Systembolaget - Part III / Swedish Beer - Part II

After having noticed several beers available with different alcohol contents, I decided to see if I could taste the difference. For starters, I chose Mariestads - a typical Swedish lager - thinking that if anyone should know how to make decent low alcohol content beer, it should be the Swedes. At a local supermarket I picked up a few cans of the 3.5% ABV, and later - in Systembolaget - I picked up a few cans of the 'export' variety holding 5.2% ABV.


As you can see they appear very similar - but how do they taste?

When I first tasted the 3.5% version, I thought it wasn't so bad - but it paled by comparison to the 5.2% version once I tasted that. Yes, it true: you can taste the difference, and the higher alcohol content version simply tastes better - it's more flavourful, a more full-bodied, quite simply: a better beer...