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When Hoppin Frogs both Mean Manalishi and BORIS The Crusher arrived at Systembolaget last summer I never bought The Crusher but just Mean Manalishi, two bottles at that price range was more than what I could afford at the time. Unfortunately since I now laid hands on a couple of bottles of the Barrel Aged version and it would have been fun to compare them – some say that the barreled one isn’t as good as then unbarreled one while others says the opposite.

Hoppin Frog Barrel Aged B.O.R.I.S The Crusher

Appearance: Creamy head which leaves dark remains when it slowly dies out. The head in itself has a darker brown’ish color. The liquid is brown to black.
Aroma: Pleasant aroma with light oaky vanilla toned chocolate. A warming aroma, a somewhat creamy but well balanced aroma as can be found in better vanilla ice creams, but here with a dust of cocoa powder on top. Pretty heavy aroma with a good boost from the whisky.
Palate: Heavy mouth feel but still not too overwhelming due to good carbonation. Very potent flavors, semi dry, a little bitter and with much chocolate and coffee. Still a little too light and carbonated to force you to have to take sips of it. Warming alcohol and some dry fruits in the after taste. Reminds me a little about Hoppin Frogs Silk Porter but with a better whiskey flavor and a heavier taste. Lasting after taste.

Final grade? – Good, a good vanilla flavor with a light oaky touch balanced with chocolate. But for 159SEK it doesn’t reach any higher grounds than this. I actually went back with 2 bottles to be able to buy something else. It is certainly a good beer and I can see why people give it high ratings – but to me it isnt THAT good. Maybe you have to try it parallel with the unbarreled one to experience its full range of flavors and aromas, just like with Old vs Older Viscosity and similar.

Tomorrow I think it is time to focus on this years Easter Beer – I have tried a couple of them now and I’m not too impressed. But with 3 or 4 left to try I hope for the best.

The last couple of days when I’ve been trying this years round of Easter beers something struck me, first Mikkellers Hoppy Easter usually was called Mikkeller Drikkeriget GIPA, then yesterday I found that Fuglsang Easter Bird’s “real” name is Fuglsang Early Bird. Two beers, both relabeled to be sold during the Easter holiday.

Mikkellers brew first brewed (as I’ve understood it) to be sold at Drikkeriget (a bar I suppose), so to relabel that beer makes sense. But Fuglsang – a brewery that earlier announced their plans to start selling beer in cans to be able to boost their sales on the German border probably relabeled their beer to be able to export some more beers during Easter than they would have done otherwise.

This made me think..

Is it so much easier to get your beer into the Systemboalgets Swedish market if you name it a seasonal beer (such as Easter, Spring, Summer, Christmas etc)? Would we have seen these two beers otherwise or is it that when you compare them to other beers that are released as “Easter Beer” they are so much better than if they would have been judged by their original label? Or is it easier to get large amounts of your beer into the Swedish market if you release them this way?
Fuglsang shipped 11711 bottles (sold for 19:90SEK each) and Mikkeller 4965 (sold for 34:90SEK each). To sell the beer to Systembolaget, through some importer, in these quantities wouldnt maybe have been as easy since they then would have been required to either be released within some of the seasonal releases (at systembolagen all over sweden for 3 months time which requires a lot more bottles than at least Mikkeller wouldnt be able to/want to deliver) or within any of the temporary releases (in fewer Systembolag and in smaller quantities which makes the prices a little pricier and they would probably be a little to average for that).

So I come to the conclusion that we probably miss much beers that we could have had at systembolaget due to the way new beers are released, the issue of quantities (just look at the Systembolagets internal market and how Dugges and Oceanbryggeriet just can be found in the Gothenburg area with the same problem for other breweries like Jämtlands etc) and price (few bottles but in more stores isnt worth it if you cant take more money for them to cover the expenses and due to the demand). There are probably more issues that can be traced back to Systembolaget and how they have certain rules and regulations that prevent both Swedish microbrewers and international ones for gaining access to the larger crowds. Now they must find a importer which can sell their brews to bars etc which both means that the importer will raise the price to cover their own expenses and that the bar in turn will raise it even more.

