Good neighbors with passion for hop and biology.

On the other side of the brook that is separating the village of Dala from the village of Locke, a totally different beverage than gin is flowing. Hernö Gin’s neighbour, Lockeby Brewery, is creating craft beer using shamelessly much hop and finding inspiration in the changes of the seasons in the High Coast of Sweden. The owners, Frans Olofsson and Kristin Lindström, are biologists with a passion for increasing the biodiversity by expanding areas of open landscapes and grazing lands. That’s why they keep pigs and sheeps gazing the fields in cooperation with Hernö Gin Founder Jon Hillgren and his wife Johanna.

In Frans’s and Kristin’s country kitchen, their words are flowing with enthusiasm while we’re drinking coffee and the rain is pouring outside. You can really sense the energy when they’re talking about their passion for craft beer, chemistry and cleaning. It might seem like an odd combination, but you will soon understand the connection.

– Beer crafting demands an extremely clean working environment and my heritage from my mother is a huge advantage: cleaning mania, says Frans with a laughter.

– This in combination with my career as a biologist and the experience to work in a laboratory, is a superpower when creating beer. I just love to work with chemistry and biology and I think that yeast cells are very exciting, he continues.

Lockeby is a craft beer that is unfiltered and unpasteurised. A living product and the result of artisanal work in a brewery where cleanliness and thorough controls of the process is key.

Shameless amounts of hops set the taste.
Water, malt grains, hops and yeast are the basis of all beer. Lockeby is using water from their own well and American hops with fresh notes.

–  We use shamelessly much hops creating our beer. It’s expensive, but the result is a craft beer that tastes so much more than industrial products with production in large scale, says Frans.

– In the future we hope to be able to use our own malt and hops that we are growing already today. In our hop-garden we are cultivating the ancient variety Korstahumle with heritage from Sundsvall, Kristin says.

With the heart in the High Coast of Sweden and inspiration from the world.
Lockeby Beer is created in the High Coast of Sweden where the hearts and souls of Frans and Kicki belong. With inspiration from all over the world they create all kinds of beer, from lager with its freshness to more powerful stout, pale ale and IPA. The names and the labels have a strong connection to the High Coast of Sweden.

– Our intention is to reflect the different seasons and the nature in our region in our products, Kristin explains.

Good neighbors exchanging knowledge and inspiration.
The neighborship between Frans and Kristin and Hernö Gin’s Founder Jon and his wife Johanna has been growing since 2011. Their friendship has a longer history. Hernö Gin has been a large source of inspiration for the founding of Lockeby Brewery in 2016.

– Jon has been a great support and he has been inspiring us very much. He has also helped us through the start-up process that are covered by extensive regulations for food manufacturing, says Frans.

– Also, we are very greatful for his advice to build a larger brewery than we first planned. We did. But it wasn’t enough. With time, the garage still ended up as a cold storage room, he laughs.

Contributing to a living rural area.
The co-operation between the neighbors has during the years expanded to include a common interest for contributing to a living rural area, covering subjects from infrastructure and transports to how to create jobs on the countryside and biodiversity.

– Since a few years our families are keeping sheeps and pigs together. Their grubbing and grazing are contributing to preserve and to expand areas of open landscapes in the villages of Lockeby Beer and Hernö Gin, explains Frans.

– That’s only one of the things we do to contribute to biodiversity. As a proof that we have succeeded to take one step forward, the kestrel has found his way back to our hoods, he sums up with great joy.

Superpower: Frans is great at Tetris. A perfect skill when he works in the warehouse, stacking pallets.

Coolest place for a Lockeby Beer: Lockeby Beer is served at Franzéns Kitchen in Hong Kong and on some of the best cocktail bars in the same town.

Support local food and beverages: Do you want local products on the market? Buy them. Artisanal products might cost more, but you will enjoy unique craft products created with passion.

How to store craft beer: In a cold and dark place.

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