Hazy duo @ Stockholm Mikkeller
Stockholm 2022
After a two year Covid-induced absence, the first trip abroad was the very much traditional annual summer visit to Stockholm.
A lot had stayed exactly the same, but some things had changed – no more large-scale urban renovation at Sergelstorg.
Pre-ordered some beers from Systembolaget, and was kind of disappointed at the selection available on the “tillfälligt sortiment” shelves – nowhere near the circus of taste I recalled from the earlier visits.
Ate at Lisa Elmqvist (best seafood risotto so far anywhere) and Blue Light Yokohama (massively good small Japanese dishes). Unfortunately neither locale offers a meaningful beer menu, especially the royal fishmonger’s selection is borderline ridiculous, considering the quality and ultra-local nature of the food.
Omnipollo’s Hatt provided a very welcome pizza & beer late evening meal. In the intervening years a new neighbour had sprung up: Stigberget’s Fot. The taproom is located very near the Slussen tunnelbana station and offers a wide selection of in-house beers, but more than half of their taps were guested.
Walked past Omnipollo Flora in Humlegård and dropped in to Mikkeller after the first round of shopping.
Spent the warmest day (uncomfortably reachingh past +30C) walking around Skansen – the original plan of visiting the UNESCO world heritage site on Drottningholm having been scuttled by too many other people having the same idea (and the ferry thus being sold out). Skansen’s outdoor museum / zoo fortunately was windy and shady enough for comfort, capped the visit with cold beers, accompanied by some very inquisitive chickens.
Had our very first “release date pickup” on the last day in Stockholm. Omnipollo released a bourbon barrel aged version of Noa, picked up a bottle from NK-huset’s shop before heading out to Arlanda for the flight home.
All in all a very pleasant visit. Imported a score of beers, only one bottle had leaked a little during transit (but that’s what plastic and duct-tape sealed Wineskins are for).
FI: Tukholmassa kuumaa ja mukavaa. Matkalaukullinen olutta tuomisina.
Topless no more
On account of an aluminum shortage Fat Lizard has reverted back to conventional cans.
FI: Ei enää aukene koko kansi Läskiliskon tölkeissä.
Back in the Saddle
Yeah, despite promises to be active and all that, the restarted blog went fallow almost immediately, pretty much a year ago.
So here’s restart 2.0.
It sure was a long year, but despite the COVID-bunkering, writing fell by the wayside.
So, here’s to a another new start. Proudly headlined with a bland stock image.
FI: Jos tällä kertaa jaksaisi pidempään kuin pari viikkoa.
Growlers
According to wikipedia, a growler is “a glass, ceramic, or stainless steel bottle (or jug) used to transport draft beer.”
And happily enough, under the updated brewing-related domestic legislation, breweries are able to sell their beers to customers in such vessels. Quite a few of the capital area breweries have embraced the opportunity to maximize freshness, and the size (a liter) is just about right for two people.
Oddly, no finnish term has been invented yet, so these are known by a hopelessly anglistic “growleri”.
FI: Growleroimalla noin tuoreinta mahdollista olutta kotiin asti.
Porvoo_breweries++
Vanhan Porvoon Panimo has announced its arrival around the turn of the year.
FI: Kråkö ei kauaa ole kylän ainokainen.
Long Time, No Game of Thrones
It’s been ages since any sightings of Game of Thrones in the media. The brand sunk almost overnight after the catastrophic final season.
Mikkeller’s New Essos India Pale Ale is an easy beginners’ ale without faults or major features.
FI: Oiva olut onnettomissa olosuhteissa päättyneen fantasiasarjan kymmenvuotista taivalta juhlistamaan.
Return of Mufloni Saison de Randonneur, Kataja edition
Olutkellari pointed out that Beer Hunter’s magnificent Mufloni Saison de Randonneur, Kataja edition is available again. This beer with an impressively long name was my 100th check-in in Untappd back in the day, and likely got a slightly overblown rating.
But that’s only a graceless assumption, and I’m looking forward to either validating my old beliefs or looking back at them with a knowing smirk.
Anyway, will report back with the results once the beer has been chilled down appropriately.
FI: Katajaista Muflonia saatavilla. Ja riemu oli suuri.
Dog H
On a miserably rainy summer vacation day five years ago I put my fate in the hands of a bartender and requested something to properly warm up before a movie. The hero behind the bar of Kaisla brought forward Brewdog’s Dog D, the very first taste of the big dogs.
And what a beer that was. A massively heavy imperial stout, packed to the gills with dark chocolate and enough habanero to withstand the dash to the theatre.
It took a while before the next encounter of the series. A couple of canines passed by, before got to purchase a triplet of the Fs in the brewery’s black friday sale. Savoured the flavour and aged the last bottle a couple of years.
Managed to miss G, but when (again in the black friday sale) Dog H became available, bought a few.
