Gimme gimme gimme!

I found a bottle of Old Speckled Hen in my local Stockholm supermarket today, but all is not what it seems. Check out the alcohol content in the picture below:

Yep, that's 3.5% Old Speckled Hen. Hardcore ale buffs might also notice that the description "strong fine ale" has been appropriately replaced with "fine English ale", although they'd probably be too drunk to spot that.

"What in the name of Satan's balls is this s***?" I hear you enquire. The answer of course has to do with Sweden's strict alcohol laws. Alcoholic drinks over 3.5% ABV can only be sold in special government-run shops called Systembolaget (although this only applies to consumption off-premises; you can still buy drink in bars and restaurants, but you'll pay nearly an order of magnitude more for it). So, while you can still get the real deal across the street, many breweries do a special girl's version for the lazy drinker (and, presumably, girls). Ok, maybe a bit commie, but I actually quite like having a weaker option, it's nice to be able to have a can or two in the evening without getting drunk.

But enough of that, what's 3.5% Hen actually like? Actually, not that bad! It's full-bodied, bitter, and tasty, unmistakably a Hen. And yet there's something missing. For instance there's little after taste, and predictably it's much easier to drink. At the (h)end of the day though I'm just amazed that there are enough ex-pat English ale drinkers in Scandinavia who are sufficiently lazy to buy this instead of going to System. The numbers surely don't add up! But what do I know? I'm just a lazy ex-pat English ale drinker.