Taking Stock of the Swedish Beer Scene

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Prästgatan (“The Priest’s Street”) where Hans’ apartment is located

I was in Stockholm, Sweden last week. I was there attending a meeting of the Regional Science Academy. The Academy meetings only lasted for two days but due to the vagaries of airfares I was able to save over a thousand dollars on my plane ticket by arriving three days before the meetings started. This of course could have meant two extra nights in a hotel but my good friend Hans Westlund came to my rescue on that score. Hans has an apartment in Stockholm’s Gamla Stan (Old Town) and as he was not going to be there during the first three days of my visit he generously gave me the keys to his place. This proved to be an excellent base from which to explore Stockholm’s beer scene.

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Beer and Bagpipes

My local brewpub, The Black Cloister, had a couple of bagpipers entertain patrons last Tuesday evening. These weren’t your run-of-the-mill bagpipers (if indeed there is such a thing). Andrew Bova and Dan Nevins are World Champion bagpipers – both members of the Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia Pipeband who were crowned the Grade 1 World Champions at the 2015 World Pipeband Championships. Continue reading Beer and Bagpipes

School Days

Beer and college tend to go together. Those of us who attended an institution of higher learning, in all likelihood, consumed huge volumes of beer while pursuing our studies. I know I did. But then again I was in college for ten years straight while amassing an undergraduate and two graduate degrees. So between 1981 and 1991 I had plenty of time to drink beer. And like most college students on a tight budget it was Continue reading School Days