Beer Culture in Scandinavia and Elsewhere

I've read a couple of books by the Swedish author Stieg Larsson lately. I can't say I'm too impressed, but that's not really the topic for this post. The topic is, as you may have already guessed, beer.

The characters in the Larsson books drink a lot of coffee, but very seldom beer. And if they drink beer, the books refer only to "strong beer" rather than a specific type. This is despite the fact that most other food and drink encountered by the characters in the book are described in great detail, often including brand names. Why, then, did the author find it sufficient to describe beer only as "strong"?

"Strong beer" is the translation of the Swedish "starköl". The Swedish "starköl" is actually only available from government-controlled shops called "Systembolaget" because the politicians, in their infinite desire to protect the general public from themselves, decided that beer with alcohol content above 3.5% cannot be sold in normal shops. Which again lead to the Swedes referring to any beer stronger than this as "starköl", primarily suitable for getting people drunk quickly, and, as a consequence, most people simply order “strong beer” in the pub, rather than a beer of a particular style. The fact that Sweden is a dire place to drink beer - though this has lately changed for the better with new offerings from microbreweries becoming available - is in no small part due to well-meaning politicians' urges to influence their subjects' drinking habits by promoting low-alcohol beer, also known as swill.

Norway, the country where I learned to drink all those years ago, has the same problem, with bureaucrats creating classes of beer that can only be sold here or there depending on the alcohol content, thereby encouraging brewers to brew stuff based on strength rather than style, taste or tradition. This has more or less competely snuffed out the old bock beer style in Norway, which is now hidden away on dusty shelves in the proud Norwegian equivalent of the Swedish Systembolaget. Thankfully, the Norwegians decided that "normal" beer should still be available in supermarkets, so the maximum strength was set at 4.8%, though this does force a large number of continental brewers who brew beers that are just a smidgeon stronger to try their luck in Vinmonopolet (translates as "The Wine Monopoly"), or, more likely, to drink the beer themselves.

Countries where politicians don't see the need to protect the public from accidentally picking up a beer stronger than 3.5% or 4.8% or whatever with their daily shopping also tend to have a better beer culture. Different beer styles have different alcohol contents. These styles developed over decades and centuries, and acquired subtle differences in taste, colour, and - you guessed it - strength. This again means that in such countries, breweries can relatively unhindered continue to offer the public what they want, namely great tasting beer of various styles, rather than just an ubiquitous, bland "pilsner-style" beer that unsurprisingly has exactly the maximum alcohol content to be allowed shelf space in the local supermarket.

So things are good for people lucky enough to live in Germany where there are at least 15 clearly distinguishable beer styles available, mostly brewed with love and affection by small or medium-sized breweries steeped in tradition. Most of the traditional breweries are long gone in Scandinavia, but things are slowly changing, with drinkers discovering other beer styles, often made available by very adventurous microbreweries. These brave souls are fighting against a lot of red tape and well-paid bureaucrats hell-bent on putting as many taxes and regulations in the way as possible. Despite this, I have recently witnessed people in Oslo ordering outrageously expensive micro-brewed beer, not to get drunk, but have something to savour and enjoy. Is it too much to hope that this is a trend that may lead to a change in attitude also from politicians?

At least the inhabitants up in those cold Nordic countries have, for the most part, enough money to hop on a flight to Germany, and experience proper culture first hand. They may even save money since the beer costs around a third of what it does at home, so the more they drink, the more they save. It's a plan that cannot go wrong.