Category: seasonal

• 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.

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.

FI: Oma kalenteri, paras kalenteri.

Lots of repeats in this year’s christmas beer harvest.

No big americans.

No odd belgians.

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.

This 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.

FI: Kotimainen kurpitsaolut pieksi laimeaksi osoittautuneen ulkomaalaiskilpailijansa.

Tracker page is up.

The selection seems moderately interesting, and far more multi-faceted than in the couple of previous years. Though the non-lambic fruit beers do arouse suspicion.

FI: Keskinkertaiselta vaikuttava kattaus, odotettavissa yllätyksiä molempiin suuntiin.

The best beer is also one of the loudest beer-related regrets of the year – I so should have bought more of the masterful IPA, but had no idea the US brews were a disappearing breed in the store.

• Best Beer: Cigar City’s Jai Alai.
• Best Beer (domestic): Malmgård’s Barley Wine.
• Best Brewery: Founders.
• Best Brewery (domestic): Hiisi.
• Best Bar: Brewdog Helsinki.
• Best Store: Uba ja Humal.
• Best Store (domestic): Pien.
• Best Beer-related Book: Vintage Beer.

FI: Ei yllätyksiä. Mitä nyt yksi vuoden ensimmäisistä oluista osoittautui parhaimmaksi.

Mikkeller’s 2016 Christmas calendar was not as impressive as last year’s.

Far too many sours to my liking – especially the 1-2 punch to cap off the contents was a disappointment. A sour endnote to say the least.

Oddly enough the best beer on offer was a collaboration, the second best was an alien (i.e. having nothing to do with Mikkeller).

Highlights:

• Grapefruit Dead: fruity IPA with a seriously hippy can.
• Nuclear Hop Assault: another fruity IPA (with a nostalgic metal label).
• No Cow on the Ice: a third fruity IPA (maybe I’m just stuck in a rut).
• Honorable mention to the brave outsider: Bell’s Expedition Stout.

The daily pictures are available in instagram and untappd.

2017? Maybe, maybe… Have to take a look at the alternatives.

FI: Ei ihan yhtä kova kattaus kuin edellisvuonna.

Following the great selection in the last year’s calendar, there was no way to avoid repeating the experience.

Ordered and received the calendard without a hitch (once again with free shipping).

And like last year, I will add a tracking page for the contents.

FI: Joulukalenterin paluu.

The tracking page is up.

It looks like a very moderately interesting crop, with the Estonian Jõuluöö as the “todo”-item on the list.

FI: Vuotuinen jouluoluisto ei suuresti houkuttele – isot ja/tai jännät ameriikanihmeet puuttuvat jälleen kerran.

• Beer (overall): Nøgne Ø’s Sunturnbrew.
• Beer (domestic): Ruosniemi’s Vahtimestari (a peerless vanilla stout only periodically available).
• Bar: Brewdog.
• Brewery (non-domestic): Founders.
• Brewery (domestic): Ruosniemi.

To ease the way into the depths of December, I ordered Mikkeller’s 24-entry Julepakkekalender, which provides a beer a day.

The kalender itself is an unassuming cardboardbox, with the individual bottles separated by dividers and protected by styrofoamy bits.

The first two entries were a can and a bottle, and they were of wildly differing genres, so I have high hopes for a crafty adventure that takes us the first weeks of the month.

FI: Paras joulukalenteri sitten ekan luokan.

Oktoberfest, surprisingly, falls on September (and continues for a bit into the following month).

This obviously means that a selection of seasonally appropriate beers lands in the shelves for a month or two.

The selection is pretty much the same, year on year. After all, there’s only so much variety that can be packed into the beer whose main attraction is quaffability from a heavy maß. This year’s crop packs two new arrivals: Hacker-Pschorr’s Märzen and Svaneke’s Oktoberfest.

I’ve never been to the festival. For some reason during the Nokia Siemens Networks days the joint sessions hosted in Bavaria were always packed full. Even if there’s not that much beer-wise but volume, the massive festival grounds and crowds would have been interesting to see.

FI: Oktoberfest ei yllätä. Valikoimaltaankaan.