Finally its Friday, almost Belgian Friday to use an expression from another beer blogger – because today is not an usual day today I drink (or rather I drank some days ago) a Belgian beer. For you who know my taste you know that it doesn’t happen every day. Brasserie Artisanale de Rulles La Rulles Triple is the beer! But to make it up to myself since I dont enjoy drinking Belgian beer as much as American ones I’ve also tried Mikkellers “new” Hoppy Easter, their old Drikkeriget GIPA but with a new name and label.

La Rulles Triple
A Triple that already in the bottle looks more like a cider or a geuze.

Appearance: Minimal bubbles in the head which has a white color, semi creamy top. Murky peach yellowy color on the liquid.
Aroma: Very, very, fresh aroma. Like a hefeweizen diluted with juice. Like a mango purée or even a mango and banana purée. I can also find a hint of tea, maybe even spicy green tea. Also hidden scents of something like rice? Grass? Boiled peas? Very varied aroma is the least I can say about this.
Palate: Medium mouth feel, well carbonated. A first taste of candy bananas which transcends into more of a candy orange flavor. Much flavors of grass and wheat. Very acid with light hints of pear and apple flavors. Not very similar to other Triples I have had before, this is juicier, lighter and more wine like flavors. Finally there are some pineapple flavors and a sweet tropical fruit juiciness.

Final grade? – Good, first of all it is worth its price! 55SEk for a 65cl bottle is a good price for this. And like I’ve mentioned it is not very similar to other Triples I have had. Maybe a little to acid for my taste, but worth its price and worth trying for you who like Belgian beers.

Mikkeller Hoppy Easter
Mikkeller relabeled their old GIPA into this and released it now in time for Easter. This will be my first GIPA so I won’t have any reference points for this one. I see it contains Tomahawk bitter hops, interesting since I’ve got some at home, so maybe I’ll dry hop it some by myself.

Appearance: Large porous head with a variety of bubble sizes and with a semi creamy froth. cloudy peach colors liquid.
Aroma: Welcoming aroma of bitter hops with a grassy, lightly acid backbone. I feel the maltiness almost preventing the hops from going “all in” in the aroma. There is something in the final aroma which I find disturbing, like old acid hops. The aroma started of fresh and you were expecting tropical fruits and fresh, perfect hoppiness – but something happened and the malt character took over and made it end up somewhere in between.
Palate: Light mouth feel, almost a little watery. Where is the carbonation? The bitterness is surfacing towards the endand is okay but the flavors are not what you expected. A citrusy acidness and an almost soapy after taste. Much citrus, light hints of resin and flowers. Almost peppery in the end.

With an addition of Amarillo pellets (I mistook them for being Tomahawk pellets) you get a better hoppy flavor in the beer. So they should have hopped it more, better or with more hop varieties – at least to better suit my taste.

Final grade? – Okay, maybe even a small +, this wasn’t what I expected but I must give it credit for being a good Easter Beer even though it is a GIPA in disguise. The hoppy character and flavors are held back and this makes this brew a good one if you are served one, but to go and buy it for 34SEK is a little too much when there are both better IPA’s and better Easter beers out there – for less money.

Friday it is, so I wish you all a nice weekend, and if you have the time and live in Stockholm – go visit Sorbon and see if there is something left of the Mikkeller 1000 IBU!

First of all – any reactions on the blogs new international approach? It may be a little too early to say much but any comments or suggestions are welcomed!

I’m still hungover from S:t Patricks day yesterday so bare with me. Had a great time in Gamla Stan at The Liffys, can recommend you a visit. But waking up with a Guiness hat and green face paint smeared over your face isn’t maybe what you love to do. Anyways.

Now, lets rock some beer.

For some reason I have always thought of Founders as a British brewery, maybe because I havent tried something from them (until now) and probably due to the similarity in name with Fullers. When I later understood their true heritage and that many of their beers are highly rated ones I got really exited about the Mars release containing both their Centennial IPA and their Breakfast Stout.

