To understand the rigidity — and some would say absurdity — of Sweden’s alcohol laws, step inside a Systembolaget, a government-run liquor store, on a Saturday afternoon. It’s predictable chaos because these shops are the only retailers permitted to sell beverages containing more than 3.5 percent alcohol by volume (ABV). At precisely 3 p.m., the doors will shut until Monday morning, and anyone hoping to buy a bottle of wine for a spontaneous dinner party or a few beers for a Sunday cookout will be out of luck.

But increasingly, Stockholmers have other palatable options.

Grocery stores are allowed to sell what is known as folkol (“people’s beer”), containing 2.8 percent to 3.5 percent ABV. Long maligned as tasteless, watered-down pilsners, these low-ABV beers are now getting a reboot by craft brewers seeking to shake up the Swedish market. At the same time, a wave of new folkol-focused bars and bottle shops — all opened in the last two years — is fueling interest in this formerly low-prestige beverage.