I was in Stockholm, Sweden last week. I was there attending a meeting of the Regional Science Academy. The Academy meetings only lasted for two days but due to the vagaries of airfares I was able to save over a thousand dollars on my plane ticket by arriving three days before the meetings started. This of course could have meant two extra nights in a hotel but my good friend Hans Westlund came to my rescue on that score. Hans has an apartment in Stockholm’s Gamla Stan (Old Town) and as he was not going to be there during the first three days of my visit he generously gave me the keys to his place. This proved to be an excellent base from which to explore Stockholm’s beer scene.

Sweden does not have a particularly strong reputation as a beer country. In fact, according to The Brewers of Europe among European countries, in 2013, Sweden ranked 18th in terms of total beer production, 16th in total beer consumption, and 23rd in beer consumption per capita. In 2010 beer accounted for 37% of the alcoholic beverages that were consumed in Sweden; wine accounted for 47%. In 2013 there were one hundred breweries in the country of which eighty were microbreweries.; there were only fifteen Swedish microbreweries in 2008.

I arrived at Hans’ apartment around noon. Usually after a long trip I like to find a place close at hand to enjoy a few beers. However as Hans had left a bottle of India Pale Ale in his refrigerator I did not have to wait until heading out to have a cold one. The IPA was from Jämtlands Brewery, a microbrewery located in the small village of Pilgrimstad in northwestern Sweden. The brewery has a growing reputation among Swedish craft beer drinkers for brewing some very good beer. When I last saw Hans in November he had given me a bottle of Julöl, Jämtlands’ Christmas beer. The beer was accompanied by an episode of The Simpsons on Swedish television . After that it was a shower, a nap, a walk, and some dinner. Following dinner I headed to Monks Porter House. Hans had recommended Monks and it was literally a five minute walk from his apartment. The Porter House is one of two Monks’ breweries in Stockholm. At this particular location only stouts and porters are brewed. Small breweries in Sweden seem to specialize in stouts and porters; according to the website RateBeer nine of the ten top rated beers in Sweden are imperial stouts (the other is an imperial porter). The brewery is located in a beautiful seventeenth century building. The taproom is to be found in the cellar which, with its brick archways, is a delightful place to spend an evening. One thing you realize about Sweden is that it is not a particularly cheap place to drink beer. According to the website Numbeo in Stockholm the average price of a half liter of domestic beer is about $7. For the same price you can get one-third liter of a liter of imported beer. I was drinking craft beer of course so was paying substantially more – $10.60 for for one-third of a liter of a Monks’ IPA and $8.30 for a half liter of their light lager. In addition to their own brews the Monks Porterhouse also has a fine selection of craft beers from all over the world, particularly from Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands. While there I saw they had Spencer’s Trappist Ale in bottles. This is the only Trappist ale that is brewed in the United States and as I had never tried it before I finished my evening with that.

In addition to its two breweries Monks also own and operate Monks American Bar. This is a bar that specializes in American craft beer. You may be surprised to know (I was) that Sweden is the second largest export market for American craft beer; only Canada imports more. I passed the bar on my way back to my hotel one evening so went in to check it out. It is a cosy bar with a dozen or so craft beers on draft and dozens of others available in bottles. While American beer is the focus of Monks American Bar they do carry brews from other countries, including Belgium. I perused the beers on draft and opted for one that I had not tried before – the CoCoNut Porter brewed by Hawaii’s Maui Brewing Company. Again, it was not cheap – $11.15 for a third of a liter. Other brews on draft included Lagunitas Dogtwown Pale Ale, Goose Island’s Matilda, and Lindemans’ Kriek – each tap handle had an information tab attached to it that included how each beer rated on RateBeer.com. If lived in Stockholm I have little doubt I’d be frequenting Monks American Bar on a fairly regular basis.

Another brewery that I visited while in Stockholm was Nya Carnegie Bryggerie (New Carnegie Brewery). I’ll say no more about Nya Carnegie here as it will be the subject of a separate blog entry. On my way back from New Carnegie I stopped at a bar to see what beers they had. The bar was attached to a hotel and so, perhaps not surprisingly, their draft selection was dominated by macro brews, including Heineken. However, as I perused the tap handles I spotted a beer called Sleepy Bulldog Pale Ale. Sleepy Bulldog is brewed by Gotlands Brewery. Gotlands is interesting in a number of ways. First, it is not located on the Swedish mainland but on the island of Gotland. Gotland is Sweden’s largest island and is about 55 miles off the country’s eastern coast. Second, although a microbrewery it is owned by Spendrups who are Sweden’s second largest brewery. Established in 1995 Gotlands Brewery provides Spendrups (a family-owned company) with a platform to try experimental brews while also expanding its portfolio of commercially available beers.

One of my habits when staying in hotels is to finish off my evenings with a nightcap in the hotel bar. This trip was no different. My hotel (the Elite Arcadia) had a beer called Indian Tribute available in bottles. Indian Tribute which is brewed by Oppigårds Brewery turned out to be a really nice IPA. One evening my friend and colleague Karima invited meeting attendees over to her apartment for a reception. Knowing my love of craft beer Karima purchased a beer called Organic Ale – an American Pale Ale brewed by Sigtuna Brewery. Not only are Oppigårds and Stiguna small breweries but they are also both located in small towns. Oppigårds is located in the small town of Hedemora (population 7,273) in central Sweden, while Sigtuna is located in the town of Sigtuna (population of 8,444) which lies just north of Stockholm.

I never made it to every place on my list of beer places to visit in Stockholm – Omnipollo Brewery was a significant omission. But I suspect I will be back in this beautiful Scandinavian city. One final note – I did leave a little bit of Toledo in Stockholm. In recent years I have been giving gifts of hand blown beer mugs from Gathered Glassblowing Studio in downtown Toledo. As a thank you for his hospitality I presented Hans with one. These beautiful beer mugs are slowly invading Europe – in addition to Sweden I have given them to friends in Poland and Slovakia in recent months. So as they say in Sweden, Skål.