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 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 296: Ruosniemen Lomittaja (4,7 %)

Brewery: Ruosniemen Panimo
Country: Finland
Style: Saison
Abv: 4,7 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is hazy straw yellow with an overwhelming white head. Aroma has sour apples, yeast and sweet wheat malts. Taste begins with yeasty citrusy sour bite. Fruity biting sourness and yeasty funk take over with wheaty and spicy side flavours. Towards the end sweet fruits get in front with sour lemon and spicy yeast. Aftertaste has salty lemon sourness and malty dryness.

Mild but tasty Saison. Everything's where it should be: sour and yeasty aroma followed by sour, funky, wheaty and spicy taste. Great summer brew from the local brewery.

Ölbeat

"Hip hip." The name of the beer, Lomittaja, means stand-in and is in Finland used especially from a person to takes care of the farm when the farmer is sick or on holiday. So, we're imagining the farmer to a distant sunny island when his stand-in is working and sweating on the countryside.

Weezer: Island in the Sun (YouTube)

From the 2001 album Weezer, the song was written by Rivers Cuomo.

Skitbit May 2017: Ruosniemen Porvari Oloroso Barley Wine

Brewery: Ruosniemen Panimo
Country: Finland
Style: Barley Wine
Abv: 11 %
@RateBeer (it's a 10,5 % version with a different name, hmm...)

What about the beer?

Colour is dark brown with a small tan head. Aroma has caramel, sweet berries, orange and mango. Taste starts with sweet fruity and boozy kick. Sweet cherry liquor and piny booze take over. Towards the end rough sweet and boozy bitterness kicks strong with fruity undertones. Aftertaste has piny bitter booze and lasting oversweet cherries.

Bitter and unrounded Barley Wine. Don't know if it's got something to do with the barrel-aging but rough booze and bitter cherries kick in too hard. No signs of expected smoothness until the finals sips. Damn, what a disappointment after nice anticipation. Sadly, in addition more than one bottle from the brewery have been clearly spoiled - Turisti, Lomittaja, Piirimyyjä, Pikkupomo and Koodari, at least one of each. But this was simply barrel-aging gone bad. Hoping the couple of others are much better.

Skitbit

If this was a bad brew from Pori, it has to be followed by awful music from Pori. When the Finnish word 'porvari' means a burgess, a wealthy inhabitant, its opposite is a beggar, 'kerjäläinen'. The brew didn't make me feel wealthy. On the contrary, I felt like traveling to the kingdom of beggars.    

Dingo: Kerjäläisten valtakunta (YouTube)

From the 1985 album Kerjäläisten valtakunta, the song was written by Neumann.

Ölbeat 248: Ruosniemen Arkkitehti

Brewery: Ruosniemen Panimo
Country: Finland
Style: India Black Ale
Abv: 6,1 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is dark cola brown with a two-finger thick natural white head. Aroma has roasted malts, sweet liquorice and orange. Taste begins with charcoaly bitter roast. Bitter roast and mild grapefruit take over with some liquorice side tone. Towards the end grapefruit and pepper spices come through with gentle pine. Aftertaste has dry charcoal and piny bitter roast.

Decent and tasty India Black Ale. Nicely versatile flavours: roast dominates the start, but citrus strikes through near the finish. Some exciting peppery spice near the finish, too. However, the body seems to be a bit thin - the taste doesn't have a firm grip. Good stuff from the Poriginal brewery, anyway.

Ölbeat

Well, don't know if the beer can fill the boots of the song, but this was actually decided before the first sip. It just was about time to have some Sabbath on the blog after a short break. Actually, the match ain't so bad.

Black Sabbath: Spiral Architect (YouTube)

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

Skitbit Jan 2017: Ruosniemen Koodari

Brewery: Ruosniemen Panimo
Country: Finland
Style: Premium Lager
Abv: 5,7 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is hazy golden orange with a large white head. Aroma has grapefruit, lemon, malts and some herbs. Taste begins with strongly harsh herbal bitterness. Piny but unclean bitter citrus flavours take over with an earthy sidetone. Towards the end the soily flavours get stronger. Aftertaste has harsh bitterness and some bad vegetable flavours.

