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 260: Nøgne Ø Sunturnbrew

Brewery: Nøgne Ø
Country: Norway
Style: Smoked Ale (Barley Wine)
Abv: 11 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is very dark brown with a small natural white head. Aroma has campfire smoke, burned malts and boozy sweetness. Taste begins with intense sweet and meaty smoke. Heavily smoked malts and sweet salty liquorice take over with charcoal bitterness and genuine Finnish rye bread. Towards the end boozy bitterness rises beside the smoke with liquorice and faint fruit flavour. Aftertaste has strong smoky bitterness and fruity alcohol warmth.

Powerful smoked Barley Wine - with rye malts. A beer with strong everything: smoke, liquorice, rye, booze and bitterness. Symphony of untamed flavours. Ultraslow sipper. Masterpiece. Nøgne Ø seems to have a problem with brewing imperfect beer.

Ölbeat

Since the beer was originally brewed to celebrate the 21st of December. The day when according to ancient Scandinavian beliefs the sun changed its direction. But instead of picking a pagan folk song, I picked a great sun-themed song from a classic heavy metal band. Because the brew is heavy. And great.

Black Sabbath: Under the Sun / Every Day Comes And Goes (YouTube)

From the 1972 album Vol. 4, the song was written by Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne and Bill Ward.

Ölbeat 259: Ôllenaut Turbahunt

Brewery: Õllenaut (in Estonian)
Country: Estonia
Style: Smoked Ale
Abv: 11,2 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is copper brown with no visible head. Aroma has peaty smoke, smoked meat and sweet malts. Taste starts with heavily peated bitterness. Strong peated meaty smoke with caramel malts takes over. Towards the end smoke and sweetness are accompanied by gentle fruity bitterness. Aftertaste has sweet malty smoke and bitter fruits.

Seriously and heavily peated Smoked Ale. Behind the foggy curtain there's a solid malty brew. Fruits and bitterness hop along from the last station. Superb strong-flavoured stuff from the Estonian peat hounds.

Ölbeat

Of course, there sometimes is smoke without the fire. However, in this case we surely get both. Since the brew is kinda wild stuff, I had to look for an artist with the same kind of quality. The search didn't last long - the only reasonable "opponent" was Thin Lizzy. Philo and the gang will get their sound heard later, for sure.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Fire (Vimeo, Live)

From the 1967 album Are You Experienced, the song was written by Jimi Hendrix.

Ölbeat 239: Vakka-Suomen Prykmestar SavuVehnä (4,5 %)

Brewery: Vakka-Suomen Panimo (in Finnish)
Country: Finland
Style: Smoked Ale
Abv: 4,5 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is murky brown with a huge quickly dissolving natural white foam. Aroma has tar, meaty smoke and sweet wheat. Taste begins with smoky malty bite. Smoked meat flavoured malts take over with slight sweetness. Near the finish tar, sweet malts and gentle fruity bitterness get on top. Aftertaste has tar-flavoured and bittersweet malts.

Tasty smoked and light ale. The combination of smoke, tar and wheat malts works, even though the flavour has lost its freshest edge. Pretty good mild Bamberg imitation from Vakka-Suomen Panimo.

Ölbeat

"Drink a little drink / Smoke a little smoke". I hear someone asking about the connection between Finnish Bamberg-style brew and American cannabis-favouring(!) country(!!) rock song. The answer: none. Ok? Just sit down, relax, drink a little smoke and feel good.

Eric Church: Smoke a Little Smoke (YouTube)

From the 2009 album Carolina, the song was written by Eric Church, Jeff Hyde and Driver Williams.

Ölbeat 163: Ôllenaut Brikett

Brewery: Õllenaut
Country: Estonia
Style: Smoked Ale
Abv: 10 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is dark mahogany brown with no visible head. Aroma has smoke, peat and smoked ham. Taste starts with intensely smoked sweet malts. Smoked Islay whisky and caramel malts take over with meaty and alcoholic flavours. Near the finish thick peat and smoke really strike through with warming alcohol. Aftertaste has smoked meat, peat and sweet malts that can be felt in the breath for long.

This works beautifully for those who love smoky Islay whiskies like the ones from Ardbeg, Bowmore or Laphroaig. And of course, I do. Peat, smoke and even some meaty flavours make this one a true beauty. Enjoy at room temperature to get the most. Which is a lot. I believe that this kind of using peated whisky malts in brewing divides the crowd roughly to lovers and haters. Glad to be on the right side.

Ölbeat

I leave another song on the side for even more peaty and smoky brew. If this was a whisky blog, this song would already have been used by now.

Deep Purple: Smoke on the Water (YouTube)

From the album, the song was written by Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord and Ian Paice.