Ölbeat 348: Mallassepät Sysi a.k.a The Resurrection

Brewery: Mallassepät (only in Finnish)
Country: Finland
Style: Imperial Stout
Abv: 9,5 %
@Ratebeer

What about the beer?

Colour is dark thick black with a finger-thick latte brown head. Aroma has roasted malts with notable coffee and liquorice and little less notable chocolate notes. Taste begins with very thick roast and smoothly strong bitterness. Intense, bitter roast meets its favored sidekicks: dark chocolate and salty liquorice - the duo is always warmly welcomed to this kind of party. The strength of the brew rises its ugly but friendly head with some boozy notes in the end. After the malty flavours are rinsed down the throat, we are left with lasting bitter liquorice.

I remember having this beer for the first time in the end of 2018 from tap at Konttori in Tampere. Since then, there have been four or five Sysi sessions, and the first impression of a clean, simple, strong and delicious brew hasn't faded at all. For me, it has in a short time become a beer that fits perfectly in a moment when I need to calm down, drown in the one clear thought in my mind and otherwise enjoy the silence. 

Ölbeat

Probably ruined the surprise already in the end of the previous paragraph. Well, that happens: Pleasures remain / So does the pain / Words are meaningless / And forgettable. Thirty years after hearing the song for the first time, it still has the same calming effect it had then.

Depeche Mode: Enjoy the Silence (YouTube)

From the 1990 album Violator, the song was written by Martin Gore.

* * *

"What was that you promised somewhat a year and a half ago? No waking up from the dead, wasn't it? Quote: 'But the cold truth is that the blog stays dead after the burial - this is the final post of this blog. My and Ölmönger the Blogger's paths are separated for good.' What's going on, boy?"

Well, another line from the song above goes: Vows are spoken / To be broken. Politicians, priests and policemen - among everyone else - live accordingly. Why couldn't and shouldn't a beer blogger?

To put it very short, there were actual reasons to kill the blog. Now, those reasons are mostly gone and forgotten, so it seemed too easy to open up the grave and mold something live-like from the rotten remains. And there was actually a reason to connect the jump leads to the monster and let the electricity do its magic: the Ölmönger's business seemed somewhat unfinished. You can read about one piece of evidence from this posts Ölbeat.

Coming back from the hiatus brings some changes to the idea of the blog. There will be shorter and longer silent periods, for sure: not every beer, however great it is, deserves a post. Actually, none of the beers that I supposedly taste only once or for the first time gets an independent post. I keep the best once-in-a-lifetime experiences for myself.

There will be less single beer posts - and probably more posts for bar visits, beer & whisky mixing, rebel yells agains the beer culture and other born dead ideas. There will be no time nor space for Skitbits anymore: there's enough shitty beer in the world and Finland alone to spend a couple of dimes on without me posting about them.

"The King was dead. Long live the King!" Right?

The another one goes to life:

Black Sabbath: Killing Yourself to Live (YouTube)

From the 1973 album Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, the song was written by Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward.

Ölbeat 346: Beer Hunter's Mufloni Hermansson Barley Wine

Brewery: Beer Hunter's (in Finnish)
Country: Finland
Style: Barley Wine
Abv: 11 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is dark brown with a thin natural white lace. Aroma has nutty chocolate, caramel malts and dark fruits. Taste starts with bittersweet fruity caramel. Malty caramel and sweet fruits take over with spicy bitterness and hints of chocolate. Towards the end sweet caramel malts, spicy pine and bitter boozy citrus fruits come out strongest. Aftertaste has biting fruity-piny bitterness, boozy spiciness and caramel malty dryness.

Malty and sharp-flavoured Barley Wine. Caramel malts, sweet and bitter fruits, spicy pine and boozy kick dominate. Part of me desires for a little more roundness, another one is very pleased with the rough edges. Rather enjoyable, still probably on its way to excellence?

This beer was part of Alko's Finnish artisanal beer selection in spring 2018.

