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.
Malmgård BarleywineNovember continued the very good beers-trend.
Great Divide’s Hibernation Ale was better than I recalled: dark, roasty and very soothing on a slushily dark November evening.
Malmgård’s Barleywine returned to the shop after a long absence. And my opinion has not changed in the meantime: this amongst the finest domestic beers ever. A complex taste that begins with sugars and malts and oozes into piney bitterness in its finish. When this was featured in the annual craft beers campaign, I stupidly bought only two bottles – this time I’m hoping the beer remains in the permanent selection or that at least the batch is much larger.
FI: Tummaa ja tuhtia – juuri sellaista mitä lumeton marraskuu tarvitsee.
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.
While I’d been reasonably impressed by the few Pühaste beers tasted previously, their Dekadenz hit the proverbial jackpot. It’s an imperial stout whose initial lightly smoky roastiness soon gives way to vanilla, dark rum and even a cigar – and it’s all built on a solid layer of hops. Definitely a beer for the lousiest of November slushes.
Domestically the month wasn’t a raging success, and the mantle of the best beer ends up hoisted onto Janne Ale, a Malmgård exclusive for Sinne in Porvoo. It’s quite far outside reinheitsgebot – with spices and lemon zest added to the mix. But who is counting.
FI: Ei voittajaa virolaiselle rappiolle tässä kuussa.
Põhjala’s F-hooneSpent a chunk of the schools’ fall holiday in Tallinn.
As expected the ferry, Viking XPRS, was packed with families. That meant eating lunch standing up as the restaurants were overrun. Sampled two new Saku products: while Rock was a limp and featureless eurolager, Cream of Dublin was an unexpectedly tasty stout (proving that the mainstream brewery can reach out if it wants).
The Spa/Hotel Telegraaf was quite pleasantly stuffy, the multiple saunas in the downstairs pools were much appreciated. Happily had the entire section to ourselves, since we dined when others bathed and vice versa. The dinner at Spot was good too, though not in the lofty heights of Rataskaevu 16.
Visited Telliskivi for the first time, and while the burgers at F-Hoone were as good as the tales told of them, it turned out that I’d already tasted their house beer, as it had been available at Stone’s a while back.
Skipped Uba ja Humal on this trip and opted for SIP as an alternative instead. Their selection of beers was quite a bit more limited (and quite much Estonia-focused), but it was complemented with a non-trivial wine section and a bar where any of the products could be sampled.
FI: Ei ollut SIPistä ihan Uba ja Humalin haastajaksi vielä.
The only bad thing about Lagunitas’ Olde Gnarlywine is that I bought only a single bottle, and it quickly sold out. Properly warmed up the hefty malting and sweetness tinged by stony fruits almost hide the eyebrow-raising 70 IBU rating. Almost, this is clearly a barley wine that pays homage to the west coast.
The domestic top spot falls onto Malmgård, their Ceci N’est Pas Une Belge is a hidden treasure. It’s been available for years, but doesn’t get the attention it deserves. A strong belgian style ale that oozes flavour. And the Magritte reference in the name is much appreciated, too.
FI: Ohraviiniluokkaan kuun paras olut. Ikävä kyllä vain yksi pullo tuli napattua kyytiin ensivisiitillä uudistuneeseen Arkadian myymälään.
The first dedicated beer shop in Helsinki, Pien, opened its doors behind Ateneum a couple of weeks ago.
The selection is impressive – lots of domestic small breweries and a few spot additions from european colleagues.
As expected the bureaucracy’s demands must be satisfied in order to operate: the strength is below 4.7 ABV and the availability of food items seems artifical.
FI: Uskoisin että tämä on pitkän ja lämpimän ystävyyssuhteen alku.
August ended up being a swell month beer-wise, and several tastings broke the lofty heights of 4.75/5-barrier.
The best is a surprising entry from Õllenaut. As a card-carrying Islay fanboy, the Lagavulinesque peatiness of Turbahunt is indescribably delicious. As with the single malt, the strong taste is certainly not for everybody, but for me the smoky ale just grabbed a very firm hold of the “best beer of 2016”-prize.
Domestically the prize goes to Saimaa’s Joker Hop, a pale ale whose hopping changes between batches.
FI: Muikea virolainen savuolut nousee korkealle kaikkien aikojen suosikit-listallakin.
The beer aficionados’ very own Systembolaget on Regeringsgatan is no more, and the “replacement” sadly had a diminished beer selection. Nonetheless, picked up a few previously unseen american beers and quite a few domestics.
Prinsen: Biff rydberg & underdog
Visited Akkurat for lunch, and was impressed by both their taps and the bottle selection. The burger wasn’t bad either, but the highlight of the visit was the pairing of Nils Oskar’s Rökporter with Moules Islay appetizer.
Prinsen offered very traditional swedish food, and as a bonus had their own beer as well. Underdog, a rather basic lager, worked well with my very first authentic Biff Rydberg.
FI: Systembolagetin valikoima ei enää yhtä eeppinen kuin aiemmin, mutta huikean laaja silti. Paikallinen pyttipannu ja tuoreet äyriäiset syytä pitää muistissa tuleviakin reissuja varten.
Even on a 55 minute flight there’s time for a beer. Especially when said beer is Cloud Hopper, a Mikkeller exclusive only available on SAS flights.
Even though the basic american pale ale is not that special, it’s head and shoulders above the beers commonly available.
Though I do have a vague recollection of something wonderful being served by Alaska Airlines on the short parabolic hop between Seattle and Portland in the early noughties. But the memory is hazy (might have been a Fat Tire) and accompanied by a recollection of candied popcorn served alongside.
FI: Pakollinen olutostos lyhyellä hypyllä Tukholmaan (kun ei tätä muualta saa kuin ilmasta)
brewnardo 