Category: tasting

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.

Imperial altbier was a tad better, though.

FI: Keisarillisuuden tavoittelu on mennyt ylettömyyksiin.

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.

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.

Opted to try out Sori Taproom again, even though the official lunch hour was way past. Turned out that today was a special day indeed, with a heavily curtailed menu. Fortunately burgers were on (though fries were not). This arrangement was on account of the first Brewer’s Dinner in the evening, with an aligned tap takeover by Brouwerij de Molen.

Sampled two &-beers.

Heksen & Trollen was a very good companion to the burger, a crisp and even bitterish saison.

Bommen & Granaten, on the other hand, was a dessert and my first barley wine off a tap in a long long while. Very plummy, but only moderately sweet – with the alcohol conveniently hidden by the stony fruits, malts and hopping.

FI: Vahinko-osallistuminen hananvaltaukseen jäi kahteen maistettuun olueen. Molemmat hyviä, mutteivät mitenkään maailmaa mullistavia.

August brings the perennial SOPP-festival to Helsinki. This time around it was intriguing to see whether they had taken any clues from the inaugural Craft Beer Helsinki.

Glass size was still unoptimal for tasting, so that’s strike one.

Food was still in the cheap and nasty-category, so that’s strike two.

Beer selection, on the other hand, was wide (even though dropping by late in the course meant that some of the most limited editions were long gone).

• Started off with a Radbrew (or three) Lizard on a Stick is a proof that even two reliable breweries can miscollaborate as the product was a very mediocre pale ale.
• Teapot did not fare much better, though interestingly the fruit infusion transforms the taste from an english ale to an american one.
• Wasteland Oasis remains persistently good – a refreshing hereweizen.
• Kaskenmäen panimo is a new acquintance, their WhALE (wheat ale) started off well, but all of a sudden hit a funky sidenote in the taste.
• Saimaan Blue Skies ran out and got a free taster: hops and berries, but hardly a lasting impression from a quarter deciliter.
• Olarin Panimo’s Neljän Viljan IPA is the grainiest IPA in a long while, and proves that the brewery has more to it than just west coast ales.
• Maku’s celebration of the Seven Brothers as a series of beers has reached Timo, a bitter saison.
• Mufloni Barley Wine continued the more bitter than expected-path, not bad by any means, but I prefer mine a bit sweeter or at least smoother.
• Ukko-Pekka was the first rauchbier of the day, a steal at 1€. Far better than what Nokia commonly ships to the stores.
• Mother Fuggle, as a contrast to the bitter beers encountered earlir was more watery than properly bitter.
• Hiisi had run out a few of their more peculiar wares, Konttorirutto #3 Hoppy Sour Ale was indeed sour and hoppy, but sweet as opposed to acidic, a pleasant first sour for the day.
• Hati on the other hand was a collection of somewhat connected tastes that oddly managed to be better than its parts.
• Ruosniemi had no barrel-aged treasures left, but twin varieties of Lomittaja Chardonnay and Karviaismarja were pleasant versions of the original saison.
• Bock’s Corner had an unauspicious debut, their Pale Ale turned out watery and limp (after the taste explosions of the previous four the bar was set uncomfortably high for a very traditional pale ale).
• Maistila’s Det var Det was a very fine wit indeed – with just enough spicing in the taste to differ from the norm.
• Their Jälkipeli worked well, too. Even though a fruit-infused saison sounds like an abomination, the combination was pleasantly sweet and refreshing simultaneously.
• Sonnisaari’s Pseudovehnä gets a firm grasp on the “hoppiest wheat”-prize.
• The sole non-domestic beer was actually the best one sampled: Låven’s Norwegian Smoked Porter was deep, dark and smoky – a winning combination on an evening turning to chill.

FI: Sangen onnistunut festivaali tänäkin vuonna, ja jälleen kerran ykköspalkinto karkasi ulkomaille.

The second participation in a tap takeover happened on a (very long overdue) first visit to Stadin Panimo in Suvilahti.

My failure to appreciate the ultra sour selection was not that much of a surprise, but failing to be impressed by the house selection was.

Of the four of Stadin Panimo’s own beers none rose above mediocrity.

And of the Alvinne crop, Sigma I actually had problems downing half a taster, the rest (Mad Tom, Kerasus and Phi) were mercifully less acidic. No matter how trendy the sours might be, I’m having a hard time even tolerating some of them.

FI: “Happamia” sanoi kettu Alvinnen oluista.

I had my doubts on the brand new beer festival. Having been disappointed by many a shindig, my expectations were low.

But I was happily proven wrong.

The inaugural Craft Beer Helsinki exceeded expectations on most fronts, and proved that perennial SOPP has a lot of room for improvement: the small glasses were excellent in maximizing the tastings, the food was far better than the norm, and the cashless payments worked out surprisingly well.

There was twenty-ish breweries present. A lot of them domestic, but plenty of international guests as well.