Damn. This shouldn't have happened: the first brew from a local favourite brewery that goes awfully wrong. A bad bottle, perhaps? Somehow I'm glad that the miss came with a style I don't so much care about.

Ölbeat

The commercial description of Koodari (Coder) begins with the words: "Coder closes out the distractions with big headphones." Utter crap. I can imagine the original lyrics of this song going: "I'm serious as a necromancer when I say / Coder is a f***ing cancer." But that wouldn't have been a 90's eurodance hit but rather a protest song by Slipknot.  

Snap!: Rhythm Is a Dancer (YouTube)

From the 1992 album The Madman's Return, the song was written by Benito Benites, John Garrett III and Thea Austin.

Ölbeat 151: Ruosniemen Vahtimestari

Brewery: Ruosniemen Panimo
Country: Finland
Style: Porter
Abv: 6,1 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is black with a small tan head. Aroma has roasted malts, sweet black coffee and spices. Taste begins with sweet roast. Sweet charcoal-roasted malts take over with coffee and vanilla notes. Gentle bitterness grows towards the end with some dark fruits showing up. Aftertaste has sweet malts, charred roast and some bitter dryness.

Tasty Porter with a hint of vanilla. Roasted malts and gentle bitterness dominate smoothly, while coffee, vanilla and dark fruits stay in the backgorund. Would match nicely with good dark chocolate. More character could probably be available with a higher abv and a larger bunch of vanilla, but this was nicely tender.

Ölbeat

Even though the brewery is playing with names here (one translation for 'vahtimestari' is 'porter'), couldn't match the beer with any of the doorkeeper-themed songs. The door was left open for the soft and calm side of the brew. So this ballad with Amy Lee's beautiful vocals turned up.

Evanescence: Good Enough (YouTube)

From the 2006 album The Open Door, the song was written by Amy Lee.

Ölbeat 123: Ruosniemen Parlamentaarikko

Brewery: Ruosniemen Panimo
Country: Finland 
Style: Abbey Dubbel
Abv: 6,9 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is hazy brown with a finger-thick white head. Aroma has sweet fruits, raisins and syrup. Taste begins with fruity and yeasty sourness. Sour fruit, sweet malts, raisins and some yeasty stuffyness take over. Towards the end sweet bitterness and sour lemon step forward. Aftertaste has bitter yeast and sour fruits.

Tasty and complex Dubbel with fruits, malts and yeast and sweet, sour and bitter flavours. Should have a taste of this later with an original Belgian one and compare. Very nice anyway.

Ölbeat

The name of the brew - Finnish word for 'parliamentarian' - steers the choice towards a politically oriented song. Well, at least this has a punk funk rhythm and lyrics from the mouth of an elite politician.  

The Clash: Know Your Rights (YouTube)

From the 1982 album Combat Rock, the song was written by Joe Strummer and Mick Jones.

Ölbeat 097: Ruosniemen Vuorineuvos

Brewery: Ruosniemen Panimo
Country: Finland
Style: Imperial Stout
Abv: 9,5 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is blackish dark brown with a thin beige head. Aroma has a bit smoky roasted malts, espresso and dark chocolate. Taste begins with heavily charred-roasted malts with a hint of alcohol. Roasted malts and strong espresso come in front. Near the finish bitter hops, salty cocoa and some dark fruit flavours step to the side. Aftertaste has dry bitterness, dark chocolate and black coffee.

Very tasty and special Imperial Stout. Roasted malts, coffee and chocolate all come in bitter-dry and strong extremes. Alcohol tries to exist in the taste, but quickly dies out. Flavours are not in any way rounded or flattened but that just suits me. Damn, it's great to have excellent breweries in your home town.

Ölbeat

Heavy punch-in-the-face brew cries for a similar song. Nothing similar with the noblity of the beer's name (vuorineuvos is a Finnish honorary title given for merits in industry) here's some Finnish heavy. The band connected itself to Finnish bulk lager brand later but who cares:

Kotiteollisuus: Rakastaa/ei rakasta (YouTube)

From the 2002 album Kuolleen kukan nimi, the song was written by Kotiteollisuus.

