Do you know what’s common between friends, girlfriends, breakups and celebrations? Beer. What else?
This simple, uncomplicated drink holds enough power to fuzz out life’s troubles. When you’re having heartache, or when you need seek a companion when friends trash a plan at the last minute, who do you go to? Beer. Right?
But in the realm of one of the world’s most-loved beverages, where we have heard of Belgium, German, Indonesian, Hungarian and, even Indian beer- we might’ve lost out on counting in an unsung part of the world as far as Beer consumption goes.
Scandinavia. How uncommon is it to hear of Danish or Swedish beers, right?
Sweden, Norway, Denmark and, Finland- is Europe’s cold enigma. Cold for the weather, but warm for the marvellous delights that blossom in each layer of this enormously captivating land. It’s a part of Europe where travellers discover life is more than just the realm of usual country-side charms; where one isn’t merely restricted to seeing jersey cows with bells stuck to their necks, grazing in snow-capped mountains, with the layman eating no more than chocolate or milk-based products.
Scandinavia is about snow-capped peaks, winter games, culinary delights, spa, lot’s and lot’s of it actually and, that thing called- Beer. Etched in the Lapland, lies an interesting Beer-drinking culture.
We present you 5 amazing beers that hail from the often-undermined Scandinavia.
Stigbergets
Beer-enthusiasts would often tell you the name of a beer brand by the condition and formation of the lager. The smooth taste or the smothering caused by a beer’s acerbic taste- it all matters.
But when one talks about Stigbergets, a brewery based in Sweden’s second-largest city, that happens to be Gothenberg, its taste comprises of a thick, slightly slippery texture.
Having consumers who swear by the differently tasting auras makes anyone, whether a hard-core Stigbergets fan or not, eventually a fan of it’s delightful experience. What’s more? Additionally, fruity exuberances add charm to this Swedish beer.
Lervig
If you are slightly aware of this wondrous part of Europe- a region that often remains shadowed in mainstream media for a Germany or France dominating mainstream discussion, then you’ll find that both Danes and Swedes have a soft corner for Lervig.
It has to be said that the one thing that Lervig does exceptionally well for a Swedish beer maker is by producing high quality tasting beers, crammed with flavours.
One wonders then, aren’t flavours the variety we seek in life? Vanilla, Cocoa and others- the list of Lervig only increases.
Mikkeller
Let’s just contend with the fact that akin to India being home to a large chunk of Bollywood movies, with films made in an almost factory-manufacturing avatar, Sweden is about mass production of Mikkeller – a landmark for beer lovers.
You’ve got to know this mind-boggling fact; Mikkeller brews up to 100 beers each year.
Truth be told, Mikkeller is often considered a part of Swedish culture- implicit to the country- as is say eating the beetle leaf in India post the dinner meal.
Omnipollo
In marketing and advertising parlance, innovation is the key component of lasting PowerPoint’s and sales pitches. How else would you see remarkable ideas taking shape, selling brands and, converting them into realistic consumable habits?
Omnipollo is Scandinavian innovation added to the beer. Omnipollo is a bitter but tangy fizzy drink that the Swedes brew with ecstatic ease, going as far as dishing out flavours such a Vanilla and in some cases, making the drink taste like hopped up alcoholic squash.
Brewski Mangofeber
Did you know that dudes and babes in America’s East Cost have been relishing something as random albeit delightful as a fruit-laden IPA (India Pale Ale) and not since yesterday, but since ages? But it was the Swedish brewery Brewski that launched the now famous Mangofeber- giving beer drinkers a twinge of a new taste.
Since innovation and marvelous creativity stands in the heart of the Swedish culture, the Swedes made the hazy, straw-coloured ale famous in the rest of Europe that hadn’t really had fruity flavours in an overwhelming capacity.