Ölbeat

I explain the song choice with the place, the situation and the mood, where I enjoyed the bottle with my parents. The song is about the singer being enchanted by a ghost, while I'm enchanted by the old school my parents live in. Visiting there seems to somehow take me to completely other reality, other time and other place. With this kind of classic style beverage, the trip became even more distancing.

Kings of Leon: Find Me (YouTube)

From the 2016 album WALLS, the song was written by Caleb Followill, Nathan Followill, Jared Followill and Matthew Followill.

Ölbeat 345: Orava Orwellian Nightmare 2018

Brewery: Orava Brewing (brewed at Cool Head Brew)
Country: Finland
Style: Imperial Stout
Abv: 10 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is black with quickly vanishing head. Aroma has roast, espresso and dark chocolate. Taste begins with strong and bitter spicy roast. Bitter heavy roasted espresso and vanilla-spiced dark chocolate take over. Towards the end espresso, chocolate and spicy flavours are joined by dry oaky booze. Aftertaste has bitter dark chocolate and warm oaky-roasty dryness.

Spicy and bitter roasty Imperial Stout. Espresso and dark chocolate come deliciously out with roast, spices, booze and oak. Rich and very tasty, the squirrels (Orava means a squirrel) get the job done.

This beer was part of Alko's Finnish artisanal beer selection in spring 2018.

Ölbeat

Propaganda, surveillance, misinformation, denial of truth, and manipulation of the past? Yep, that's Orwellian enough. A case for System Of A Down.

System Of A Down: Hypnotize (YouTube)

From the 2005 album Hypnotize, the song was written by Daron Malakian and Serj Tankian.

Ölbeat 344: Malmgård Imperial Oatmeal Stout

Brewery: Malmgård
Country: Finland
Style: Imperial Stout
Abv: 9 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is black with a finger-thick beige head. Aroma has roasted malts, espresso and cocoa. Taste begins with bitter espresso roast. Strong espresso, bitter roast and dark chocolate take over. Towards the end charcoaly roasted malts and bitter dark chocolate get the strongest grip. Aftertaste has mocha chocolate, bitter roast and cocoa-flavoured dryness.

Charred and chocolaty Imperial Stout. Shortly put, a well-made coffee-chocolate-roasty by the book impy, no tricks. Fits my taste almost perfectly. But that's Malmgård.

This beer was part of Alko's Finnish artisanal beer selection in spring 2018.

Ölbeat

Sadly, this majestic beer will probably not be added to the regular selection of Malmgård brewery but will only rule for the short availability period this spring. Almost similar case as their great Imperial IPA was, then. Or how will it be?

Battle Beast: King for a Day (YouTube)

From the 2017 album Bringer of Pain, the song was written by Battle Beast.

Ölbeat 343: Tuju Export Stout N:o 2

Brewery: Panimoyhtiö Tuju (in Finnish)
Country: Finland
Style: Foreign Stout
Abv: 8 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is black with a two-finger thick beige head. Aroma has espresso, chocolate and soft milky roast. Taste begins with biting bitter roast. Bitter espresso and roasted salty liquorice take over with sharp spicy chocolate notes. Towards the end both coffee and liquorice round up a bit and give space to dark chocolate and spicy booze. Aftertaste has salty liquorice, strongly bitter roast and dry alcohol warmth.

Bitter and spicy Foreign Stout. Strong & sharp espresso, liquorice, roast and chocolate flavours. Me like it a lot. Seems like we have one high quality brewery near the eastern border in South Carelia.

This beer was part of Alko's Finnish artisanal beer selection in spring 2018.

Ölbeat

Since the brewery is from Lappeenranta, I gave in to the temptation to pair their beer with a song by the band loved by everyone from the same town. "Ihminen tietää sen, että / maailma ilman perkelettä / on kuin viini ilman humalaa. / Ja valtakunta, jossa / hyvyys kylpee valossa, / ei sellaista ole olemassakaan."* And to complete my assholeness, I chose the remix instead of the original version from the album Kuolleen kukan nimi (2002). Cheers!

