Ölbeat 265: Hiisi Kyyttö

Brewery: Panimo Hiisi (in Finnish)
Country: Finland
Style: Stout
Abv: 5,5 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is black with a large tan head. Aroma has roasted malts, sweet coffee and dark chocolate. Taste starts with roasty bitter dark chocolate. Charcoal-roasted malts and mocca-spiced chocolate take over with gentle bitterness. Towards the end sweetish charcoal-liquorice bitterness rises above coffee and chocolate flavours. Aftertaste has malty sweetness, roasted bitterness and some coffee.

Tasty Milk Stout. Was afraid of overwhelming sweetness, but instead got excellent roast, malt, liquorice and chocolate flavours. Once again Hiisi didn't let me down.

Ölbeat

Kyyttö is used as the nickname of a rare Finnish cattle breed called Eastern Finncattle. For that reason and that reason only, I chose a song whose name includes the word cow. Not the worst choice, I think.

Foo Fighters: For All the Cows (YouTube)

From the 1995 album Foo Fighters, the song was written by Dave Grohl.

Ölmönger Special: Cafe Rooster Pub, Oulu, 14 Feb 2017

What? Cafe Rooster Pub. 
Where? In Oulu, Finland.
When? On Tuesday, 14 February, 2017. Between 9:30 and 10:30 p.m.
Why? Because. 

Had a 2-day work trip up north week and a half ago. Since I arrived to the city the evening before, since the hotel was just across the yard of the pub and since I had checked that the pub has some decent stuff on tap, it wasn't hard to select where I enjoyed a couple of night caps.

Cafe Rooster at night. Entrance to the pub is around the corner on the right...

...and well camouflaged. You got to know and get in.

The pub seemed to be a very cozy cellar pub. Some students present, also some internationality present - besides some of the customers I heard the bartender speak good English during my short visit. The service was appropriate and good.

Overall, the place had a nice mood - considering that I probably looked like a tired hillbilly with my checkered shirt or a random drunk. People chatting and enjoying their drinks. Guess that the restaurant upstairs closed soon after I came in, since a group arrived before me couldn't find their way out. Well, didn't take pictures of the situations, the people or the interiors of the pub so let's cut the crap and list the beers I had.

Sonnisaari Humalaja (@Ratebeer)

Colour is golden yellow with a very thin white lace. Aroma has orange, grapefruit and hay. Taste begins with stingy biting grapefruit. Bitter grapefruit with sweet orange and a piny twist takes over. Near the finish the piny orange gets on top. Aftertaste has grapefruit-piny bitterness and malty dryness.

Tasty strongly hopped India Pale Ale. The fruity and piny bitterness comes on full throttle and stays long - power is good. Not an expert, but would expect more fruits and more cloudy colour if this should be a Vermont/New England IPA. Fine IPA, anyway. Got couple bottles of this back home with me - so there'll be a rain check later on the blog.

Malmgård Oak Porter (@Ratebeer)

Reviewed this already with the brewery's X-Porter, so check the story here.

Maistilan Samoa (@Ratebeer)

Colour is hazy orange with a small white head. Aroma has mango, sweet citrus and spices. Taste starts spicy sweet and sour mango. Bitter grapefruit and spicy mango take over with a sour twist. Towards the end lemon sourness and grapefruit bitterness walk over the sweet fruits. Aftertaste has spiking sour-bitter citrus and some herbal dryness.

Nice and different fruit-flavoured India Pale Ale. Fruits dominate, but leave enough space for spicy bitter flavours. Maistila has proved its brewing skills in festivals. Just waiting for some bottlings in shops and in Alko - there are some a lot more modest breweries offering their brews in the monopoly shelves.

***

In the end I'll have to admit that I had a couple more beers in Oulu the next day - Sonnisaari Aprikosmos with a great dinner at Sokeri-Jussi's unique atmosphere and Maku/HopHead Matryoshka afterwards at the crowded Wednesday night's Oluthuone Leskinen - tasty brews both but because of good company I didn't have time to take pics nor make notes. Overall, the beer scene in Oulu seems great - two good local breweries make it even better.

Ölbeat

Since Alice in Chains' Rooster was an early catch in the blog over a year ago, looked for something else to match the pub's name. Well, found it.

Foo Fighters: Iron Rooster (YouTube)

From the 2015 EP Saint Cecilia, written by Foo Fighters.

And then something to be linked to the city of Oulu. Even though according to Kauko Röyhkä himself, the link is wrong: Paska kaupunki (in English "Shit City") isn't about his home city Oulu, it's about any Finnish city, town or village where young men get bored or frustrated.

Kauko Röyhkä ja Narttu: Paska kaupunki (YouTube)

Released in 1986 as a single, the song was written by Kauko Röyhkä and Jari Paulamäki.

Ölbeat 026: CREW Republic Roundhouse Kick

Brewery: CREW Republic
Country: Germany
Style: Imperial Stout
Abv: 9,2 %
@RateBeer

The beer that slammed the revolving door.

CREW Republic, founded in 2011, is a microbrewery in Munich, Germany. The brewery is known for brewing something else than standard German-type beer. Breaking the tradition is intentional according to the webpages of the brewery. When Roundhouse Kick came available in Finnish market, I was straight away interested about a beer that reminds me of the legendary Chuck Norris. 

What about the beer?
Colour is pitch black with huge beige head. Aroma has roasted malts with traces of hops and salty liquorice. Taste unleashes heavy bitterness with burned-roasted malts first. The hop-coal combo gets joined with strong black coffee and salty liquorice. Palate is beaten by dry bitter hops and strong citrus flavours in a very black-IPA'ish way. Aftertaste is powerfully dry, roasty and hoppy - a finish-off with style.

Ba-da-boom, ba-da-bing! Rough and aggressive, as the name promises. It's the Chuck Norris of craft beer, kicks and punches in the mouth. I loved the roughness and the complexity.

Ölbeat

What we need here is positively aggressive rock tune, that comes straight to the face. This one was the first that hit my head:

Foo Fighters: Monkey Wrench (YouTube)

From the 1997 album The Colour and the Shape, the song was written by frontman Dave Grohl, guitarist Pat Smear and bassist Nate Mendel. Described to be a power punk song by Grohl, the music is based on one fast-tempo main guitar riff and its alterations. Even though the video of the song shows then the newest band-member Taylor Hawkins on drums, it's Grohl who handles the sticks on the album and single version besides singing and playing guitar. The lyrics are about feeling trapped in a relationship that doesn't work and realizing that one of the problems is yourself. Despite the song is usually interpreted as venting negative feelings about a failed relationship, I've always found the song positively motivating with its in-your-face attitude. That's why it fits on the background of Roundhouse Kick perfectly.