Beer in Sweden - Buying beer
Beer with an alcoholic content of over 3,5% (abv) are only sold on government controlled stores (Systembolaget), and of course at pubs and restaurants. The age limit is 20 years in Systembolaget, and 18 on pubs. Not too many years ago there was an upper limit on 5.6% on beer (one of the silliest laws ever invented if you ask me...), and the assortment were very limited. Nowadays things are slowly getting better. Still Systembolaget is the only retailer,they are only open Monday-Friday and at most places you must be prepared to stand in a que for quite some time, but their assortment has improved a lot thanks to changes in the legislation, and also the stores with self service are getting more and more common. Of course their assortment varies from place to place. In most stores you will only find a selection of the beers in the basic assortment. However, you might order any of the beers listed in the extended assortment, and they will bring it in within a couple of days. A few stores has an extended assortment, I recommend these places if you are looking for a well assorted beer store.: In Stockholm: Norra Stationsgatan 58-60 In Göteborg: Östra Nordstan In Malmö: Baltzarsgatan 23
To make it easier to view what they have, here are some alternatives for you:
Search Systembolaget's pricelist (in Swedish)
Systembolaget's range of beers January 1997

To Beer in Sweden

Updated 2000-01-04 - Per Samuelsson