Kotiteollisuus: Valtakunta (Tappava pila -remix) (YouTube)

From the 2002 EP ±0, the song was written by Kotiteollisuus.

*Bad translation: Everyone knows that / the world without the Devil / is like wine without intoxication. / And a kingdom where / goodness bathes in shine / there's no place like that.

Ölbeat 342: Ruosniemen Mandarina Lomittaja

Brewery: Ruosniemen Panimo
Country: Finland
Style: Saison
Abv: 6,3 % 
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is golden orange with a finger-thick white head. Aroma has yeast, orange and pepper spice. Taste starts with yeasty spicy sourness. Peppery yeast and sour'n'sweet citrus fruits take over. Towards the end bitter citrus peel and sweetish sour fruit come through. Aftertaste has sweet orange and dry spicy & peely bitterness.

Fruity and spicy Saison. The yeasty and spicy start turns nicely into bitter peely finish. Well made one from the neighborhood brewery.

This beer was part of Alko's Finnish artisanal beer selection in spring 2018.
 

Ölbeat

So, Mandarina Lomittaja means a Chinese stand-in, doesn't it? Bad and cheap, but will do.

Steve Poltz: Chinese Vacation (YouTube)

From the 2003 album Chinese Vacation, the song was written by Steve Poltz.

Ölbeat 341: Suomenlinnan Kealakekua IPA

Brewery: Suomenlinnan Panimo
Country: Finland
Style: India Pale Ale
Abv: 
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is hazy golden orange with a small white head. Aroma has pineapple, orange and grapefruit. Taste starts with piny grapefruit bite. Bitter grapefruit and spicy pine take over with sweeter fruity tones. Towards the end piny-fruity bitterness and sweet citrus get on top. Aftertaste has bittersweet grapefruit-orange juice and sour spicy dryness.

Fruity and piny New England -style India Pale Ale. Very nice bittersweet citrus bomb. But. The freshness factor could be clearer. Not excellent nor mind-blowing but still very tasty.

This beer was part of Alko's Finnish artisanal beer selection in spring 2018.

Ölbeat

Kealakekua Bay on the west coast of Kona Island in Hawaii is known for being the place, where Captain James Cook was stabbed to death by a native chief. Of course, that was after Cook and his crew had already achieved tension with the natives and tried to kidnap a Hawaiian chief to his ship. Things didn't really go the way they do in The Beach Boys songs, did they?

The Beach Boys: Hawaii (YouTube)

From the 1963 album Surfer Girl, the song was written by Brian Wilson.

Ölbeat 337 (BC17 #24): Vakka-Suomen Prykmestar Savukataja

Brewery: Vakka-Suomen Panimo (in Finnish)
Country: Finland
Style: Smoked Ale
Abv: 9 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is dark brown with a small natural white head. Aroma has pure smoked ham and spices. *A short break while the blogger couldn't help himself from making and eating a cheese-ham rye sandwich. And another cheese-ham rye sandwich.* Taste begins with smoothly bitter meaty smoke. Heavily smoked malts and thick cured ham takes over with spicy peppery side tones. Towards the end bitter burned liquorice gets mixed with the dominating meaty smoke. Aftertaste has sweetish bitter liquorice and spicy smoky dryness.

Strong and meaty Smoked Ale. The association of smoked meat or heavily cured ham is present from the first aroma to the final end. And that's stunningly beautiful. Frankly, this is the best smoked beer I've had - beats Bamberg any day. A modern classic from the Uusikaupunki-based brewery.

Ölbeat

For the sake of Christmas Eve, I had to give in a little and pick the only seasonal song of the calendar here. Originally from the animated movie The Snowman (1982) and written by composer Howard Blake, I picked a slightly modernized version from the 90's. Merry Christmas!

Nightwish: Walking in the Air (YouTube)

From the 1998 album Ocean, the song was written by Howard Blake.

