. Nice!

Total: 3,2/5

Skebo Vinteröl (Stilla fNatt?) (tap) 5,4%

It poured a hazy brown liquid with a small white foam. It had a weak smell of caramell and malt. Some spices in the smell. Good christmas beer.

Total: 2,7/5

Slussvaktaren Strömsholm (tap) 4,5%

I rated this a couple of weeks ago.

Total: 3/5

Monks Kaffeporter (bottle)

It poured a dark liquid with a small light brown foam. It had a smell and taste of coffey, chocolate and something smoked. Also some sweetness. Fairly smooth mouthfeel.

Total: 3,1/5

The winner was Oppigårds Pale Ale, which was also the beer I voted for. Congratulations!

SMÖF 2009, part 1

We all met at the train station to take a bus to Söderbärke. Only a few had dropped out due to sickness or work, but a large part of the Eriksson family was there. We even took a family picture:During the bustrip I shared a couple of bottles of DBH2. I think most of them enjoyed it even though it’s quite extreme. Besides that it was a calm trip, I didn’t have any beer to save myself for testing at the festival. But it was a very nice bustrip, the scenery as you get closer to Söderbärke is very nice, with big hills and lakes passing by the window.

We reached the festival at 13:00, one hour after opening and there had already formed a line. But it didn’t take long before we got inside and got a sample of this years festival beer brewed by Skebo.

Skebo Söderbärke Festöl (tap) 5,2%
It poured a clear golden liquid with no foam. Weak smell of malt and bread. Smooth mouthfeel and very easy to drink. Tasted of malt and grassy hops. Can imagine it working well on a hot summer day.
Total: 2,3/5

After finishing of the first beer we made our way to the hall where they had all the tap beer. There where already quite allot of people there but the sound level was suprisingly low and it stayed that way the whole day. The service behind the taps was great and it didn’t take long to get a sample.

SMÖF Update

I just noticed that they released the SMÖF booklet. I had problems with the link, if you have the same problem as me just Save Target and open the file from your computer.

I noticed a couple of changes to the beer list. Ex: Bridgeburner Special Reserve Ale from Lakefront (couldnt find the beer) seems to have been cancelled and instead I find La Trappe Isid'or in its position. A beer that will be released at Systembolaget next month. They had also added an India Pale Ale from St Peters.

Time for SMÖF

Saturday the 24th of October it's finally time for Söderbärke Mikroölsfestival. It's one of my favorite festivals and what I like about it is mostly the smaller size and that it doesn't get to crowded. It's easy and fast to order and you don't have to cuddle the guy next to you to get to the bar. Another plus is the great selection of swedish micro brewed beer and at a very nice price.

So far a fairly large chunk of my family and friends are coming. As usual me and my dad are going, but also my grandfather, uncle and I hope to get my mom and brother to go as well. Also Per and Nicklas are coming with me from Stockholm and I heard that Alfie the pop-up-man and Tommy Tommy is coming.

There is a bus leaving Frövi at 10:30 on saturday and it returns from Söderbärke at 22:00. It makes stops along the way and picks people up. The trip + entrance costs 350 sek. If anybody is interested in going on this trip contact me or my father and we'll make sure that you are signed.

Edit: Just saw that Bark from Ofiltrerat posted a beer list for SMÖF. Lots of interesting beer and at excellent prices. 80 SEK for a bottle of Kaggen is an amazing price.