Month: June 2017

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Accidental tap takeover participation

De Molen logo
De Molen logo
Had a very very late lunch downtown (following a surprisingly long meeting).

Opted to try out Sori Taproom again, even though the official lunch hour was way past. Turned out that today was a special day indeed, with a heavily curtailed menu. Fortunately burgers were on (though fries were not). This arrangement was on account of the first Brewer’s Dinner in the evening, with an aligned tap takeover by Brouwerij de Molen.

Sampled two &-beers.

Heksen & Trollen was a very good companion to the burger, a crisp and even bitterish saison.

Bommen & Granaten, on the other hand, was a dessert and my first barley wine off a tap in a long long while. Very plummy, but only moderately sweet – with the alcohol conveniently hidden by the stony fruits, malts and hopping.

FI: Vahinko-osallistuminen hananvaltaukseen jäi kahteen maistettuun olueen. Molemmat hyviä, mutteivät mitenkään maailmaa mullistavia.

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Tallinn, 2017 vintage

Helsinki Terminal 2
Helsinki Terminal 2
Took advantage of a mid-week vacation day and visited Tallinn.

Took the new Tallink Megastar both ways. The ship is indeed new and large. And while the shop is the largest on-ship shop I’ve seen, the beer selection is quite limited. Settled on picking up two fill-it-yourself -sixpacks on the way back. An unexpected surprise was the existence of not only one but two ship-specific beers (one from Pühaste, the other from Suomenlinna).

The new marketplace (Balti Jaama Turg) behind the railway station contained plenty of interesting shops, and a central brewpub that was just opening up (either for the day, or in general).

Ate at von Krahl Aed, the food was very veggies-led and rather imaginatively put together. And the restaurant, too, had a house-branded beer (brewed by Lehe).

Uba ja Humal had plenty of goods, but as noted in earlier postings, the amount of US imports has decreased significantly from the early days, and it seems that UK is being cut down as well (e.g. only half a dozen Brewdogs and a handful of Buxtons). Picked up a lot of Estonian beers, and avoided the temptation of Amagers (of which there was not much shortage).

One of the shops in the terminal had adopted to the era of craft beer by expanding far beyond the cheapest eurolagers.

FI: Vallan onnistunut pikareissu etelänaapuriin. Megastar kuljettaa, Uba ja Humal varustaa.

Shop in Terminal D in Tallinn
Shop in Terminal D in Tallinn
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Dog down?

Brewdog logo sketch
Brewdog logo sketch
Brewdog Turku seems to have disappeared, as it’s no longer listed on the brewery’s listing and the bar’s facebook page states that “suboptimal location” was the reason why the bar is looking for a new address.

Visited it last year, and I didn’t think the 250 odd meters from downtown were too much (the Helsinki location is far further from zero point than this), but maybe Turku is just built differently.

Anyway, this closure means that we’re back to a single Brewdog in Finland.

FI: Turun panokoira on poistunut keskuudestamme.

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Best Beers of May 2017

Berserk Llama Syndrome
Berserk Llama Syndrome
Another double punch entry of my favourite genre in May as well:

Amager’s Berserk Llama Syndrome was a serendipitous purchase at Brewdog. A boldly fruity IPA is exactly what is needed to end up in these articles, it seems. Have to look this up in Uba ja Humal, since they seem to stock a wide variety of Amager’s products. And sadly enough the titular disease is a real condition that affects farmed llamas.

Fat Lizard’s Track Day IPA is a bit lighter and mellower, but still packing a righteous dose of the hops. Tasted it in Lucky Bastard in Iso Omena, their burger was convincingly good and a great companion to the beer.