Best beer (non-domestic): Westvleteren XII (an awesome accompaniment to one of the suckiest television finales: Castle, to those scoring the game at home).
Best beer (domestic): Vermont Ravit (and if we follow the “new entries rule” rule, this is actually the best beer of the year!)
Best brewery (non-domestic): Põhjala.
Best brewery (domestic): Fat Lizard.
Best bar: Sori Taproom.
Best store (non-domestic): Uba ja Humal.
Best store (domestic): Pien.
Best book: Craft Beer for the People.
FI: Suurin yllätys oli täysin puskista löytynyt vuoden paras olut.
Stone’s Xocoveza was an unexpected pleasure – a quasi-mexican imperial stout packed with chocolate, chili and spices. An unlikely combination, but one that ended up being the top dog in the christmas sortiment.
The best finnish entry is seriously dark as well, though I found the original Iku-Turso a more balanced beer than its barrel-aged big brother Ikii-Urso).
The latter domestic (as in Humala Halkaisi Ihmisen Kahtia, a fine NEIPA indeed), the former Estonian (Öö Xo, yet another entry in the mostly high-quality Öö-series).
Imperial – Borrowed from Old French imperial, from Latin imperiālis (“of the empire or emperor, imperial”), from imperium (“empire, imperial government”) + -ālis, from imperō (“command, order”), from im- (“form of in”) + parō (“prepare, arrange; intend”).
and specifically in the context of beer:
Imperial is a term until recently reserved for beers specially made for the crowned heads of Europe, but now borrowed by American craft brewers and made unfortunately vague. When used to describe beer, the word “imperial” is now becoming widely used to mean “stronger than usual.”
Some things would be better off unimperialized – as Põhjala’s Imperial Ginie, an “imperial gose” proves. Neither the north of 10 ABV nor aging in gin barrels has done this poor gose much good. Boozy, with a rotgut gin aftertaste and none of the genre’s low-key mineralness in the mix.
Missed both To Øl’s and Mikkeller’s christmas calendar offers and settled on creating my own, by basically scrounging interesting bottles and cans from the cellar. Aesthetics-wise the cardboardbox was ahead of the result – plastic bagged containers in a picnic basket.
But Urbock is there, and I’m looking forward to Stone’s and Põhjala’s imperial stouts. And despite the uneven quality of Nøgne Ø’s recent output, I must admit curiosity on their appropriately named Julequad.
FI: Alkon jouluolutkavalkadi on leveä, mutta tylsänoloinen.
Halloween pumpkinThis year the pumpkin beer crop was better than previously. Of the twin unimaginatively named “pumpkin ales” the domestic alternative was way more pumpkiny than its colleague.
No guest taps, only Brewdog’s own, as the big board proves:
Brewdog only, no guests
The trick of the trade is to buy two beers in one go – something dark to warm up while sipping the paler one.
This tactic worked wonders in letting Dog F reach close to room temperature: the habanero and chocolate work wonders alongside the very stiff imperial stout base.
Abstrakts 22 and 23 were both powerful and heavy dark beers were just the thing to close off the evening.
These three on tap would have been enough to attract from a long way away, but there was plenty more to experiment with, including three prototypes and a very crisp 0 ABV saison.
Hopefully this “no guests” gets to be an regular/annual thing – it was good to see Brewdog reaching beyond a few token extra choices on top of the common mainstream selection.
FI: 24 hanaa Brewdogin omaa tuotantoa, mukana aidosti harvinaisempiakin herkkuja.
Ohrana menuVisited Ohrana between an unimpressive neapolitan pizza and a very impressive load of Brewdog’s own.
Took a flight of beers and a bonus cinnamon bun-beer.
And came away surprised, as the Nyt Otti Ohranaleipä, a nondescript pale ale, was the best of the bunch. But as the name lets on, this is not a traditional pale ale – as it uses bread made of the barley mash of a previous batch. Very malty, with just the appropriate amount of hopping in the mix.
Bun Intended, he cinnamon bun beer was good too, but not as good. And while it was a nice dry stout – there was just a hint of cinnamon, and no apple jam whatsoever.
FI: Korvapuustiportteri jäi kakkoseksi olutmallasleipäoluelle.
Vermont RavitThe top honors of a month are awarded to a domestic beer for the first time in ages. Tuju’s Vermont Ravit shines so bright that it cannot be bypassed. A massively hopped NEIPA that just waits for a re-run.
On the international side Stone’s Tangerine Express continues the seemingly eternal march of the pale ale. Though this is well-fruited, it never loses the spry hoppiness either. And the bomber size makes it just right for a slightly larger crowd.
Their beers are named after suburbs of Espoo. Nöykkiö was not part of the initial trio, and probably there’s quite a few more famous parts of the sprawling city to cover before my neighborhood gets the nod.
The first one tasted was Keilaniemi, and it turned out to be an all right American pale ale by the numbers, just enough hopping – no distinguishing features, no faults either.
Spent a very enjoyable evening at the new local beerfest, Ota Olut in the Startup Sauna building in (obviously enough) Otaniemi.
While the environment was on the basic side, it turned out to be the most enjoyable festival of the year.
The weather was pleasantly balmy without being too hot. The crowd was friendly and thin enough to be comfortable. And the brewers had time to talk with visitors on account of a lack of queues.
Bugs & nuts
Had a long chat with the Olarin Panimo guys, and tried out their non-Area-21 beers. Neither Esponator nor ESBO hit my taste nerves, but it was good to see that they are not sticking to the trendiest genres. And I’m really looking forward to being able to buy their wares in the shops following equipment expansion.
Neither Vibrant Forest’s or Anderson’s brews were that special. Apart from Danger Zone from the latter, it is the second strongest beer I’ve tasted so far. It was nowhere near as boozy as Sink the Bismarck, but at less than half the ABV that was only to be expected.
New England IPA was clearly the up and coming genre, with the obvious sours and IPAs very much holding the reins of power. Tuju’s Vermont Ravit was the finest example of NEIPA – hazy, juicy, very hoppy and packed with fruit. The eponymous Ota Olut NEIPA took the second prize.
The food vendors were fewer in number than in the capital festivals, but quality always trumps quantity. Naughty Burger’s blue cheese worked wonderfully with the hoppy IPAs, and Entocube’s crickets & nuts-offering was easy enough introduction into the eating bugs-trend.
FI: Otaniemen oiva olutfestivaali toimi mainiosti. Ja vallan yllättäen Lappeenrannasta tulee paras New England-tyylinen IPA.
Fata MorganaA warmish August was ripe pale ale country, and both the domestic and international representatives proudly wave the flag.
On top, for the second month in a row is an Omnipollo entry, Fata Morgana, a multi-hopped DIPA that brings both citrus fruits and piney resin in its dry taste.
The domestic one is, once again, a Fat Lizard beer, Bikini Top, a not-so-common wheat ale that mixes just the right amount of crispy hops into the wheaty base.
FI: Kalpeat pintahiivaoluet pinnalla tässäkin kuussa.
brewnardo 