And H is my favorite of the dogs I have tasted. It’s deeper and more full-bodied than its stablemates, with sweet cognac masking any booziness (that essentially ruined the followup, Dog I). The chili and chocolate rule the taste, with the implausibly high hop count (clocking in at 90 IBU) very much in the background.
A solid 4.5, and fortunately there’s two more in the cellar.
FI: H-Koira on se paras Koira.
Kråkö Bryggeri
Visited Kråkö Bryggeri on Kråkö, an island in the outskirts of Porvoo.
Had tasted a couple of their early beers last summer when they started with pale ales.
Now the selection was wider, ranging from lagers to an imperial stout, via a handful of customer-branded beers.
Unfortunately they had sold out of the trendiest product – a hazy IPA.
Brought home a boxful of singles and a couple of each of the stouts. Both the imperial and regular variety were of the same tree: dry, roasty and pleasant, with the stronger one carrying a hint of salted licorice in the taste.
The brewery is located in an old school, and serves food and has an art gallery as well. The gardens contain both meadows and hops (forgot to ask whether their curreny wares held any of the homegrown).
Opted for dinner at the next stop, Bosgård farm, and lucked out to sample the other “not-available-at-the-brewery” brewed for the farm. Bosgård Ale turned out to be an old school bitter one, and good accompaniment for the sirloin steak.
FI: Porvoon maalaiskunnan panimo oli laajentunut ja laajentanut valikoimaansa oikein muikeasti.
Best Beers of July 2021
The best beer of July is the brighest light in the six cans released by Olarin Panimo in one big bunch: Runaway, a multihopped NEIPA that delivers a righteous mix of fruit and bitterness in a convenient package.
Outside of Finland’s breweries, the highest marks went to a discovery from the lowest reaches of the stash: Giljagaur Nr. 14 from Borg Brugghús in Reykjavik. This barley wine had stayed forgotten for ages, but was, obviously, none worse for wear: full-bodied and strong without any extra booziness or sweetness.
FI: Polkkaustauon aikana Olarin Panimo on ottanut huikeita edistysaskeleita ja on kevyesti Espoon ja koko valtakunnan ykköspanimo tällä hetkellä.
Back in business
So, this is what taking a 23 month unscheduled break feels like.
Was not in prison or strung out by work, just silent.
And considering how much has happened in the intervening time, there’s plenty to write about.
FI: Pitkäksi venähti tauko, mutta nyt vedetään taas.
Slothenbräu
Spent an enjoyable late summer evening in Korkeasaari, the venerable zoo of Helsinki.
Unlike the neighboring Suomenlinna, there’s no brewery in Korkeasaari. Probably the goal is to keep the island as family-friendly as possible, and that precludes craft beer as well.
However, considering that Coco, the oldest resident, is an aging lady sloth, and the Los Angeles Zoo just announced sloth-curated beer, it would not be too much of a stretch to actually come up with a selection of animal-corresponding beer. The likes of spectacularly labeled Otter Gose, Poison Arrow Frog Sour and juniper-flavoured Bobcat Pils would probably rise above the news’ event horizon in the slow summer months, and the to-be-founded brewery would obviously be able to directly sell their wares all the way to the mighty Siberian Tiger Triple IPA clocking in just below the maximal 12 volts.
FI: Riikinkukko Berliner Weissea odotellessa.
Best beers of July 2019
Oops, very late with this, forgot the longest tradition when resurrecting the blog.
The pole position goes to a very seasonally inappropriate beer: Coolhead’s Peanut Butter Caramel Crisp, a dark and sweet imperial stout better suited for November. Nonetheless, it beat the summery competition, all the perky pilses and invigorating IPAs clean out of contention. And happily enough it looks like being available in the Friday’s can sales in Tuusula.
The best non-domestic beer is FrauGruber’s Sunrise to Sunset, one of the invigoration IPAs, with a low ABV and a heady mix of fruitful hops.
FI: Synkänvärinen pähkinäsuklainen nesteytetty mutakakkuhan se heinäkuun palkinnon vei.
Renaming Omnipollo’s beers
One of the many surprising things in Stockholm was the renaming of two classic Omnipollo beers: Leon is now Levon and Noa is Aon.
Found an explanation only for the latter, and it is unsurprisingly a legalistic one:
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT: PLEASE DON’T DRINK IMPERIAL STOUT FOR EXTRA ENERGY. Being copied everyday but receiving “cease and desist letters” weekly from trademark lawyers demanding we change the name of our beers. This one is far fetched but @drinknoa thinks you might mistakably purchase a bottle of our 11% pecan mud cake imperial stout instead of their energy drink Noa Potions we are therefore changing the name of OMNIPOLLO®️ NOA PECAN MUD CAKE®️ to OMNIPOLLO®️ AON®️ PECAN MUD CAKE®️”
FI: C&D – paras syy uudelleennimetä olut!
brewnardo 