Swedish beer where it’s brewed – finally

When visiting breweries around the world, part of the joy is being able to taste the beer, fresh and as the brewer intended, and perhaps buying some bottles or cans to bring home. In Sweden, this has not been possible, until now.

In the past, visiting breweries in Sweden has been kind of pointless, at least if hoping to purchase beer on-site. Thanks to a new law, from 1 June microbreweries, wineries and distilleries are allowed to sell alcoholic drinks to visitors – referred to as farm sale. But of course, it’s not as simple as that, in a country with a decades-old monopoly for sales of alcohol.

For instance, producers can apply for a permit after 1 June, but with no guidance of how long the processing of applications will take by the municipalities, meaning that sales this summer might not be realistic. Also, only producers with a volume of up to 400,000 litres per year will be allowed to sell their drinks on-site – hence, excluding some breweries that already have tours and tasting facilities available.

Photo: Sveriges Bryggerier

And last but not least, according to the new farm sale law, visitors may only purchase alcoholic drinks after a paid 30-minute so called educational event, like a brewery tour or tasting, which includes information about the negative effects of alcohol consumption. Wow.

Having visited many breweries around the world, the chance to try beer and to purchase some to bring home later is part of the experience for me. Most often a free experience, without a lecture on how bad the beer might be for you. I can’t help but thinking, this is like offering someone a cookie and then slapping their hand for accepting it.