Ölbeat 332 (BC17 #19): Sonnisaari Juomahammas II

Brewery: Sonnisaari (in Finnish)
Country: Finland
Style: Imperial Porter
Abv: 11 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is black with a small beige head. Aroma has milk chocolate, vanilla, sweet roast and oak. Taste starts with bitter chocolate roast. Sweet milk chocolate and bitter roasted malts take over with hints of vanilla and oak. Towards the end sweet roasted malts, dark chocolate and spicy oak flavour get on top with soft boozy warmth. Aftertaste has bitter dark chocolate, sweetish roasted malts and oaky-spicy whisky bite - and it lasts.

Warming and delicious Imperial Porter. Chocolate, oak, roast, spices, booze - complex and layered rich flavours. Finish is phenomenal. Hard to tell whether I loved this one more than the sherry version. Absolutely beautiful brew.

Ölbeat

Searching for great Finnish craft beer can sometimes seem to be "hunting high and low and even in between", if high is considered to be the Northern Finland and low the Southern Finland. This time we caught an excellent brew from one of the breweries up north.

Stratovarius: Hunting High And Low (YouTube)

From the 2000 album Infinite, the song was written by Timo Tolkki and Timo Kotipelto.

Ölbeat 328 (BC17 #15): Humalove Hammer of Sucellus

Brewery: Humalove
Country: Finland
Style: Barley Wine
Abv: 10,5 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is dirty cola brown with a thin light lace. Aroma has caramel, chocolate and dark fruits. Taste starts with strong fruity bittersweet bite. Booze-soaked berries and bittersweet malty caramel take over with some dark chocolate in the background. Towards the end piny bitterness, berry sweetness and chocolate-coated malty caramel melt together in a rich-flavoured union. Aftertaste has malty-fruity sweetness, piny bitterness and warm boozy kick.

Caramel-malty and bitter berry-fruit flavoured Barley Wine. Piny flavours strike near the finish and are joined by some alcohol. Sticky and sweet stuff. Liked it a lot. Excellent work by the gypsy brewers from the capital.

Ölbeat

Named after the mallet of a Celtic-Gallic deity of agriculture and wine, the brew needs to be paired with a song about hammers, gods or both. So it's no surprise that I ended up with a power metal track from the land of Zee Germans. The feel-good mood of the song surely annoys somebody. Well, it can't be Slayer all the time, can it?

Freedom Call: Hammer Of The Gods (YouTube)

From the 2016 album Master of Light, the song was written by Chris Bay.

Ölbeat 325 (BC17 #12): Sonnisaari Juomahammas I

Brewery: Sonnisaari (in Finnish)
Country: Finland
Style: Imperial Porter
Abv: 11 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is black with a finger-thick foamy beige head. Aroma has roast, espresso, chocolate and vanilla. Taste starts with bitter heavy-roasted espresso. Vanilla-spiced espresso and powerful roast take over with bitter dark chocolate. Towards the end bitter roast gets on top with some sweet cherry notes showing up. Aftertaste has coffee roast, chocolate bitter and spiced oaky dryness.

Strong and delicious Imperial Porter. Powerful basic elements - vanilla sweetness, turbo roast, espresso and chocolate - get some cherry-oaky vibes in the finish. Excellent one from Sonnisaari.

Ölbeat

Strong, passionate and complex - sounds like a troubled relationship. This rock ballad is about one near the end or, as the final verse of the lyrics says: "I will try until the last drop falls."

Sonata Arctica: Last Drop Falls (YouTube)

From the 2001 album Silence, the song was written by Tony Kakko.

Ölbeat 318 (BC17 #5): Ruosniemen Vuorineuvos Tullibardine BA

Brewery: Ruosniemen Panimo
Country: Finland
Style: Imperial Stout
Abv: 10 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is black with a large beige head. Aroma has roasted malts, spicy-oaky whisky and dark chocolate. Taste starts with bittersweet spicy roast. Strong sweet roast, spicy whisky and fruity chocolate take over with espresso notes. Towards the end sweet fruity-oaky whisky and bitter dark chocolate come out strongest. Aftertaste has dark chocolate, dry roast and lasting oaky alcohol warmth.

