The Bishops Arms Folkungagatan (Stockholm)

No Longer In Business

The closing of this place was a major loss for Södermalm. Cool_Bond clearly had a problem going there but I doubt not many gives a shit. Old review: My favourite local place that I probably visit way too much. Really nice people behind the bar who often sit down after work and chat with a beer. The selection is good and there’s almost always something interesting for me on tap. The food range from standard pub food to more ambitious dishes. They often have stuff from Närke and recently they’ve gotten a close relationship with Sthlm Brewing who brew a beer exclusively for them. The swedish importer Brill & co manages the upstairs bar on fridays and saturdays. You can almost always get a seat.

Personnel barking out one. I'm glad this place has closed.

The tap selection is fairly standard for Bishop Arms, but with an impressive and eclectic assortment of local breweries also on offer. For the lovers of Belgian-style ales, there is also a fine collection of these in bottle form. These alone make this the finest BA in Stockholm. Service and interior are top notch. While the food is BA standard, which is to say, totally decent.

Propably the most beautiful Bishops Arms branch in Stockholm, made up like a traditional British Pub on 3 floors, with a lot of wood and cosy corners. Interesting tap list at my visit, although not outstanding, good mix of small local breweries, international craft, some macros and a few quite exlusive offerings, like the very good Närke FolkAle. Friendly and knowledgable staff, prices aren’t low, but decent for Stockholm standards.

Overall definitely recommended when you are in this area, but I guess you won’t miss too much if you visit one of the more centrally located branches (for example Gamla Stan), although I agree that this is the best of the branches I’ve been to.

Nice pub, tucked away from the central buzz, still not too far away, a 5 minute walk from tube station Medborgarplatsen. The bar and the main drinking area located downstairs, some seats in street level and a dining area upstairs. Interior is much like the other Bishops Arms pubs. Staff is very friendly and service minded, with good beer knowledge. 25-30 draught beers, a few usual suspects, but most of them from good craft brewers from all around the world. Usually some beers I’ve never tried. Sometimes have special beers brewed for the pub by Stockholm Brewing, located a couple of blocks away. Excellent bottle selection as well. Good pub food. Mainly inhabited by locals and beer geeks. Usually not as crowded as e.g. Akkurat or Oliver Twist, mainly due to the location. Getting a seat isn’t a problem. In my opinion the best of the Bishops Arms pubs in Stockholm and one of the best overall in town. Well worth the walk.

We visited here on Saturday 19th November 2016, this being our birthday weekend away. We arrived here after visiting the Fotografiska museum which is a short 5mins walk away and is well worth a visit, it was truly excellent. This Bishops Arms is located on the eastern side of Sodermalm and if walking from central station would take about 40 mins, we never used public transport all weekend, however this looked a well connected area for buses and the underground. It in on Folkungagatan which is one of the busier streets on Sodermalm and close’ish’ to the intersection with Renstiernasgata. There is a Systembolaget pretty much next door.

Inside this looked a jolly large place with a couple of levels, with the bar on the lower ground level, though there was a stair lift type contraption to assist wheelchair users or those less mobile to access this level. I didn’t explore this place at all, the bar was straight ahead on this level and we headed there and then sat close by, though the look of this place was not too dissimilar to a UK pub in fact I was reminded of a JDW.

There was an excellent choice of beers on keg and also cask I noticed, I was very impressed with the selection we settled on a Lervig 3 Bean Stout (we love this beer) and a Warpigs Booty Calls (I think that was the name) however at 5.8% I cannot see how it could really be described as a Session IPA.

We liked this place, it was large, comfortable and the price were reasonable. The music selection was quite bizarre, starting with Echo and the Bunnymen and an acoustic version of The Game so thumbs up for that but then through to Duran Duran and The Union of the Snake, mmhhh.....with an equally bizarre choice of songs en route, Spotify does amaze me at times with how it selects.

the highest rated Bishops arms, is located a bit further away from the real ’craftbeer-bar hotspot’ yet perfectly manageable by foot. The interior is classy, very wide spread seats, as well as a cosy bar. The vastagatan one ( if I spell it correct? ) seemed to have more choice, but overall less interesting. this place sells AB:04 in november 2016 ! ( amongst other great beers) . A bit high in pricing, but still OK . Service was extremely friendly ( I had a guy who moved in from the UK) . If you have time for it, this is a place to swing by. If not, you didn’t miss Stockholms’ best, though. Compared to other Bishops arms, this wins by far ! best service ( extreme big difference) , a menu (!) and even pricemarks on the beers in the fridges, if you just don’t wanna look at the menu for some reason.

Good Bishops Arms. Happened to have Omnipollo weekend at my visit. Good selection on tap and also in the fridges. Like the Belgo fridge... However, twice in a couple of weeks in two different Bishops I have had Green Flash bottles which have passed the best by date... How come? Green Flash is good, man... The first (in Trollhättan, Sweden) was one of their higher abv beers so it didn’t matter - it could bare the "maturation", but this one was a Session IPA. Better control of what’s in them fridges is in order...

Visited at friday when Swedish importer Brill has the upper part of the restaurant for quite fun stuff (Toppling Goliath and 3F Hommage among others tonight). Friendly service and decent food today. Value is typical swedish, on the expensive side but not extreme in any way. Not so crowded, getting a spot at 8pm was no problem at all. 5-10 minutes walk from nearest metro or 3-4 from bus, easy to find.

Visited first time on August 5, 2010. Been there more, latest end of February 2013, followed by Friday September 11, 2015.
Lastest visit arrived 1530 to not so crowded, stayed until 2130, had people all the time, though not crowded. Apparently a fairly slow Friday as compared to usual.
Located a fair bit from the metro station, but not too far for a refreshing walk to build up your thirst. There are a few busses stopping nearby. Parking on the street, 20 SEK/h weekdays until 1700, then free. Parking can be very difficult to find though.
In summer a small outdoor seating area, but all year round a big indoor seating in several levels. As for most BA pubs a quite OK range of draught and bottled beers, though the staff a few times I’ve visited have been somewhat clueless to what is happening outside of their own pub. This latest time they were up to speed though, very friendly and service minded.
Only time I ate was this last visit, had fish and chips which was standard OK to good. Fish portion was a bit small though and the price to the high side for all food.
Nice and rather cozy place a bit from the beaten path of the other craft beer bars, but well worth a visit I’d say.