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Mikkeller Beer Celebration Copenhagen 2023 - Part II (Malmö)
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- Written by: Jason Baxter
- Category: Beer Tourism outside Belgium
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Day 2 (Malmö)
After a wonderful Danish breakfast in our hotel we decided that today would be the perfect choice for a day out in Sweden. We had been toying with the idea of letting the hotel book us a return taxi but seeing as our hotel was just 2 streets away from Copenhagen Central Station we decided to go it alone and hop on the train.
So after negotiating the self serve ticket machines a couple of tickets were purchased and as luck would have it our train was pulling into the platform below and just 10 minutes later we were leaving Copenhagen behind and travelling along the coastline and onto the bridge across the sea (quite the unique experience) just over 30 minutes later we pulled into Malmö Central Station.
Exiting the station we walked into a bright and sunny (yet cold and windy) Sweden, right across from the station we noticed St Jakobs Glasvasen coffee shop and bakery so that's where we visited. A most wonderful aroma greeted us as we entered...freshly roasted coffee beans, warm baked bread and sweet doughy cakes...YUMMY.
A coffee and cake the obvious choice in the form of one of the best Cappuccino's and a delicious crispy yet soft Kokostoppar (coconut cake) this was a pure Swedish Fika moment.
Heading into town we decided to do a bit of beer shopping and the top rated place (on RB) was Systembolaget Hansa , a store located in the basement of Hansa shopping centre, not your natural choice or location for beer because from the outside it looks like any other clothes department store and indeed on entering you're greeted with clothes, perfumes and cosmetics but trusting online reviews we took the escalator downstairs where at first you hit upon a supermarket - no problem as we wanted to stock up with some Swedish foodie items.
It was only when we exited that we noticed an adjoining store that from the outside looked like a wine store (this had to be it) and venturing to the rear of the store we found beer...shelves and shelves of it, barrel aged Imperial Stouts, DIPA's, Belgian they had the lot.
After filing our beery bags it was time for a beer and just a couple of streets away from Hansa is BrewDog Malmö (might as well get our passport stamped) so a Fuerst Wiacek - Crowd Surfer (6.2% NEIPA) for Linda and a Hyllie Trappish (6.2% Dubbel) for me, both proper tasty.
Time for a bit more shopping and some food so we headed towards the picturesque Lilla Torg area, a small cobbled square surrounded with colourfully painted ancient buildings, this would be the perfect location for lunch.
Sitting under the powerful heaters it was T-shirt temps and sipping on a wonderfully malty Eriksberg Vienna beer we ordered our food (meatballs the obvious choice) these are worlds apart from the spongy ones you get in IKEA...proper homemade Swedish meatballs with cream sauce, mashed potatoes, pickled cucumbers and lingonberries - it made for a most memorable experience.
It was time to head back to Copenhagen so with Swedish filled hearts and bellies we made our way back in the direction of the train station (Linda however had other plans) because as the large brick station honed into view she suggested a little diversion to Hyllie brewery and taproom that was due to open in just 30 minutes, so just a 10 minute stroll from the station and we were outside Hyllie, an unassuming brewery that's easy to walk past as the only sign is a logo on a shuttered entrance, after a 10 minute wait the door opened and a bloke stated "bar's open" to the waiting group.
Inside was an open plan seating area with bar at one end and brewery further round the corner, naturally a couple of Hyllie beers were promptly ordered in the form of a One For The Money DIPA and PSI Imperial Stout and both were absolutely delicious, sadly it was time to head back to Copenhagen.
After a freshen up and a bite to eat it was time for a couple of new bars (new to us) firstly Taphouse, a large 2 storey open plan bar with 61 taps and this place was CROWDED but our luck held out because as I gazed at the tap list Linda nabbed us a couple of empty seats.
My first beer was a Fantome Saison and this was the murkiest Fantome ever (bottom of the barrel?) but the aroma and flavour were pure Fantome, my second was one Linda picked for me and what a beer...from Central Waters it was their Call Me Old Fashioned - a 12% American Strong Ale brewed with cherries and a touch of bitters then aged in Brandy, Bourbon and Orange Curacao barrels...this was bonkers good, it really did smell and taste like an Old Fashioned.
Next bar and it was Godt Øl Craft Beer, a cellar bar that consists of several small connected rooms and like all bars it was packed but as we were in I want to the bar. The girl serving asked if we had a seat inside (luckily Linda bagged us a couple) she said if not it was a plastic cup to drink outside but we had a seat so glasses it was and my choice was an Akia - This Corrosion...12% Barley Wine, a perfect example of the style. Our second choice was again an Akia beer in the form of their Hopheadz DIPA and a Gouden Carole's Classic for me.
Whilst moving to a better seat a bloke came over and asked what I thought of the Akia beer, turns out he was from the brewery and he had heard me ordering my This Corrosion...after a great beery chat I chose some special beers from the cabinet and we made our way back home.
Back in our hotel we decided to use our vouchers - if we didn't use the maid service we received a 100 Kroner per day voucher for the bar, so a couple of Grimbergen Ambree and cocktails before retiring for the night.
What a perfect day it had been, the trip to Sweden is something that we'll definitely be doing again.
Day 3 and the festival to follow...
Cheers
Jay 🇩🇰🇸🇪
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