Excellent whisky barrel-aged Imperial Stout. Chocolate and roast flavours of the original get beautiful support from fruity, oaky and spicy Speyside single malt whisky. One of the best Finnish barrel-aged ones I've had in a while.

Ölbeat

Vuorineuvos is "a honorary title granted by the President of Finland to leading figures in industry and commerce". So barrel-aged vuorineuvos sounds like a fat old rich prick after too many cognacs. This rockabilly-punk song is probably about the offspring of those called vuorineuvos, who usually are undeservably rich and pretty bitchy despite their sex or gender.

Melrose: Rich Little Bitch (YouTube)

From the 1986 album Melrose, the song was written by Mika Tuokkola and Petri Salomaa.

Ölbeat 315 (BC17 #2): Suomenlinnan Helsinki Portteri

Brewery: Suomenlinnan Panimo
Country: Finland
Style: Porter
Abv: 5,6 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is black with a finger-thick tan head. Aroma has roasted sweet malts, espresso and liquorice. Taste begins with gentle charred roast. Spicy sweet charred malts take over with gently bitter chocolate flavour. Towards the end charcoal roast is joined by sweet spices and dark chocolate. Aftertaste has gently bitter coffee and lasting roasted malty dryness.

Gentle and sweetish Porter. Sweet spicy smoothly charred malts have the dominance but chocolate and coffee show up, too. No flaws, no tricks, just simple and tasty pleasure. Quality stuff from Suomenlinna.

Ölbeat

Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Gentle but dark-flavoured Porter. Guess I have to pick a Helsinki-based band and their Helsinki-themed song. The music style - defined by the band's singer Juha Lehti - is soft but gruff "keskiolut"-jazz but the dark lyrics tell about a stormy rainy night in Helsinki. Or about how "god punishes Helsinki tonight", as the name of the song goes.

Sir Elwoodin Hiljaiset Värit: Jumala rankaisee Helsinkiä tänä yönä (YouTube)

From the 1991 album Varjoissa vapaan maailman, the song was written by Juha Lehti.

Skitbit Nov 2017: Stadin Whale Ale & Open House Paradoxale

Bad luck. Had two bad beers from Finnish breweries during one evening session couple of weeks ago. Since I've become rather picky with beer that's nowadays so rare occasion that they both deserve to be introduced in this one Skitbit post.

***

Brewery: Stadin Panimo
Country: Finland
Style: American Pale Ale
Abv: 5,6 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is clear golden orange with a 2-finger thick natural white head. Aroma has lemon, fruit candy and malts. Taste starts with strongly, piny and fruity bite. Salty bitter grapefruit takes over with spicy piny and sweet orange tones. Towards the end herbal pine and bittersweet citrus get mixed. Aftertaste has fruity bitter pine and strongly herbal, a bit harsh dryness.

Piny and harsh American Pale Ale. First mouthfuls are fruity and decent, but then we get more and more of pine and herbs. The freshness has died. Slight disappointment, though Stadin Panimo has had some variation in the quality of their brews.

Skitbit

The name of the beer, whale ale, makes one expect something huge. Well, it's tough enough to brew a huge American Pale Ale but when even the mediocre is too much, we'll have to pick some pompous but meaningless music to accompany the beer. Yes, there certainly is a lot of declaration in Ultra Bra's songs but mostly it's crap. Picked this one because in the lyrics old Helsinki, the capital of Finland and the home city of Stadin Panimo, is compared to Soviet Union - and I kinda like the comparison.

Ultra Bra: Helsinki (YouTube)

From the 1996 album Vapaaherran elämää, the song was written by Kerkko Koskinen and Anni Sinnemäki.

***

Brewery: Open Water Brewery
Country: Finland
Style: India Black Ale
Abv: 6,1 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is black with a huge fluffy tan head. Aroma has orange, pineapple and sweet liquorice. Taste begins with herbal bitter, muddy roast. Muddy roast and herbal piny bitterness take over with some grapefruity hints in the background. No spectacular changes towards the end. Aftertaste is very earthy, bitter and dry.