Without further ado, a short but sweet review on the lot:

• Radbrew’s Ranger was a basic pale ale, good to get things started, but by no means anything special.
• The second Radbrew was something of a disappointment as well: Plumbbob, the first Fat IPA sighted never reached the promised heights of sweetness.
• Area 21 Saison is the first beer I’ve tasted from Olarin Panimo, a pleasantly wheaty saison is a fine debut indeed (their stand had run out of a couple of more interesting choices).
• Videogame-inspired Ocarina of Lime was a real disappointment – there was no hops or maltiness to offset the pungent acidity.
• Mila brewery had changed their name to a more generic Vallilan Panimo, but the change hadn’t affected the wares as Vallila Amber turned out to be a balanced take on amber lager.
• Founders’ Mango Magnifico raised quite a bit of doubts, I’ve never been much of a mango man, and chili is hard to get right in beer. But I was again proven wrong – this is indeed a magnificent beer that starts off sweet and easy and quickly crescendoes into palate-melting habanero attack in the aftertaste.
• Bourbon Barrel-Aged Arrogant Bastard didn’t agree with me: too spiky and haunted by an odd cassis-y sidetaste, I was glad it was only a deciliter.
• Sori’s Öökull was likely a victim of circumstances, after a couple of hefty beers the balanced pale ale just left a very shallow impression. Bonus points for forcing a belgian brewery to utilize umlauts in the name.
• Founders Nitro Pale Ale was probably the first non-canned-irish-stout nitrogen-infused beer. The mouthfeel was a bit thicker, but that’s impossible to attribute on the added gas alone.
• Tanker’s Animal Instict was the second wild IPA in a week. And like Bruxellensis Lupus the combination of wild yeast and american hops proved a winner.
• Lehe’s Kazbek was a more traditional IPA, but nonetheless packed with enough fruit to be likeable.
• Ogar Polski is the first grätzer/grodziskie I’ve sampled. Some smoke, some wheat, with chalky minerals thrown in the taste.
• Letra A was the only pure wheat beer tasted. Refreshing and light – devoid of the traditional estery character.
• The last beer of the evening was Hiisi’s Black Bretty, the second wild IPA of the day. The smooth black IPA takes an unexpected twist from the belgian yeast.

Best in show: Mango Magnifico (sadly not available generally, should have had a second glass).

Pluses: Sampled pulled oats and was moderately impressed (nice texture, taste masked by the hefty BBQ-sauce).

Minuses: Nothing special on Brewdog’s stand.

FI: Oikein mainiot festarit. Odotukset korkealle ensi kesän tilaisuuteen.

Ahead of the brand new Craft Beer Helsinki 2016 festival one of the participating breweries, La Quince, organized a tap takeover at Brewdog Helsinki.

Tasted several of their brews (Hop Fiction, Llipa!, 15 hours session IPA: Ahtanum and Evil is in a Midnight Mash), and while apart from the 15 hour wonder all were decent, none of them was truly spectacular.

FI: Hanainkaappaus jäi vaisuksi, eikä ainoastaan yleisömäärältään.

Hop Fiction

Participated in another full house tasting at Brewdog Helsinki.

The topic of the evening was Big Beers, and we certainly got what we deserved.

Sampled the best band beer thus far before the show got started. I’m not that big a fan of Turmion Kätilöt, but their Pimeyden Morsian exceeded expectations by a long mile: a roasty and deeply chocolate-y stout was something far beyond the usual limp lager with a band emblem attached.

The first beer offered was Baladin’s Elixir, a belgian dark ale. Low on sugars and smoke, high on malts, almost devoid of carbonation. A hefty and dark start on a warm and summery evening.

The deeply belgian theme continued with the second beer: Rodenbach’s Vintage 2013 (Barrel No. 149), a funky flanders red ale that brought forward a taste of red currants in its sour taste.

The third beer was one I had high hopes on: Mikkeller’s Recipe 1000 Sauternes. But despite its lofty provenance (I like big dessert wines, too) and uplifting bouquet, the taste failed to deliver on the promise. Plummy and far sourer than sweet.

The penultimate beer was the highlight of the evening: Alaskan Brewing Company’s Smoked Porter (2012 vintage). Packed with smoke and salt, this is one of the few rauchbiers that credibly challenges the masters of Bamberg. As the glass warmed up, the taste thickened – clearly this is a beer that would provide a good foundation to a cellar, and according to grapevine, the domestic beer monopoly had a line on a shipment later in the summer.

The last beer of the tasting was the sole exemplar from the hosts. Brewdog’s collaboration with Ballast Point Ship Wreck is the first mescal beer tasted. It continues on the smoky path begun in Alaska, but treads its own piney way towards a flash of tequila in the taste.

Also sampled:

• Velvets are Blue, sourest saison thus far.
• Saison d’etre, a very traditional saison in comparison.
• Polaren Putte, a rhubarb gose is not an everyday encounter, and happily the rhubarb was indeed strong in the taste.
• Rivo, a plain dry pils seemed lacklustre after the series of taste explosions.
• Little Bichos Bicho In My Beer, the last beer of the evening returned to the realm of peculiar – a black saison tweaked with yuzu and lemongrass was a refreshing cap to a long evening.

FI: Tymäkän belgialais-savuinen maisteluilta Brewdogissa.