Ölbeat 290: Einstök Wee Heavy

Brewery: Einstök Ölgerð
Country: Iceland
Style: Scotch Ale
Abv: 8,0 % 
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What about the beer?

Colour is dark brown with a large natural white head. Aroma has grapes, raisins and caramel malts. Taste begins with sweet caramel malts. Sweet berry-fruit juice and spicy caramel malts dominate with gentle bitterness. Towards the end sweet fruity bitterness with spicy malty notes comes through. Aftertaste has fruit-winy bitterness, caramel sweetness and finally bitter-malty dryness.

Fine and fruity Scotch Ale. Sweet caramel and spicy berries rule the game at first, in the end malts and fruity bitterness strike through. It's hard not to like a fav style beer that's well made. Excellent piece of brewing from Iceland.

Ölbeat

Since the brewery logo takes my thoughts directly to vikings, I exceptionally pick some Icelandic theme-related folk metal. The song is from the band's debut album, which tells a story of a viking called Baldur, who fights a demon that has attacked and killed his family. This is the last song of the original album about the dead hero meeting his family in Valhalla.

Skálmöld: Valhöll (YouTube)

From the 2010/2011 album Baldur, the song was written by Skálmöld.

Ölbeat 244: Põhjala Mel Gibson

Brewery: Pôhjala
Country: Estonia
Style: Scotch Ale
Abv: 12,2 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is dark coffee brown with a tiny tan crown. Aroma has chocolate, caramel, vanilla and liquor. Taste begins with strong booze-coated caramel malts. Vanillaish caramel and sweet milk chocolate take over with spicy-oaky liquor and hints of coffee and smoke. Towards the end both coffee and sweet liquor strike through with some bitterness lingering in the back. Aftertaste has sweet fruits, mocca chocolate and spicy alcohol.

Multigrain (barley, oats, wheat and rye malts used) Scotch Ale aged in Highland and Islay whisky barrels. Result is a strong and delicious hour-sipper. Sweet chocolate and caramel come out beautifully under the whisky coating. Spices and bitterness are also present. Barrel-aging seems to be Pôhjala's favorite art.

Ölbeat

Why would anyone name a Scotch Ale after an Australian actor? Since there has to be a reason, we have to look at the actor's filmography. Mad Max? No. Lethal Weapon? No. How about directing The Passion of the Christ? Jesus. No. The only logical answer has to be his most awarded film to date: Braveheart. This Gaelic folk song named after the movie was supposed to be the film's theme song, but was dropped out of the soundtrack for some reason or another.

Clannad: Croí Cróga (YouTube)

From the 1996 album Lore, the song was written by Ciarán Brennan.

Ölbeat 217: Founders Backwoods Bastard

Brewery: Founders Brewing Company 
Country: United States
Style: Scotch Ale
Abv: 11,6 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is dark mahogany brown with a small tan head. Aroma has bourbon oak, vanilla and sweet fruity malts. Taste starts with sweet spiced boozy bite. Vanilla-oak-flavoured caramel malts with fruity bitterness take over. Towards the end fruity sweet caramel malts and biting bourbon-boozy bitterness get on top with raisins and dried fruits. Aftertaste has oaky-malty dryness and lasting gentle burn of bourbon.

As Dirty Bastard is a superb Scotch Ale, this is stunningly beautiful barrel-aged tuned sequel to that. The bourbon vanilla and oak are present in different ways on every stage, but sweet toffeed malts and fruity bitterness are surely there too to remind me of the original. Strong and delicious, that's a fact.

Ölbeat

The forest. The home of felt-hatted grey-bearded hermits. Also the dark source of stories of mystery, horror and supernatural. The nature can sometimes be cruel, but these stories bubble out from individual's personal imagination or from culturally shared collective legends. Or do they? 

Mastodon: Colony of Birchmen (YouTube)

From the 2006 album Blood Mountain, the song was written by Mastodon.

Ölbeat 210: Iso-Kallan Bellywasher

Brewery: Iso-Kallan Panimo (in Finnish)
Country: Finland 
Style: Scotch Ale
Abv: 7,5 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is thick dark brown with a large cream white head. Aroma has sweet chocolate, caramel, dark fruits and alcohol. Taste starts with bittersweet fruity malts. Sweet dried fruits and bitter caramel malts take over. Spicy and piny flavours join the bittersweet malts near the finish. Aftertaste has dry bready malts,  bittersweet fruits and some alcohol warmth.