India Black Ale completely ruined. New brewery for me, some expectations, but in the end, breweries from Åland have yet a long way to impress my taste. After a couple of mouthfuls, the rest of the bottle found its way to the sewage system.

Skitbit

In the mainland, the people of Åland are sometimes compared to the beloved citizens of Finland's western neighbour, the "dumb" Swedes. Probably because Swedish is the official language of Åland and the culture of the archipelago is somewhat closer to Swedish culture than Finnish. Well, I find both the Ålanders and the Swedes a lot happier nation than the Finns, so probably there's some point in the comparison. Swedish music industry has been and is internationally more successful than Finnish - that probably goes with breweries, too. However, I've always disliked the music from the first superstar band from Scandinavia, so I picked a song that can be interpreted here as a cry for help from the Åland breweries.  

ABBA: S.O.S. (YouTube)

From the 1975 album ABBA, the song was written by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Stig Anderson.

Skitbit Oct 2017: Sonnisaari APA

Brewery: Sonnisaari (in Finnish)
Country: Finland
Style: American Pale Ale
Abv: 4,5 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is hazy golden orange with a large natural white head. Aroma has grapefruit, lemon and mild pineapple. Taste begins with bitter grapefruit bite. Rough grapefruit and spicy pine take over with herbal side tones. Towards the end really bitter pine and strong herbal flavours take over. Aftertaste has heavily bitter pine and somewhat harsh dry herbs.

Roughly bitter and piny American Pale Ale. The good thing is that despite the low abv there's character in the brew. Tha bad side is that the character is really rough, harsh and possibly a bit earthy. Not so impressed but not very disappointed either. If Sonnisaari makes a miss, I'm glad that it's with this style.

Ölbeat

Since Sonnisaari has, despite it's rather short existence, become one of my trusted Finnish breweries, one miss won't spoil our relationship. On the other hand, the song I picked is one "half a hit" after a long line of bad misses from this band. The only thing wrong is that it kinda pays respect to another Finnish band Yö which has always sucked big time. 

Popeda: Helvetin Pitkä Perjantai (YouTube)

From the 2017 album Haista Popeda!, the song was written by Jimi and Costello Hautamäki. 

Ölbeat 312: Cool Head Copacabana

Brewery: Cool Head Brew
Country: Finland
Style: Specialty Grain
Abv: 7 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is hazy dark orange with a large natural white head. Aroma has lemon, grapefruit, resin and pine. Taste starts with piny bitter grapefruit. Sharp pine and bitter grapefruit take over with slightly sweet malty flavour in the background. Towards the end pine beats the citrus, sweet orange sticks out a little. Aftertaste has sharp resiny dryness and citrus bitterness.

Heavily piny and resiny Rye IPA. Some citrus and malts in the flavour, too. Not superfresh, not too exciting, but strong and tasty. In some nice way slaps the drinker in the face with bitterness.

Ölbeat

Since one of the brewers is Cleber from Brazil and since the brew offered a fruity face-slapping session, it's self-evident that I chose Brazilian music that slaps - and hits and kicks and bites - in the face. No fruit, tho: it's the Cavalera brothers and the rest of Sepultura!

Sepultura: Arise (YouTube)

From the 1991 album Arise, the song was written by Sepultura.

Ölbeat 310: Rocking Bear Porkka Portteri

Brewery: Rocking Bear Brewers
Country: Finland
Style: Porter
Abv: 4,3 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is black with a huge beige head. Aroma has roast, bready malts and dark chocolate. Taste begins with dry charcoal roast. Charred bready malts take over with gently bitter dark chocolate. Near the finish roasted malty sweetness gets on top. Aftertaste has dry and bitter malty roast.

Mild but flawless basic Porter. Charred roast with some bitter chocolate and sweet malts. After one and a half year of active business, Rocking Bear seems to have succeeded in breaking into the brewing scene of Pori.