Todays post will be about the first of the two – Founders Centennial IPA. A highly classed IPA, dry hopped and finishing on an IBU of 65.

So, lets rate it!

Appearance: Small head which slowly dies out. Orange to red amber’ish color
Aroma: The aroma hits you instantly with a well hopped but not too heavy aroma of dry hopped IPA with light tropical fruit aromas. I can often find dry hopped beer somewhat heavy but this isn’t that at all. Easy notes of well balanced nuts against a bitter background. Very well balanced over all and stays away from the trap of offering to much flavor and aroma from the hop cones. Finally there is a citrusy acidness which gives a hint of a high “drinkability”.
Palate: Light mouth feel. Light flavors of dry hop IPA with flavors of cellulose. Not too bitter at all and which I actually expected (65IBU is it?). But how is it? Really? A little to light for me, but with a good bitterness and high drinkability. The maltiness makes it a little sweeter than expected for an IPA. I can’t really find that many tropical or citrusy flavors.

Final grade? – Good, Interesting and very lightly dry hopped IPA. Although, from this bottle I can’t understand why it has received so high results in different reviews. I went back with 4 of my remaining bottles but I have one left which I will try again and see if it makes a better impression on me.

After yesterdays announcement that I considered to turn the blog into an English speaking one – here is the result – It now is.

Hopefully I will keep my Swedish readers as well as attracting new non-swedes or readers who couldn’t understand more than the beers name since the rest was in Swedish. But lets try it for a couple of days and see how it works out.
As you can see the whole right panel has been quickly translated into English equivalents of what they were when the blog was in Swedish. So bare with me, it may take some time to get it all perfect.

Back to the business though – good brews.

Among the beers that Systembolaget (the only place in Swedish that it is allowed to buy alcohol)released in their mars-release among the Easter beers were the collaboration brew Juxtaposition, a beer made by BrewDog, Stone and Cambridge at Stones brewery.They label it a Black Pilsner, while RateBeer calls it an European Strong Lager and even others are having difficulties to label it. With a potential IBU over 100 and with Motueka and Sorachi Ace Hops from New Zeeland and Japan and with a new way of adding the hops – all through the brewing process which includes adding hops to the mash and the wort – this is something new and experimental!
Also, check out the bottles, each brewer has its own announcement on one of the three types of bottles. Read them, they’re all good and show how these three brewers are willing to push boundaries.

Appearance: Minimal bubbles in the head, larger ones on the top. Pale brown color on the thin head which leaves some remains.
Aroma: Interesting aroma with a sweet maltiness with hints o Brazil nut followed by a semi dry character. A well composed mix of chocolaty aromas which are both bitterly nutty and soft and juicy. There is also a somewhat underlying fruitiness with some berry aromas. Not to forget is the hops, which there are plenty of in the flavor. The alcohol keeps the aromas well intact. Finally there is a light hint of spices.
Palate: Light to middle mouth feel. Juicy and good carbonation. Exiting and well hopped chocolate flavor with a gentle bitterness with some nuts accompanied by a flavor of pilsner malts. Very complex flavors. I find it very interesting how they have added hops all through the process – both in the mash and in the wort – you can really feel the hop character without it being so extremely bitter. This is probably how BrewDog and Stone wanted their Bashah to be with a nice mix of hops and dark character. I wouldn’t say that they’ve added too much aromatic hops and rather it is the pilsner maltiness I find lasting in my mouth. The chocolate flavor is kept gently balanced and is also adding to the bitterness.

Grade? – Better +, Very complex brew which succeeds in transcending the borders of what it really is. An European Strong Lager, a “black pilsner” or what can it be? I’d say its something new, something interesting and with a new way of approaching how to hop the beer.

• Igår drack jag några av de nyheter som släpptes och överlag blev jag lite besviken – utan att någon av ölen i sig vart särskilt dålig, snarare var de rätt “bra” (men inte mer).

Men mer om det kommer imorgon och framöver.