Ölbeat 072: Ruosniemen Pikkupomo

Brewery: Ruosniemen Panimo
Country: Finland
Style: Amber Ale
Abv: 6 %
@RateBeer

What about the beer?

Colour is amber brown with an overwhelming bubbly creamy white head. Aroma has hay, malts and sweet fruits resembling pear and grapes. Taste begins with slightly biting bitter and malty flavours. Combination of light citrus bitterness and bready malts leads the way. Near the finish we get a tight lemon and pine punch. Aftertaste has strong bitter grapefruit and malty dryness.

Tasty and refreshing brew from this Pori-based brewery: no need to travel for a good bottle of amber ale. Simple and easily drinkable combination of malty, bitter and citrus flavours does the trick for me - special effects aren't usually necessary.

Ölbeat

The Finnish word 'pikkupomo' usually means a person, who acts like a little boss at work without the status of a superior. What comes to the song choice I just couldn't pass the boss ('pomo') part in the name, so I chose a balanced and calm track from the Boss:

Bruce Springsteen: I'm On Fire (YouTube)

From the 1984 album Born in the U.S.A., the song was written by Bruce Springsteen.

Ölbeat 055: Ruosniemen Diplomi-insinööri

Brewery: Ruosniemen Panimo
Country: Finland
Style: Imperial IPA
Abv: 8 %
@RateBeer

Graduate engineer - stronger than the ordinary

What about the beer?
Colour is deep dark orange with big fluffy natural white head. Aroma has orange, lemon and malts. Taste bites first with heavy bitter hops and dry pine. Then sour grapefruit juice fills the mouth, and rough pine shows slowly up. Piny dryness and stinging bitterness just grow towards the end. Aftertaste is extremely dry and bitter.

That is one tasty and rough Double IPA. Heaviness of both hops and citrus feels balanced although the ride is fast and furious. The finish sandpapers the mouth with dryness. Very powerful brew.

Ölbeat

The song was chosen half by the name of the beer and half or its rocky roughness. Since this was a heavyweight brew, it's good for any craftbeer drinker's engine:

Dire Straits: Heavy Fuel (YouTube)

From the 1991 album On Every Street, the song was written by Mark Knopfler.

Ölbeat 023: Ruosniemen Musta Lomittaja

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

This Black Stand-in gets hired

Ruosniemen Panimo, founded in 2011, is a microbrewery from Pori, Western Finland. The brewery's slogan is "Brewed by engineers". Despite lacking the skill of inventing attractive slogans, the brewery was Ratebeer's best new brewery in Finland in 2013. Having tasted most of their continous brews, I have to say that these engineers really know what they're doing. Hit is the rule, miss is a rare exception. Of the two good reasons for living in Pori, this is number two.

This beer was part of Alko's Finnish microbrewery craftbeer selection in spring 2016. 

What about the beer?
Colour is sizzling black with medium, immediately dissolving beige head. Aroma has meaty smoke and roasted malts with a slice of coffee. Taste gives roasted malts in very first bite. There's pretty high carbonation. Pure smoke flavour joins the party and grows quickly. By the palate sour lemon and mildly bitter hops are in. The night out gets finished with gentle smoky, sour and a bit salty aftertaste.

Smoke dominates here. Still there are sour and gently bitter elements of saison present. Clearly a fine "out-of-the-box" brew and a versatile experience.

Ölbeat

Pairing the beer with a song was easy in this case. Despite the fact that the product is actually bottled, similar kind of unordinary approach can be found here: 

Jamiroquai: Canned Heat (YouTube)

From the 1999 album, Synkronized, the song was written by singer-frontman Jay Kay. Canned Heat was originally - in the beginning of the 1900's - an alcohol-based fuel used in catering service to keep the food warm. Since containing alcohol the substance was abused, which was the story behind Canned Heat Blues by Tommy Johnson in 1928. The blues group Canned Heat that started in the 60's as named after the song. However, in Jamiroquai's funk-jazz song canned heat is something on one's shoe heels that urges him to dance. Whether it is the name of the song, the history behind the word play or just the funky music, I don't know, but it fits the mood of Musta Lomittaja perfectly.