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.
Schlenkerla’s Urbock is one of my all-time favorite beers.
It traditionally lands in Finland as part of the annual christmas beer selection in Alko, serves beautifully as a ham accompaniment, and one or two bottles end up in the stash, to be consumed during the summer.
Urbock, as the name lets on, is an old-school, archetypal beer – and in this particular case the ecological niche is rauchbier, smoked beer. And Urbock is indeed smoked, very well smoked. It’s not a light dusting of smoke as an add-on flavor – nope, Urbock goes all-in, and apologizes to no-one. In comparison to the more common Märzen from the same brewery, Urbock is a much more powerful beer. And with great power comes great polarization: this is not a beer that you “kinda like”, either you love it or you hate it.
The coloration is dark, and the smoke meets the nose as soon as the bottle is cracked open. The pour is thick, with a pretty dark head – but the mouthfeel does not reflect the totalitarian presence of smoked ham, no perceivable oiliness at all.
The taste needs warmth to be fully appreciated – there’s subtle hints of caramel sweetness and bitterness that surface much better with time as the beer warms up.
Even if I’m firmly in the “love it”-camp, there’s no denying that Urbock is a tad one-dimensional. No matter how pleasant that dimension is. So, 4.5 stars (and a smoky the bear badge as an additional merit).
Bought my first ever “out of a few hundreds”-type beer. A can of Filip’s Gose by Cool Head Brewing / Brewdog Helsinki.
A sharp gose, but I’ve got to admit that I bought it more for the novelty value rather than the actual beer. Ratings-wise this is a 3.75, which in my books is high indeed for a gose. The lemon is present, but not annoying and the minerals creep up in the aftertaste as well.
A full two centiliters of the 41% ABV beer was enough to convince me that it’s not really a beer, and that there are better malt-based products punching in the same weight category.
The taste is obviously dominated by the high alcohol content, and sadly the bouquet is quite a bit nicer than the taste. Carbonation is nonexistent, and the burning mouthfeel similar to a cheap whiskey.
De Molen’s Tsarina Esra has a full quarter century before it’s termed no longer “best”.
And a tasty imperial stout it is, indeed.
Black but not roasty, and nutty rather than licorice-y. Very smooth taste, the hefty ABV remains well hidden in the full body. Low carbonation and a bit oily mouthfeel further distance Tsarina from being an easy beginners’ beer.
Noa Pecan MudcakeNoa Pecan Mudcake[/caption]Omnipollo’s label-less Noa Pecan Mudcake inspires mirth from the first sight.
And the joy does not fade until long after the beer is gone. As long as the beer is given enough time to properly warm up. This is not a beer to be drunk in haste.
Noa Pecan Mudcake is firmly a dessert beer. Not necessarily a beer to be enjoyed with dessert, but a beer to be enjoyed as dessert.
Nomen is very much omen: this is as close to liquid mudcake as things get. Though oddly the very chocolate-y, cloyingly sweet taste manages to hide the pecan of the title as well as the 11% ABV.
I’m sure this is not for everybody.
I’m pretty sure most people will react with antipathy to a beer that’s close to lukewarm chocolate and almost without carbonation.
But for anybody that appreciates dark chocolate and even darker imperial stouts this is pure liquid bliss.
FI: Ehtaa tavaraa kaikille tumman oluen ja suklaan ystäville.
On they way stopped in Lohja, since it seems to be the sole place to pick up Paloaseman Panimo‘s beers.
After a very swedish birthday dinner took in the sights of the town.
Turku Brewdog wall of collateral
The first step was Koulu, whose bier garten was the finest of the summer so far, a lot bigger than I remembered. Too bad they only had a few of their own beers available, and the queues were bordering on the ridiculously long. Both their wheat and the appropriately named Kakolan Kalpea pale ale were smooth, and happily enough the large crowds were interested in the house beers rather than the the true mainstream alternatives.
Turku got a Brewdog establishment quite unexpectedly, and as a shareholder had to inspect the grounds. Smallish, very dark and with a shorter list of taps than the in Helsinki. Raspberry Blitz was (once again) too sour for me, but Amager’s Fru Fredriksen was a swell stout indeed (and a good preparation for the thirty minute walk back to the HQ). Tasting both herr and fru Fredriksen side by side is definitely a project to try out at some point.
FI: Turusta löytyi paikallistakin olutta. Ja kesän komein terassi.
Just a day in the Mikkeller Christmas CalendarFinally, finally, completed the page on last year’s magnificent Mikkeller calendar.
All in all the calendar was a rousing success, even if no five star beers were included. Only had tried a handful of beers beforehand, and in most cases a repeat performance was by no means an unpleasant one.
The highlights:
Black Hole – an awesomely sweet and suffocating imperial stout.
Texas Ranger – a reminder that chili beers can have multiple dimensions.
Foret De Troncais – the strongest and sweetest barley wine thus far.
2016 calendar? Count me in, count me in.
FI: Toimi Mikkellerin joulukalenteri sen verran hyvin että uudestaan taas joulukuussa.
Hello My Name Is Holy MooseAfter the way-too-juicy Little Ingrid earlier this summer, I didn’t have too high hopes the next in Brewdog’s series Hello My Name Is Holy Moose, which continues the berry-IPA -series with a transnordic variant.
However, the newer installment acquits itself better – it boasts a definite sour undertone to the juiciness. It doesn’t reach the lofty heights of Päivi or Konnichiwa Kitsune (which, to be fair, do benefit from the heftier ABV, Holy Moose is a tweener-beer).
A solid 3.5, a beer I wouldn’t mind having again (in optimal conditions: the Moose, he doesn’t like getting warm), but no hurry to repeat the experience.
FI: Hapokasta mehua. Ei tajunnanräjäyttävä, mutta sangen jees kuitenkin.
Twin SistersIt ain’t much of a beer blog if there’s no ratings. While I do not aim to rate every beer that crosses the threshold, there will be ratings. Oh yes, there will be ratings.
Bought a bottle in Stockholm back in July and figured it’s time to sample the taste before the hops start expiring.
Visually the beer is coppery clear, with a nice thickish head. Despite the strong head, the carbonation is low, Twin Sisters is not a fizzy beer by any means.
The taste is less of an IPA than I expected, the hops (rated high at 77 IBU) are not overwhelming at all, but stealthily subdued. The taste is complex and has pine, malts and some caramelized sugar in it. None of the elements treads on the others, and the overall taste is balanced and pleasant. The close-to-ten ABV is not an issue, the taste of alcohol never reaches out.
This was my first Left Hand beer, picked up a Smoke Jumper alongside this one, and am definitely looking forward to trying it out as well.
I’ve never gotten used to the multi-variable ratings, a single number’s been good enough thus far. So, without any further ado, the rating: 4.5 stars, a hearty recommendation and a promise to buy a second bottle given the chance.
FI: Kaksossiskoissa oli vähemmän humalaa kuin etiketti lupaili, mutta syyskuun oluiden kiistatonta kärkeä tämä on.
brewnardo 