Very tasty representive of one of my favorite styles, Scotch Ale. The diversity of malt flavours is overwhelming, the balance between bitterness and sweetness great. Delicious stuff from the Kuopio brewery.

Ölbeat

Had to get a some kind of link to Scotland with this brew. As artificial it may be, the band comes from Glasgow and that's probably where Scotland in this case ends. The beer made me feel good, so it was time for party rock.

Primal Scream: Rocks (YouTube)

From the 1994 album Give Out But Don't Give Up, the song was written by Bobby Gillespie, Andrew Innes and Robert Young.

Ölbeat 131: Bryggeri Wee Heavy

Brewery: Bryggeri Helsinki
Country: Finland
Style: Scotch Ale
Abv: 7 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is nut brown with medium-sized cream white head. Aroma has sweet apple, cinnamon spice and syrupy malts. Taste begins with gently hoppy sweet bite. Sugared oven-baked apples and sour fruits take over with some malt and cinnamon flavours. Yeasty and dry bitterness grows towards the end with sour sidetaste. Aftertaste has cider-like sour apple and dry bitterness.

Nicely spicy and fruity Scotch Ale. Sweet, sour, bitter and dry. Hops and malts are used like tools of art to brew this masterpiece. There's no doubt for me about the #1 brewery in the capital.

Ölbeat

As Wee Heavy is rising in the list of my favourite beer styles, it's great to taste mastery of this style in a Finnish brew. For that reason I pick one of my Finnish favourite artists who are trying to catch the mood of Highland fields as the song.

Seminaarinmäen Mieslaulajat: Ylämailla (YouTube)

From the 2004 album Wunderbaum, the song was written by Sakari Antila, Pasi Pohjola and Juha Rouvala.

Ölbeat 129: Belhaven 90/~ Wee Heavy

Brewery: Belhaven
Country: Scotland
Style: Scotch Ale
Abv: 7,4 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is oaky brown with a small whiteish head. Aroma has brown sugar, sweet malts, strawberry and vanilla. Taste bites first with spicy sweetness. Fudge-caramel malts and dark berries with oak and vanilla bars take over. Near the finish syrupy bitterness comes through. Aftertaste has sweet malts and fruity bitterness.

Tasty Wee Heavy! Sweet malts, berry-fruity flavours and gentle bitterness make this a strong and rich one. Deliciously spicy traditional Scotch Ale.

Ölbeat

Wee Heavy by a Scottish brewery forces one choose a song from the Scotsmen. Instantly forgetting the bagpipes and searching for something more powerful I came across a band that had it's years of fame in my youth. This song shares sweetness and joy with the brew.

Simple Minds: She's a River (YouTube)

From the 1995 album Good News from the Next World, the song was written by Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill.

Ölbeat 116: Founders Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale

Brewery: Founders Brewing Company
Country: United States
Style: Scotch Ale
Abv: 8,5 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is dark nut brown with a nice medium-sized tan head. Aroma has syrupy, sweet malty and spicy scent with some caramel and raisins. Taste begins with smoothly bitter and sweet malty bite. Syrupy caramel malts with sweet bitterness and alcohol flavour take over, and the flavours grow enjoyably slowly. Some spicy and peppery flavours are in the background. Towards the end bitter caramel hops strike back. Aftertaste has sweet bitterness and alcoholic dryness.

Scotch Ale - or Wee Heavy as they also call it - beautiful style. Rich and tasty as hell. Caramel malts make the taste smooth and silky but bittersweet hops add some complexity and spice to the experience. Once again great work from the quality brewery.

Ölbeat

The brew is clearly attached to "Ölmönger brand" (What the fuck is that?) by its name at least. Hence it's easy to find a matching song for this rich beer. And simultaneuosly I confess something that doesn't surprise anyone.

Ugly Kid Joe: Everything About You (YouTube)

From the 1991 EP As Ugly as They Wanna Be and the 1992 album America's Least Wanted, the song was written by Whitfield Crane and Klaus Eichstadt.