Category: best of the month

The top honours of May end up in California. Port Brewing’s Wipeout IPA provides a wide variety of hops in a big enough package. Crisp, but not bitter. Fruity, but not sweet. Quite an optimal beer to accompany a home-smoked brisket.

Domestically the first place belongs to the best band beer so far: Iso-Kallan Panimo’s Pimeyden Morsian both transcends expectations of a mild lager and restores my faith in the brewery.

FI: Jenkki-IPA odotettu, suklainen bändi-stoutti kaikkea muuta kuin.

April’s top honours gp to Brewdog’s Abstrakt 19. It’s the third AB I’ve tasted, and falls in the middle position of the trio (16 is still the top dog, for those scoring the game at home). 19 is a multi-color saison, with heavy flavours of raisins and plums resting on a sturdy multi-malt base. The high ABV comes through in the taste, but never obnoxiously. Warmth opens up the taste quite a bit, releasing even more facets of fruitfulness.

Domestically the top beer honours land on Bryggeri’s Rauchweizen, an unusual combination of wheat malts and smoke. Despite the unorthodox pairing, the result is worthwhile indeed, as both components work out well and do not crowd each other out. Haven’t been much of a Bryggeri-fanboy lately, but this beauty resurrects my faith somewhat.

FI: Epätasaisen huhtikuun annista huomiotaherättävin oli Brewdogin kausijulkaisu.

Another repeat winner (brewery-wise, of course) for the beer of the month: Põhjala’s Põhja Konn, a spectacularly hopped double IPA that contains an awesome of flavours, from subtle bitterness to a full scale of tropical fruits. Tasted this with a burger at Stone’s after a long week – probably one of the finest “away from the office moments” of the year.

This is the second favourited beer that is named after a local sea monster, Hiisi’s Iku-Turso being the first (and his appearance precedes the arrival of this blog).

Domestically the best beer is Sori’s Dark Humor Club – maltiest beer in a long time, with vanilla and cocoa nibs added to the mix for good measure. A full chocolate-y taste that demands to be warmed up in the hand just a bit more.

A spontaneously awarded Apple Cider Spider-award goes to Peder’s Aplagård’s Ren Äppelcider – an alcohol-free cider whose refreshing and true to the fruit taste puts the more mainstream offerings to shame. A chance pickup from a coffee shop downtown, will definitely look for more in the future.

FI: Virolainen merihirviö-DIPA määräsi maaliskuussa.

This month’s #1 position went to a true black horse – an unexpected arrival of an excellent beer: Founders’ Dark Penance. Bought a couple of bottles on a “Founders has never sucked”-hunch, and was rewarded, well rewarded. The rising bitterness is offset with enough malt and sweetness to provide a truly rounded package. Such serendipitous discoveries remain rare, and thus their fruits need to be savoured.

The domestic winner of February is also a dark beer – Ruosniemi’s Musta Lomittaja is a smoked saison, the top dog of this year’s Käsityöläisoluet-campaign.

FI: Mustaa helmikuuta.

The first non-Estonian beer from the Uba ja Humal spree was Cigar City Brewing’s Jai Alai IPA. I had heard rumors about the quality and taste, but was nonetheless blown away. This was an awesomely hopped, though ultimately well-balanced beer that brought forward both citrus fruits as well as sweeter varieties. I only bought one can, next time I will be wiser.

Of the domestic entries, the moving finger points at an IPA as well. I originally tasted Ruosniemi’s Diplomi-Insinööri at the last summer’s SOPP-festival and was quite thoroughy impressed by the doubled up big brother of the original. The beer excels in bottled form as well, and proves that the brewery can deal with higher ABV products as well.

FI: IPA ei pettänyt tässä kuussa, vaikkei talvisin olutgenre olekaan.

As the blog now has begun its second calendar year, it’s time to establish rules on how the montly “best beers” work out.

I try to promote new arrivals over things tried out before, and hence there shall be no repeats in the selections and new beers trump old favourites even if they do not manage to exceed the grade.

