There aren’t too many breweries in Stockholm that are open to the public. Not counting Omnipollos Hatt (it’s their taproom, and they have no brewery), I only found two, Monks Café & Brewery, which seems to be the oldest Stockholm microbrewery, and New Carnegie (English-ized name), which I visited at the end of my trip. There’s also Stockholm Brewing, but unfortunately they’re not open to the public, unless you happen to show up when the brewer has the door open and he’s got some free time. Anyway, the brewing setup at Monks Café is somewhat small, what looked like a four barrel brewhouse and four one-barrel fermenters. They have another restaurant and brewery, Monks Porterhouse in the Old Town neighborhood, that makes mostly stouts and porters, but it seemed to be closed during the summer for some reason. They have food here, as well, but it’s kind of expensive. Didn’t want to pay $23 for a veggie burger, so I got a cup of nuts instead, putting off dinner until later.

Taster flight at Monks Café & Brewery — Stockholm, Sweden

Rob’s Picks
• Nelson IPA – 6.1% – Citrus and subtle tropical fruit over caramel. A bit muddled, but very drinkable.
• Mango IPA – 6.5% – Mango and citrus, light caramel malt, nice bitter finish. Easy drinking.
• Calyptra – 9.4% – Belgian IPA. Banana and clove, coriander, spiciness, with some citrus on the back end. Bit of an alcohol edge. Fun mix of flavors. Kind of reminds me of a tripel.
• Orange Ale – 6.5% – Belgian ale. Light orange flavor mixed with some bubblegum and clove, with light lingering funk. Better than it sounds.

The Rest
• Svea IPA – 6% – Floral aroma. Light floral flavor with some citrus. Some caramel, honey, and breadiness to a light bitter finish.
• Black IPA – 7.3% – Weird. Sweet, with some bubblegum, and not much hop flavor. Finish is fairly roasty with a little chocolate and coffee, after the sweetness subsides.

I tried all six of their beers that were on tap (they had a lot more in bottles), and the woman working there said they usually have more, but it was summer. Puzzling. The café location is not in a touristy neighborhood, so maybe all the locals were off traveling instead? Maybe beer tourism isn’t a big thing in Sweden? Maybe she just wanted me to leave? No idea.