Alternative Facts, Real Facts and One Spoiler Alert – Weekly Brewery Update

This week we gave a name to our collaboration Imperial Gose, with AF Brew and we dig into GBG Beer Week 2017, the facts around it and the history behind it. East meets West in our American Pale Ale, Bobek Citra and we release our Modern Pale Ale, Spoiler Alert, at our Tap Room.

Alternative Fact. Beetroot is the new Hops.

Collaborations are an integral part of our brewing philosophy. And you know we didn’t beet around the bush when our friends from AF Brew came to town. This Imperial Gose is filled with Beetroot, Lemon peel, Coriander seeds and a suspicious black ingredient they said was Salt. Black Salt to be more specific.

The label is a mix of the eye from George Orwell’s book 1984, and the inside of a cut Beetroot. The name, well that was easy 🙂

Is it just a coincidence that this beer is #184 in our beer library?

GBG Beer Week. Sweden’s first beer week.

It’s that time of the year again when we’re looking forward to GBG Beer Week. GBG is a shortened version of Gothenburg.

We spent the past few weeks planning what we will get up to during that week and we’re happy to say, so far we have no less than ten events confirmed. It’s going to be a very busy week indeed. We’re planning on releasing the events early next week, so watch this space.

Henrik got us in the mood when I shot some photos of him messing about with beer in the brewery, which is really what the GBG Beer Week is all about. Everyone getting out in Gothenburg, visiting their local breweries and drinking beer.

For those that don’t know, or haven’t heard of GBG Beer Week, you can read all about it below.

It’s all happening in March. 17-25.

Gothenburg is often called Sweden’s most interesting beer town right now. The goal of GBG Beer Week is to get the city’s beer culture to flourish even more. During a fantastic week in March, we all pay tribute to the diversity of this new Beer-Sweden. And of course, everyone is invited.

Our good friends at Haket often use a great hashtag #AllaSkaMed, which roughly translates as #EveryoneCanCome. The same with the GBG Beer Week. Everyone is welcome; big and small, local and tourist, wide and narrow. The idea is to set a movement in motion, with events all over town, organised by the breweries, the importers, the restaurants and the pubs, to allow the entire town to ferment in this rich flavour of experiences.

The culmination of the week is the Gothenburg Beer & Whisky Fair, which usually draws just short of 20 000 visitors over the final weekend.

The background. Where it all started.

The idea for GBG Beer Week was born in Denver during the Great American Beer Festival. The Beer enthusiasts Fredrik Berggren (editor of Beer Sweden) and Petur Olafsson plus the organisers behind the Gothenburg Beer and Whisky Fair realised that a similar beer week was lacking in Sweden. In the US, over 70 cities have a beer week. The time seemed ripe for Gothenburg to also get its own beer week, made up of the same unholy mixture of beer dinners, brewery tours, releases of new beers, tap takeovers and educational seminars in a comfortable atmosphere.

And so it was decreed. There shall be a GBG Beer Week, and it shall be awesome.

For the people. By the people.

GBG Beer Week is a grassroots driven initiative. For the people, by the people if you wish. There’s no commercial overtones in the form of fees or other costs to participate as organisers. It is developed and run by different people related to beer -Gothenburg’s breweries, the restaurateurs in town, the beer importers, the beer bloggers, The Gothenburg Beer & Whisky Fair, the Swedish Beer Promoters (Ölfrämjandet), and others.

2017. A Moment of Clarity.

Each year, one of the Gothenburg Breweries is asked to brew, what is called the GBG Beer Week Beer. The style is up to each brewery to decided, and the beer also ends up being sold at Systembolaget, so that the entire Sweden has the opportunity to order it to their local store and try it. We’re very honoured to have been asked to brew that beer for this year, 2017. We are however not fooling ourselves, as we have some very big shoes to fill. GBG Beer Week 2016, is rated in the top 10 IPAs in the world.

This year it’s a 4,7% Session IPA, and we hope everyone enjoys our version of a GBG Beer Week Beer. 🙂

Bobek Citra. East Meets West.

It has a very Aromatic hop taste with a clear bitterness, there’s some hints of Grapefruit, Pine, Pineapple and spices.

As for numbers, this beer is number 05, in our beer library, that has just reached number 184 with Alternative Facts mentioned above. It’s also a beer that is available at Systembolaget in Sweden.

If you have a look at the images below, you’ll see that this beer has gone through the entire design change in labels, and has also moved from a bottle into a can. We’ve had some great feedback on this beer, and we’re happy it is so well liked. It’s going to stay with us for a long while indeed.

And finally

The Tap Room was open again this weekend, and everyone had a great time. We’re happy with the great feedback we have received from our latest new beer ”Spoiler Alert”. It’s what we call a Modern Pale Ale. If you missed out, then the Tap Room will again be open on the weekend of the 17-18th of February.

Until next week, keep well

🙂