Ölbeat 227: Lammin Hippiäinen

Brewery: Lammin Sahti
Country: Finland
Style: Traditional Ale
Abv: 7 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is hazy brown with a large white head. Aroma has syrupy malts, caramel and sweet rye bread. Taste begins with grainy fruits. Sweet fruity caramel malts dominate with a little snap of alcohol. Towards the end bitter dark fruits get through among the sweet malts. Aftertaste has fruity malts and alcohol warmth.

Tasty Traditional Ale from the sahti brewery. Sweet fruity malts get the starring role as they should, boozy kick is very warm and gentle. Really enjoyable stuff.

This beer was part of Alko's Finnish microbrewery craftbeer selection in spring 2017.

Ölbeat

Since the brew's named after the smallest bird in Europe - hippiäinen, goldcrest - the song's name was deciced. Only thing to do was to find the right one to fit the style of the beer. Luckily, an acoustic song from this Irish singer-songerwriter fitted the mold.

Lisa Hannigan: Little Bird (YouTube)

From the 2011 album Passenger, the song was written by Lisa Hannigan.

Ölbeat 094: Traquair Jacobite Ale

Brewery: Traquair House
Country: Scotland
Style: Traditional Ale
Abv: 8 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is dark reddish brown with small natural white head. Aroma has caramel malts, syrup and sweet spices. Taste lifts off with sweet syrupy malts. Sweet malts continue in the lead with a caramel hoppy bite  and some sweet spices added. Towards the end we get some sugary alcohol and berry flavour. Aftertaste has malty sweet and gentle bitterness.

Magnificent traditional ale. The union of  caramel malts, gentle hops and sweet spiciness really makes this spectacular. While and after enjoying you have a really warm and comfortable feeling.

Ölbeat

Although tempted to attach this traditional ale to a traditional Scottish song like "Ye Jacobites by Name", I finally chose a modern rock ballad by a Scottish band. The song just echoes the same kind of simple beauty I tasted in the brew:

Biffy Clyro: Skylight (YouTube)

From the 2013 album Opposites/The Sand at the Core of Our Bones, the song was written by Simon Neil.

Ölbeat 025: Jopen Koyt

Brewery: Jopen B.V.
Country: the Netherlands
Style: Traditional Ale
Abv: 8,5 %
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Ale with Gruit spices from the 15th century

Jopen B.V., founded in 1996, is a brewery in Haarlem, the Netherlands. The brewery's roots are in the Medieval period in the 1300's when Haarlem-brewed beer was freighted even abroad in 112 barrels called Jopen in Dutch. The brewery moved in 2010 to an old church (now Jopenkerk, old Jacobskerk) and expanded to a new brewing facility in 2014. Two of the brewery's continuous brews are made with original old recipes: Hoppen, the hopped beer, originates in 1501 and Koyt, the Gruit-spiced beer, in 1407. Both these beer brands have been Jopen brand before the brewery was founded, Hoppen from 1994 and Koyt from 1995.

What about the beer?
Colour is deep dark brown with a foam crown. Aroma caresses the nose with sweet malts and forest berries. Taste follows the aromas: mildly sweet, spiced caramel malts flow in the mouth in a very old-aleish way. Palate adds a gentle herbal, slightly alcoholic bite. In the end, aftertaste is sweet and malty.

Despite the obvious availability problems I should travel to the world of traditional gruit ales more often. When long history and culture are behind the birth of a brewery, it usually creates a rich and silky smooth experience.

Ölbeat

It wasn't easy to pick a song for this one. An acoustic folky tune was what I had in mind, but instead of a traditional hymn I found this modern one:

Eddie Vedder: Rise (YouTube)

From the 2007 soundtrack/album Into the Wild, the song was written by Vedder. It's an acoustic man-and-the-mandolin folk song, the Pearl Jam singer taking care of the vocals and the only other instrument involved. Lyrics seem to tell about the narrator's will to forget the wrongs in his past and keep going forward: "Gonna rise up / Burning black holes in dark memories / Gonna rise up / Turning mistakes into gold". The song gives the same kind of emptied positive feeling that I got after enjoying Jopen Koyt.