• Kollade även igenom Beer Wars och hur vinklad den än kanske är så visar den en rätt skrämmande bild av verkligheten, både i USA och i Europa (se bara hur Heineken och Carlsberg gör PR här hemma). Svenska mikrobryggerier har svårt att nå en marknad och att göra PR är inte att tänka på, snarare förlitar man sig på ear-to-ear PR och det är alltså vi – öldrickarna – som står för deras reklam. Något som inte alltid funkar med de lagar och förordningar som finns vilket gör att ölen både blir svår att finna och när man väl finner den ute på krogen så är den förhållandevis dyr. Att tänka sig att försvaret skulle kunna bli något i amerikansk anda – “spara pengar, skaffa sponsorer etc etc, så har du råd att göra PR och öka produktionen” – måste ju ändå få anses vara svår i lilla sverige. Ändå ligger svenska mikrobryggerier rätt bra till vill jag hävda, de liksom amerikanska ditos vågar ta ut svängarna och testa nya saker. Nu kanske jag är lite partisk, men jag tycker att Nordiska, Amerikanska och även de skotska (BrewDog) mikrobryggerierna är de som för ölvärlden framåt. Pionjärerna om man vill kalla dem så.
  Well, nog om den utsvängningen med.

• För övrigt börjar jag överväga att ha blgogen på engelska, vore roligare att nå en större potentiell publik och visa vad vi svenskar tycker om öl. Får se, får se.

Så till ölen då, slutligen på Sorbon förra fredagen drack jag en öl jag sett fram emot ett tag och som brukar få bra omdömen och som nu också fanns för en rätt bra penning.

North Coast Old Rasputin
En russian imperial stout jag läst mycket gott om och sett fram emot att prova. North Coast Brewing brukar ju släppa iväg bra saker och då den nu också fanns för ett bra pris så var det enda som stod i vägen allt annat gott jag kunde välja bland. Men slutligen blev kvällens sista öl för min del denna!

Utseende: Lätt brunt skum med minimala bubblor och mörkt mörkbrun vätska.
Doft: Mycket halvlen choklad med hint av frukter såsom körsbär och kanske något annat syltat bär. Inte så mycket torkad frukt utan desto mer choklad och kaffe. Fyllig och inte alltför torr doft där jag får en litet tobaksartad känning. Kraften och fylligheten känns lite som en ”fruktlagrad whiskeystout” om man nu kan kalla något för det. I sluttonerna tänker jag lite på blåbär. Trevlig är också hur chokladen växer i smaken utan att på något sätt ta över. Rätt komplex doft med andra ord.
Smak: Len och väldigt lätt munkänsla. Lite lätt torr smak med mycket fin choklad i eftersmaken. Inte för bitter utan det är fylligheten som livar upp det. Mycket välbalanserade smaker där jag känner en viss nötighet under alla andra smaker.

Betyg? – Bättre, perfekt balanserad tyvärr ingen smaksensation som jag förväntat mig. Samtidigt är det en första klassens öl sett till hantverket och det är ingen enkel öl utan mer någon man nog behöver uppleva och testa igen för att få ut det mesta ur den.

Sist ut fick dock bli Stone Ruination IPA
En IPA som servitören tyckte var ett bra val i samband med Mikkeller 1000 IBU (ack så god) då båda är rätt kraftiga humlebomber. Tyvärr kanske man skulle druckit dem i omvänd ordning om man är efterklok. Men 100+ IBU är ju rätt lovande det med.

Utseende: Klar persikogul vätska med ljust skum och små till medelstora bubblor
Doft: Mycket grape och lite humlekottar tillsammans med lättsamma fruktiga smaker, typ aprikos. Liten söt jordighet från kottarna, allt medan grapen balanseras bort.
Smak: Lätt munkänsla med fyllighet och bra kolsyra. Kraftig smak av “barrig” humlekotte. Mycket fin beska och inte så mycket grape som anat från doften. Riktigt bra balanserade smaker och beska. Liten lätt sötma i eftermsaken

Betyg? – Bättre med ett litet litet plus. Kraftig IPA som är rätt lik Sierra Nevadas Harvest med sin kottighet. Mycket god och färsk grapesmak.