Lingonberry Ale

In celebration of the well-known business's 70th anniversary, Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant & Butik has launched its first beer in a partnership with Badger State Brewing Company of Green Bay. Bartenders at Stabbur at Al Johnson's, the three-year-old Swedish beer garden located next to the restaurant, began pouring glasses of "Al Johnson's Lingonberry Anniversary Ale" earlier this summer.

"Having our own beer feels like a truly natural addition, especially in that it utilizes the flavor of lingonberries," said Lars Johnson, son of the business's founder, Axel Albert (Al) Johnson. "Badger State Brewing's high standards for the beers they produce made it an easy fit for our team, and they also loved the idea of a wheat ale flavored with wild lingonberries. For many years we've been one of the larger importers of lingonberries, so extending the properties of these amazing berries into the beer world just seems right.”

Wild lingonberries grow on a small evergreen shrub throughout the Scandinavian region of northern Europe, including Sweden. The berries are similar to cranberries, although not as tart-tasting, and they harbor many of the same antioxidants and other nutritional properties as that fruit.

The new Lingonberry Ale is a dark rosy pink color due to the natural red pigment of the lingonberries. Even the beer's foam has a slight pinkish tinge from the fruit. The new ale has a pleasantly piquant taste, with a subtle malt sweetness then ending in a pure lingonberry flavor. It is definitely refreshing and easy to drink.

"Stabbur has been pouring a barrel a day to our beer garden customers," said Johnson. "It's already a real hit and a true pleasure to drink outdoors on a beautiful Door County day."

"Al Johnson's Lingonberry Ale" is being poured on draft at only two locations in Wisconsin, at the Stabbur at Al Johnson's beer garden in Sister Bay and the Badger State Brewing Tap Room in Green Bay. Retail cans of the new wheat ale are in development and should be available either late winter or early next spring, said Johnson