Month: August 2017

Spent a good chunk of the trip’s last morning in SF Bokhandeln – its selection on books, movies and games is so far above the domestic alternatives that it’s not even remotely funny.

Took a look in the Drottningsgatan’s Systembolaget and picked up an odd Omnnipollo can (lemonade never sounds too enticing in beer context) and a serendipitously discovered Thomas Hardy Ale. Neither of these was available in the “big” store, which just proves that a proper flagship location would be a good addition.

Picked up Alice Cooper’s new album – one of the very few artists whose records I keep buying in the age of streaming. He’d had a release gig in Gröna Lund and an afterparty in the Hard Rock Cafe yesterday, but the threat of rain and untold kilometers walked kept me away. Turns out there’s been quite a few bands playing in the amusement park lately (with no extra ticket fee) – sadly this is not geographically contagious, it’ll be an astronomical while before the likes of Megadeth appear in Linnanmäki.

Arlanda had an unexpected disappointment in store: Bath & Body Works had disappeared, so the stash of foaming soaps at home remains sorely depleted.

FI: Lystiä oli, ja matkalaukullinen olutta riittää pitkäksi aikaa.

The morning of the last full day in Stockholm was spent roaming the museums in Djurgården. Junibacken was nostalgic, Abba-museum told the story of the band without much polish and Vikingalivet was smaller than expected (but nonetheless packed with interesting objects). Lunch at the Viking-museum’s restaurant was very underwhelming, and considering the amount of walking done thus far, almost dangerously so.

On the backswing took a serious look at the Systembolaget in the NK-huset, and was once again disappointed. The glory days of shelves bursting with interesting imports are clearly gone – the selection was mainly domestic, with very occasional american entries. Nonetheless, the shelves were far from empty and bought a suitcase’s worth of interesting beer.

For dinner in Södermalm we’d picked a couple of interesting restaurants from the travel guides and magazines. However, last year’s disappointment repeated itself, as every shortlisted place was either on summer vacation or otherwise closed. After a medium-length ramble settled on Signora Vecchia, the very first Juventus-themed restaurant thus far. The food was good, but took a seriously long time arriving at the table, but the taste was worth the wait. Södermalm had a “shops open until very late”-evening, took advantage of it in Urban Deli (cheese and bread).

The way home went by Katarina Ölkafe, and there was no way to avoid dropping in. The selection was domestic and quite well established in the sour end of the spectrum. Tried out a pomegranate IPA whose taste was obliterated by Sorachi ace hopping and capped the trip with an unseasonal autumny stout.

FI: Systembolagetin valikoima kapenee (ja hajautuu myymälöiden välillä).

Most of the second day was spent in the Fjäderholmarna. It’s an island in an archipelago located conveniently some half an hour away from Stockholm.

On account of the early hour (just after breakfast), neither the water taxi nor the paths on the island were too packed, but the warm day drew in a lot of folks later on.

The island contains a sleepy crafts-y village and a handful of restaurants. Restaurants that were uncomfortably full around lunchtime. Finally settled on the quickest alternative – self-served patio of Rökeriet on the waterfront. The smoked mackrel and prawns were and excellent stopgap for hunger, and the very local beers (from the brewery almost literally next door) a very good accompaniment.

Indeed, Fjäderholmarnas Bryggeri is a recent arrival on the island (wasn’t there on the previous visit in 2010-ish), and they served a wide variety of good beers.

The highlight of the tasting was the Östersjö porter, whose unseasonal caramelly roastiness stood out amongst the hoppy ales. The collaborated Desert Island was very trendily new england-y: cloudy and juicy.

FI: Höyhensaarten panimo yllätti positiivisesti.

Spent a few days in Stockholm, embracing the well-known and exploring new things.

The travel and accommodation were firmly in the former category (Norewgian Air, Arlanda Express and Royal BLU Viking), so apart from the hotel being late in delivering a room, no time was lost in getting acclimatized to the western neighbour’s capital.

Ate a very traditional (for the second year in a row) late lunch at Lisa Elmqvist’s, where the seafood takes precedence over exquisite beers. The fresh shellfish on the Toast Skagen-appetizer were a firm reminder that we were now in a country that was able to harvest its own prawns.

As the weather was nice, Tunnelbana was by no means a necessity in heading out to Omnipollo’s Hatt, the eponymous brewery’s restaurant south of the bay. The restaurant turned out to be small in size, packed to the gills, and hot from the pizza oven. Fortunately the turnaround was fast, and we landed a table well ahead of the pizzas for supper.

The pizzas were half and half on the usual and the very unusual – opted for one of each, without daring to explore the (apparently) vanilla flavoured chorizo that was quickly consumed in the neighboring table. The pizzas were served without utensils – only a wheel-cutter and fingers used in eating.

Oddly enough, the selection of Omnipollo’s own beers was limited to the commonly available IPAs, and the only member of the excessively dessert-y selection was the familiar Noa Pecan Stout. Noa that was served with slush foamed from the beer itself on top. The experience of drinking a very chilly imperial stout on a hot summer day was less odd than it originally felt like.

Since we were in the neighbourhood, walked home via Akkurat, whose tap-selection was once again awesome, but the service less so. Exited quickly after the first glasses and walked back to the hotel in the evening sunshine.

FI: Tukholmassa taas. Omnipollon hatussa oivaa pizzaa ja yllättävän kapea hanasto.