hello, friends! it’s saturday and extremely gray + snowy outside my window. a perfect day for laundry, blogging, and hanging out at home. perhaps a bit of coffee soon, too. i’m thinking that a nesting day smashed in between two very busy days is exactly what i need today. tomorrow exciting things are happening, but more on that tomorrow. hehe. yes, that means you have to check back. for now, i wanna share with you about my friday.
you know, any day with beer is a good day in my world. but, especially if it’s a local draft beer – something that is not easy to find in sweden. local breweries are few + far between up here in the nordic country, when you compare it to the 14, 16, 17 (pick your number – people have differing opinions) breweries located IN asheville, north carolina – a city of about 84,000 in the city limits, 230, ooo including the suburbs.
needlesss to say, my love + i were sad for many reasons when we left asheville almost 2 weeks ago, but one very big reason was: the beer. we could go to any of the local breweries at any time, plop ourselves down on a stool, and order a delicious, brewed+created-right-there-where-we-sat, pint of unique, special, delicious craft beer. and it was cheap. here, not so much.
on the bright side, locally brewed craft beer is becoming more + more popular in sweden. there are some microbreweries popping up in different places, and it seems that gothenburg is the place to be – of course that is on the west coast of sweden, and we on the east coast. but, i’m thinking that simply means road trip!
however, yesterday, we had a date with a locally brewed beer here in norrköping! that’s right. just in the past year or so, a microbrewery has opening in our old city (where we are staying right now), so we researched a little and found a pub that is selling their beer, and planned a friday night of drinking local beer with friends. perfect.
first, though, we made our way in the snow, sharing a can of carlsberg to keep us warm on our walk. think cheap, mass-produced, danish beer (like our american fave pbr). but, hey, it was the warm up for our locally brewed beer celebration.
at the pub, we spotted it. a locally brewed beer on tap! woo hoo! 
after downing the norrköping pale ale, and eating a delicious fish + chips dinner, laughing a lot, and having a super cozy time, we decided to order another round. this time, however, it was a secret beer. still from norrköping’s brewery, it was a bottled beer left over from a tasting, but it didn’t have a label, so the pub had no idea which beer it was. eh, who cares, right? this just made it more exciting.
both beers were good, but i liked the first one first one best, i think. all in all, i was a fun night. quite different from the funky local tasting room warehouses in asheville, but completely great in an of itself. i mean, i could sit + cry about missing asheville and the beer scene there, or i can explore new things, expand my horizons, and have even more stories to tell. yep, i choose the latter.
and… just so you know, i’m gonna do a microbrewery tour of sweden. yep. i will make to all of then at some point, bringing my love for craft beer + the asvheille vibe with me wherever i go. here is a little list of some of the microbreweries that exist right now – i know that this list has grown, though, so i’ve gotta get it updated.
{note} one of them is in the city where we are moving to!
Nils Oscar Bryggeri och Bränneri, Fruängsgatan 2, 611 31 Nyköping, Sweden. E-post: info@nilsoscar.se www.nilsoscar.se
Jämtlands Bryggeri, Pilgrimscenter, S-840 58 Pilgrimstad, Sweden. E-post: info@jamtlandsbryggeri.se www.jamtlandsbryggeri.se
Gamla Slottskällans Bryggeri, Märstagatan 10-12, 753 23 Uppsala, Sweden. www.slottskallan.se (in our new city!!!)
Dugges Ale och Porterbryggeri, Möbelgatan 3, 431 33 Mölndal, Sweden. E-post: info@dugges.se www.dugges.se
Närke Kulturbryggeri, Box 360, 701 49 Örebro, Sweden. E-post: info@kulturbryggeri.se www.kulturbryggeri.se
Ocean Brewery AB, Skårs led 2 Lokal 12C, 412 65 Göteborg, Sweden. Founded 2006, www.oceanbryggeriet.se
friends, have you go any tips?! if you know of any microbreweries or good craft beer in sweden, please let me know. i’ll meet you there for a pint!
“Yes, that means you have to check back” I look forward to it 😉
You’re too kind!! 🙂
Oh I wish wish wish I liked beer. I just don’t like the taste. I’ve tried to, so many types (and I’ve worked in pubs with the finest hand-pull ales going…) but it just ain’t my thing. Wine, ciders, gin and other spirits YES, beer, just no… You’l love the beer scene in the UK, so many good places for real ale now, I just always opt for the cider pints instead though!
Lina didn’t like beer until she met me, so there’s always hope. 😉 But, I like it all. Beer, cider, gin, vodka, and most definitely wine. I cannot wait to drink more beer in the UK – the pubs there are just the coziest! How fun is it going to be to go out drinking together?! 🙂