2017
This week we take a look back at the year that was 2017. For us it was very much dominated by our Session IPA A Moment of Clarity, the official beer we brewed for GBG Beer Week 2017, the fifth expansion of our brewery, our continual growth in our export markets and last but not least the nine beer releases we did in Sweden at Systembolaget.
A Moment of Clarity.
GBG Beer Week 2017.
When we were asked to brew the official GBG Beer Week beer for 2017, it was like suddenly understanding something… A Moment of Clarity. How could we go wrong? We are only following in the footsteps of one of Sweden’s best ever beers. That was the Stigberget’s awesome IPA ”GBG Beer Week 2016”.
GBG Beer Week is a grassroots driven initiative. For the people, by the people. Which is why we wanted to celebrate the diversity of the Gothenburg beer scene by creating a beer that is very drinkable and accessible to everyone.
Right from the start a lot of people seemed to question why we decided to brew a Session IPA on 4,7%. To be honest the sales of this beer has caught even us, by surprise. In Sweden it has now qualified in to 96 Systembolaget stores, which means we will continue brewing it into 2018, however with a few adjustments.
The Brand and logo for GBG Beer Week was only available for use during 2017, which is why we chose a long name and called the beer A Moment of Clarity, GBG Beer Week 2017. If we decided to keep on producing it, we could just remove the wording and the logo, but pretty much keep everything as is, which is what we’re planning to do.
At the start of 2018 the new label will begin appearing on the shelves of Systembolaget stores in Sweden, as well as in pubs and restaurants wherever we sell our beer.
The recipe is the same, so just ask for it by its standard name A Moment of Clarity.
28 New Beers.
Building our beer library.
Our brewing philosophy has always been to brew new beers, kind of in the same was as a homebrewer does, by continually experimenting with recipes, improving recipes and driving their brewing skills forward. 2017 has been no different for us on that front, where we not only brewed 28 new beers, but also brought back some old recipes, as well as brewed our 200th beer.
Still not found what you’re looking for? is an Oat Stout, which we released in Sweden at Systembolaget. There’s also some we did in Rum barrels, together with our Member’s Club. Our local baker also added a new bread baked with this Stout as part of their assortment. So it seemed to have been a hit.
As part of the 28 new beers we brewed, which are not shown below, there were two beers from our Sockerbruket Sour Brewery called Saison Cinq and Perhaps Blue Ribbon. Then sometimes we also do keg only beers such as A Generous Pour & C’mon Miranda.
We’ve done a few partnerships with local pubs and brands, such as Super Larsson World (The Red Lion & Restaurant 2112), PIGA IPA (Restaurant PIGA), Monki IPA (Monki), Pustervik IPA (Pustervik), Blöta Lövet v2 (The Red Lion), Dawn of a new day (The Rover) and If you want IPA you’ve got it (Restaurant 2112). Then there was the collaborations at other breweries such as 369 with Three Weavers & Adnams, What else is new? with Whiplash and Heather with six degrees North.
2 New 5000L Fermentation Tanks.
Another year for expansion.
The story of growth in 2017 is not much different than any of the four previous years we have been going. This year we added two new 5,000L tanks to our Kungssten Brewery. That gives us a total of ten 3,000L tanks and two 5,000L tanks at our Kungssten Brewery along with the eight 1,200L tanks at our Sockerbruket Sour Brewery.
We’re aiming for a volume of over 450,000L for 2018, which is just slightly higher than the 40,000L we did in our first year back in 2013.
🙂
Export.
Twenty Countries and counting.
As a brewery with four of the six owners not of Swedish origins, we’ve also had the world as our goal for our brewery. This past year we exported to twenty countries. Switzerland was the last country to join the ranks. 2018 will be similar as we aim to increase the amount of countries we’re exporting to.
If you’d like to get hold of our beers from the distributors, then get in touch, and we’ll link them up with you. If you’re keen to distribute our beer in your country, then get in touch, and we can discuss possibilities with you.
Systembolaget.
Nine new beers in 2017.
Here in Sweden we’re limited as to which liquor store we may sell to. The number is one, and that’s the state sponsored liquor store Systembolaget. They’re one of the world’s biggest alcohol buyers the only place Swedes can get hold of alcohol to take home. There are rumours that Swedes also drive down to Germany to fill their cars with cheap alcohol, a rumour we cannot confirm or deny.
Be that as it may, in 2017 we’ve aimed to release more new beers at Systembolaget than we’ve done before. Nine new beers to be precise. This is not close to the amount of new beers we produce, but fits into our plans as a brewery that brews new beer, and helps us get it to a wider audience here in Sweden.
The amount of beers we have at Systembolaget will stay constant at around 10 beers, with some rotating out as we release new ones. As mentioned, 2018 also sees A Moment of Clarity going into 96 stores, and we’ve got a great surprise for our 5th anniversary release, but more on that later. The first release date for a new beer is 16 February.
Some News.
ISS Astronauts Get Their Own Beer Brewing Supplies.
The astronauts are running an experiment to see how barley grows in space as a precursor for brewing beer in zero-gravity.
”Every few months, the International Space Station gets a rocket full of supplies from the surface containing everything from food to replacement parts to complex scientific experiments. Last week, a rocket sent one of these payloads to the ISS as usual, although it contained something a little different: a bunch of barley seeds, which the astronauts will grow in space as a precursor to brewing truly out-of-this-world beer.”
2018
2018 will be a year where, besides brewing new beer and exporting more, we will focus a lot more on sour beers from our Sockerbruket Sour Brewery. We don’t brew down there anymore, but transfer the wort from our Kungssten Brewery down there, and then add our sour yeast and other ingredients.
We’re also planning some bottles, over and above just kegs, and there will be some of these beers that will head to Systembolaget in Sweden, so keep watching this space, or follow us socially on Facebook or Instagram.
And finally.
Join us for our final Brewery Tap Room weekend for 2017.
Before we say goodbye, we’re happy to announce that our Tap Room will be open one last time for 2017 this upcoming weekend, Friday 22 from 17-21 and Saturday 23 from 14-19.
The beer list contains one new release in Modersmjölk, a White IPA we first brewed in Australia with our friends from Moon Dog Brewing, and this time round at our Kungssten Brewery. Come and taste it together with nine other ones. We’ll also be selling our Low ABV Beers (Folköl) as takeaways.
That’s it from us for 2017. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. See you on the other side.
Keep well
The Beerbliotek Team
Get hold of our beers.
Systembolaget
Visit our Systembolaget page, to see the entire range. All of them can be bought can buy in-store at certain stores, or you can order them to your closest store via Systembolaget.se.
Folköl (Low ABV Beers)
Internationally
Have a look at the beers from our Standard Assortment, or the new beers from our Special Assortment.
If you’d like to get hold of our beers from the distributors, then get in touch, and we’ll link them up with you. If you’re keen to distribute our beer in your country, then get in touch, and we can discuss possibilities with you.
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