Ölbeat 004: Sinebrychoff Koff Porter

Brewery: Sinebrychoff
Country: Finland  
Style: Baltic Porter
Abv: 7,2 %
@RateBeer

Possibly the best porter in Finland

Sinebrychoff is Finland's largest brewery by sales and the oldest one still working (founded in 1819). Since 1999 the brewery has been owned by Carlsberg. Its most popular beer brands are Koff and Karhu, which are among the most sold beer brands in Finland. But that's not the reason for the brewery's product to end up here.

There are two reasons:

1. Sinebrychoff Koff Porter is by far the brewery's flagship beer, so it would have been on this blog sooner or later.
2. This is one part of a joint blogpost by some Finnish beerbloggers, whose posts will be linked in the end of this post. The father of the idea writes posts to Tuopillinen. (Actually, he stole the idea from some winebloggers, the witty bastard, but hey, I don't mind.)

What about the beer?
The beer pours black with two-finger thick brown head. Aroma has sweet malts with a hint of burned wood. Taste is first roasted then caramel malts with chocolate-ish coffee. Palate adds bittersweet hops that come gently through in the aftertaste. Not in any way an easy package, but then again very drinkable.

Well, how can I put it? Jaska ain't completely off the course while praising this to be one of the best beers made in Finland. Very tasty porter that could and should be The Beer from Finland instead of all industrial-tasting brands we all know. If you don't know, have a pint of Koff Porter first.
  
Ölbeat

With The Beer from Finland you have to get an originally Finnish band. Someone could describe this a performance by a male choir, but it's not. It's a piece of Finnish rock:

Seminaarinmäen Mieslaulajat a.k.a Semmarit: Life is a Highway (MySpace)

From Spotify you get the Finnish original version Mopedimies (from Sampo Texas, 1996):
 

From the 2014 English album, the title song Life is a Highway pretty much sums up the band's/choir's way to success. Abandoning the traditional way of male choir performance - controlled singing and standing  - and building a rock show with crazy coreographies and references to popular music is how the group of 21 men can give the audience an unforgettable experience. I had my first in summer 1998 and have had some more since.

Even though MySpace or Spotify can give one only the music without the movement, you'll probably get the idea. And if you don't, check out YouTube and the tour dates. I would say that Semmarit does the same to Finnish choir music that Koff Porter does to Finnish beer: makes a difference.

Links to the other bloggers' posts on Koff Porter (in alphabetical order - blogs in Finnish):

• Arde arvioi
• Huurteinen 
• JaskanKaljat
• Kaunis humala
• Keikyblogi
• Loppasuut
• Maistuva Mallas 
• Maltainen 
• Musamiehen oluet
• mushiMALT
• Olutverkko
• Pullollinen 
• Punavuori Gourmet 
• Reittausblogi
• Tuopillinen
• Tuopin ääressä
• Tyttö ja tuoppi
• Viinihullun päiväkirja