FI: Ennen kokeilemattomia oluita esiin vanhojen tuttujen kustannuksella (ellei nyt vallan heikko sato jollekin kuulle osu).

I’ve been a big fan of Founders Brewing for quite a while, and their take on porter was the best beer of November. In addition to the usual roastiness, this beer features an optimal kind of chocolate in taste – prevasive, but without the common cloying sweetness.

On the domestic side, the beer of the month-honors fall on a good beer with a silly name. Stallhagen has been quite uneven, but their Brwedolf is a hoppy lager that seems eminently suited for the fish table of the impending Christmas dinner.

FI: Synkkä suosikkilinja katkeaa iloisen punanenäiseen kotimaiseen.

Finnish: Hiisi‘s Humulus Lupus is a repeat offender, I’ve always liked the powerful double IPA, and this batch was no exception. Combining darkness and mighty multi-hopping in one of the finest examples of the genre produced domestically. This used to be only sporadically available, but seems to be a feature in at least a couple of shops downtown. World would be a better place if Iku-Turso, their take on imperial stout, would be something more than a rare guest.

Overall: I accidentally bought two bottles of Mikkeller‘s Beer Geek Dessert. This was not an accident, this was serendipity, as the imperial stout turned out to be an excellent addition to the Danish brewer’s portfolio. The oatmeal stout is sweet, but the sugar never feels artificial – the additional flavours of vanilla and chocolate are subtle and genuine. This would definitely be a good companion to a mild dessert such as crème brûlée – will definitely give the second bottle a shot in the near future.

FI: Tumma linja jatkuu kahden vahvasti erilaisen oluen merkeissä: toinen vahvasti humaloitu, toinen vaniljaisen makea.

Finnish: Koskipanimo’s JFK (named after James Finlayson, not the late president) is a multi-hopped wheat ale with more than a little hint of smoke in its taste. A nice discovery at Stone’s, and certainly one of the brewery’s best new products.

Overall: I had no expectations regarding Nøgne Ø’s Sunturnbrew while browsing the chalkboard at Ølhus København, apart from the eyebrow-raising voltage, there was little to stand out. How wrong I was, this is easily one of the greatest beers sampled in the whole year. A heavily smoked yet sweet rauchbier, whose high ABV reveals serious barley wine-properties. The taste is complex and varies as the liquid warms, with new flavours subduing the preceding.

FI: Kaksi savuista olutta. Toinen loistokas ja toinenkin niin hyvä, että uusintaottelu on tarpeen.

Finnish: Stadin Panimo’s American Lager is an atypical finnish lager. It actually has a taste beyond mild malts and hard bubbles. It’s fresh and fruitful, proving that new world hops work wonders outside the ales, too. Despite American Lager taking the top honors in the Finnish beer competition last year, I had previously missed it completely. Now, as it has been reintroduced in cans, was a good time to try it out. Definitely one of the finest lagers I’ve tasted, and hands down the top dog domestically.

Foreign: Despite the sudden surge of a bottom-fermented beer in the local category, Põhjala’s Virmalised kept up the topside alternative. Virmalised was my first encounter with the brewery, and if their output remains at this high level, I have high expectations for later rounds. Virmalised is a fresh and fruity beer (is there an echo here), which was just the thing to soothe the tongue in the warmest days early in the month.

FI: Samanlaiset keskenään, raikkaat ja hedelmäiset.

Finnish: Prykmestar Nokkos-Pils. A very pils brewed with nettles. Very refreshing taste, though it needs to be properly chilled and consumed fast before staleness sets in. Available in oddly limited fashion (chanced on a duo of bottles in Arkadia’s flagship store).

Foreign: Judgment Day. The most complex beer of the month (the highlight of the Brewdog bottle tasting event), and one that I definitely aim to get more than sixth of a pint the next time.

FI: Ei todellakaan Tuomiopäivän voittanutta heinäkuussa.