I promised in my previous post that I would mention the beers I bought home from this year's Great British Beer Festival. As previously mentioned the selection of bottled beers from Scandinavia was extremely impressive. It was also very competitively priced, with the beers available for more money in their home country.
There were five bottled beers I was desperate to try, and two of those Ølfabrikken Porter and Nils Oscar Imperial Stout were consumed at the festival, and excellent they both were.
However the other three on my hitlist were purchased for home consumption. The first of these is the beer currently ranked number one in the World on RateBeer: Närke Kaggen Stormaktsporter. The vintage available at GBBF was the 2006. Kaggen is a 10% Imperial Stout from Sweden which has heather honey in the mash and is aged on oak barrels. Out of 63 ratings the average score is 4.63 out of 5 which is an amazing achievement. Somehow GBBF managed to acquire 200 bottles of this beauty. I really hope everybody who paid £6 for 275 ml managed to appreciate it.
The second on my must have list was the beer ranked number ten in the world, Nøgne Ø Dark Horizon First Edition. This is a massive 16% Imperial Stout from Norway and comes in a 500ml bottle in a presentation tin. Nøgne Ø is a consistently good brewery , and bearing in mind that I gave their regular 9% Imperial Stout 4.3 out of 5, I am hugely looking forward to it. This beer cost £8 which sounds pricy but I am led to believe by those who have tried it that it is well worth the cost.
The third essential beer was Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast. This sits just outside the top 50 on RateBeer but is the third highest rated stout. It is an 7.5% ABV oatmeal stout from Denmark which has a good dash of coffee in it. The name suggests it would be a good beer to drink at breakfast time. I am not sure I will be doing that but I will savour it when I get round to drinking it. Mikkeller is another brewery I have a very high opinion of. This beer cost £4.90 for a 500ml bottle which is an absolute bargain.
The trouble with beers like this is finding the right time to drink them. An occasion will crop up in the next few months and I look forward to reporting back.
1 comment:
Really great that you like our master pieces of beer from Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia. It is always fun to see a foreigner, especially from a country of a old beer culture that like our brews, and not always the other way around.
Good luck with the Kaggen, it is a marvelous beer and it is really worth its price, and I agree with you, when can you find a good time to actually consume such a great beer?
Over here in Sweden you can actually get the beer at our Akkurat pub in Stockholm, but for the price of around 20 pounds.
Ps. I also found myself a bottle at GBBF, and is also waiting for a good time to indulge it.
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