As someone who considers myself a craft beer enthusiast and even somewhat of a beer snob, I’ve of course been hanging out at the best craft beer places in and around town for years and have even worked at several of them. I’m quite priviledged to live in an area with plenty of pubs that have a great selection of fine, rare, local as well as international beers you can’t really find anywhere else in the area.
But recently I’ve become a bit tired of it all. I mean, I still like going to them, and I still prefer a good pale ale or sour beer or stout over a lager, something which can be pretty hard to find in a standard pub. But lately I’ve gotten this urge to visit “regular” pubs.
Specifically pubs of the shitty variety. And I mean that in the best way possible. There’s just something about these old, run-down, dive bars that I find incredibly cozy and down to earth. So I’ve decided to document my findings on this blog.
My plan right now is simply to visit new places, have a few beers, take in the atmosphere, maybe grab some food, snap some pics, and then make a post with my thoughts about my experiences. Things like what the beer selection is like, how the food was, what kind of people hang out there etc.
This will mostly be places in Malmö, since that’s where I’m located. But there’s no shortage of neighborhood pubs here so I’ll have plenty of places to try out on my journey. Not every place will be a dive bar of course. But in general the focus should be on just standard, regular neighborhood pubs.
Since this is obviously a very subjective thing, I feel like I should write something about what kind of beers I like and what I’m looking for in a pub.
A good pub to me is one that has at least some variety in their beer selection. Obviously I’m not expecting to find anything truly exciting in most places, but having at least some beers other than standard pale European lagers is a must. I enjoy pale ales, IPAs, british ales, and porters and stouts of most varieties. So if there’s anything like that available it’s immediately interesting. The food is less important to me, since I rarely eat at pubs. But I like most types of food, so as long as the quality of the ingredients and the cooking is good I’ll consider that a plus. The interiors are another aspect I find pretty important. It should feel cozy and home-y. And the music selection should also be fitting for the vibe of the pub.
So check back in periodically if you’re also interested in finding good, regular, shitty neighborhood pubs in and around Malmö.