Ölbeat

The brew "Porkka" is named after Pormestarinluoto, a notorious part of the city in Pori. Although its blocks of rental flats have cleaned up and also polished the reputation of the neigbourhood, for me it will always represent pure darkness. I have no reason to visit or stay on that side of the city. Well, not in this lifetime, at least.

Depressed Mode: Suffer in Darkness (YouTube)

From the 2007 album Ghosts of Devotion, the song was written by Ossy Salonen.

Ölbeat 308: Linden Red Ale

Brewery: Linden Brewery (in Finnish)
Country: Finland
Style: Irish Ale
Abv: 4,5 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is dark brown with a huge natural white head. Aroma has caramel malts, dark fruits and gentle roast. Taste starts with bitter bready malts. Dry grainy malts and bitter hops take over with mild fruity side tones. Near the finish malty dryness comes out strongest. Aftertaste has dry malts and bitter grainy flavour.

Dry malty Irish Ale - first of this style in the blog. Alright, but would've expected a little more depth behind the grainy main flavour. The first one from the brewery tasted a lot better for me.

Ölbeat

Simply put, I picked a song from a band from the same town as the brewery. Some experimental rock for the experiments of a rather new brewery.

Musta Valo: 26200 Rauma (YouTube)

From the 2014 album Musta Valo, the song was written by Lauri-Matti Parppei and Timo Kuismanen.

Ölbeat 307: Rocking Bear Pietniemi Pale Ale

Brewery: Rocking Bear Brewers (Facebook, in Finnish)
Country: Finland
Style: American Pale Ale
Abv: 4,5 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is dark orange with a huge natural white head. Aroma has mango, orange and pear. Taste begins with gentle citrus bitterness. Juice mix of sweet orange-mango and sour-bitter lemon takes over. Towards the end some bitter grapefruit strikes through. Aftertaste has grapefruit bitterness and slightly piny dryness.

Fruity fresh American Pale Ale. All the elements of citrus present. Light but good. Tastes like summer should have felt. Works like a charm. The beer of my neighborhood, by the way. Until they brew Pelle Miljoona Barley Wine, of course.

Ölbeat

Pietniemi Pale Ale has gotten its name from a quarter in the city of Pori. Near Pietniemi, in the fields of western Pori there used to be a grey barn with a text "Pelle Miljoona Oy" on its outside wall. The barn was burned down in 2004.

Pelle Miljoona Oy: Juokse villi lapsi (YouTube)

From the 1980 album Moottoritie on kuuma, the song was written by Pelle Miljoona and Ari Taskinen.

Skitbit Sep 2017: Hartwall Lahden Erikois IPA

Brewery: Hartwall
Country: Finland
Style: Session IPa 
Abv: 4,7 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is golden yellow with a large white head. Aroma has lemon, grapefruit and mild fruity notes. Taste starts with very mild citrus. Nothing special or nothing ordinary - except the waiting for something to replace the thin watery malty flavour - takes over. Towards the end there's faint grapefruit bitterness and some malty sweetness. Aftertaste has mild pine and harsh cardboardy citrus bitterness.

Harmless, tasteless and forgettable Session Ale. Baa-ad watery stuff, ugly caricature of a hop-driven brew. This would probably go ok with some spicy food since its flavour could be enhanced a bit, but I would prefer a usual lager after sauna to this. As a beer, this didn't have any on- and only some off-flavours, so it's 0 points for the macro brewery and relegation to the 5th division. It'll take some time for me to pick anything from Hartwall again.

Skitbit

Things are going shitty in Lahti, Finland. The city is running out of good breweries - Teerenpeli is at its best mediocre and the others are bad or out of business. There aren't too many good pubs around - actually none. The music from the Chicago of Finland is worse than shit, the following example is a fine example of how bad things can go without good beer around.

Arttu Lindeman: Läikkyy (YouTube)

Published as a single 2016, the song was written by DJ Fresh and Diplo as Earthquake (and copied later by a bunch of incompetent d**kheads for this song).