Consumption of Beer!

On Friday, Emma and I headed into the Malmö Beer & Whisky Festival. We were there for the beer, not the spirits and so we stuck to that.. just as well really coz mixing the pair with the amount that was on offer would not have made for a pretty two-some heading home.. oh who am I kidding! Emma and I are about the prettiest two-some in zee varld!

We went through the beery gates and purchased our ale-cash, scooped up our glasses and got started! I saw in the distance a NZ beer, but it was one I had already tried before, on several occasions so I didn't see the point in stopping by to taste what I already knew. It was a little sad to see it was the only NZ beer there but I guess NZ is a long way. We tried a large varied amount of beer, some more grabbing than others. Like this Canadian brew, City & Colour by Flying Monkeys. It was an imperial maple wheat stout with an extremely bright and out there label! It was the label that drew us in, and then sold us at the addition of maple.. but really, what kind of Canadian brew would it be without maple?! Also, if you are a fan of Dallas Green, City & Colour, whom the beer was 'for' then it was a no brainer to try, coz I like some of his music too. We just happened to be one of the first to give it a go.. here in the land of Swedes. It was really quite good, and I wouldn't mind grabbing a bottle for another occasion.. a specialish kind of occasion at 250sek a bottle.

Just look how awesome this label is?!

This one stood up and screamed loudly, "TRY ME!" It was calling all out, it was named Ginger Joe, I like ginger, my name is Jo(e), it also had a moustache.. an orange moustache at that.. so you know, I really just had to. It was actually really good, it ticked all the boxes for a ginger beer, an alcoholic ginger beer. I would in fact buy that again, especially for drinking ice cold on a hot day. It wasn't anything crazy or out there, it was just a ginger beer and it just so happens that I enjoy ginger beer.. of the boozy and non-boozy variety. I do loves me some Bundy.

We stumbled across a basil beer, yes that is correct. Basil flavoured beer, yes it did indeed taste like basil, it stunk of basil. It was definitely an interesting type drop and not one that I would want to partake in again but the point of these festivals is to give everything a go and that one was so unusual, it was a no brainer to try. 

One beer we just had to try was called Lust. It had actually been banned from retail sale in Sweden because the label was too provocative and I think sexist with a drawing of a large breasted lady on it. However, it was really good and I would drink it all over again. It's part of a whole series, all the sins.. however, we only tried the Lust. After-all, it is the best sin... or well, at least the sexiest!

Not all the beers we tried were great, a couple slipped past in the meh category and others in the nothing special category. One from the meh was a liquorice beer from Helsingborgs brewery. We struggled to actually find the liquorice in it and to be honest, I think it was the worst of the night. Which is a shame coz I do like a few of theirs.. can't win them all. We did sampled from someone else's (no, not a stranger's, that would just be weird!) glass, another liquorice beer that was deliciousness. So it is good to know it can be done well! That particular beer comes from Malmö's youngest brewery, Lilla Ölfabriken and it was called Sideburns.

However, Emma was a winner, consequently I was actually the winner when she managed to nab a beer for nothing more than 5sek (not even a buck!) and a back touch! & then later on the night, a two for one deal. I should get her out drinking more often, she brings in the goods! lol We do have plans for another beer festival, this time in Copenhagen. It is not until May, and it is an early session with the door opening at 10am and then we have 4.5hours to hang with 80 beers and try as many as possible. Emma really is becoming quite the little beer drinker these days, which is nice. Craft beer really has opened the minds and palettes of the people. It has also helped with getting brewers creative juices flowing! Like this one brewer in America released a beer for the season finale of The Walking Dead which was brewed with roasted goat brains! I would love to give that one a try.

This is just a few of the beers we tried, and the snazzy beer glass that we got to take home, to drink even more beer out of! Score! The beer in the middle, well... that one was picked purely based on the fact that it had a dog as the label. A good label can make or break me picking a beer... you know, if you couldn't already tell!

All in all I had a great time, managed to munch on a sausage too, try and buy some yummy cheeses, and even gobbled down a fancy chocolate. Emma chickened out on eating oysters, so I have said that the next time we are in Boston she has to. I am going to hold her to that! bahahahaha or well, hopefully I remember by the time our next Boston trip rolls around. Speaking of trips.. 16 days until Berlin! Not that I am counting or anything...