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 293: Prykmestar Wehnäbock

Brewery: Vakka-Suomen Panimo (in Finnish)
Country: Finland
Style: Weizenbock
Abv: 6,2 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is chocolate brown with a huge and fast-vanishing tan head. Aroma has sweet caramel malts, plums and banana. Taste begins with spiking fruity sweet bitterness. Sweet caramel malts and bitter fruits take over with ripe bananaish side tones. Towards the end bittersweet banana flavour comes through with some citrusy sourness. Aftertaste has sweet fruit, dry malts and bitter citrus.

Excellent fruity Weizenbock. Fruity bitterness matches beautifully with malty caramel - in the end wheat comes nicely through as the banana flavour. Vakka-Suomen Panimo truly masters the German styles and tunes them up with style.

Ölbeat

One piece of tuned up German music - Neue Deutsche Härte style metal, that is - coming up!

Oomph! (feat. Marta Jandová): Träumst Du (YouTube)

From the 2006 album GlaubeLiebeTod, the song was written by Oomph!.

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

Brewery: Vakka-Suomen Panimo (in Finnish)
Country: Finland
Style: Smoked Ale
Abv: 4,5 %
@RateBeer

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 231: Prykmestar Saazer Pils

Brewery: Vakka-Suomen Panimo (in Finnish) 
Country: Finland
Style: Czech Pilsner
Abv: 5,7 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is hazy golden yellow with a huge white head. Aroma has lemon, grapefruit and bitter malts. Taste begins with fruity bitter malts. Bitter union of malts, grapefruit and citrus peel takes over with some sourness. Towards the end sweet orange-like citrus joins the flavours and the bitterness bites in strong. Aftertaste has striking citrus-peely bitterness with some malty fruits.

Tasty Pilsner that takes a step towards IPA with strong citrus presence. Beautifully hopped stuff. However, the malt is the driving force behind the taste. Excellent brew.

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

Ölbeat

Crisp. Fresh. Rocking. Several options for the song. Happened to pick this one from the Tennessee-based family band.

Kings of Leon: Waste a Moment (YouTube)

From the 2016 album WALLS, the song was written by Caleb Followill, Nathan Followill, Jared Followill and Matthew Followill.

Ölbeat 191: Prykmestar Talvibock

Brewery: Vakka-Suomen Panimo (in Finnish)
Country: Finland
Style: Doppelbock
Abv: 9,2 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is nut dark brown with a small tan head. Aroma has sweet caramel, dark fruits and malts. Taste starts with sweet malts and fruits. Caramel malts and sweet dark fruits take over with raisins and berries. Towards the end sweet fruits and berries get on top with some alcohol bitterness. Aftertaste has fruity sweet bitterness and some warming alcohol.

Sweet and delicious Doppelbock for warming up the cold winter nights. Malt and fruit flavours join to make a tasty treat. Vakka-Suomen Panimo seems to be the right Finnish brewery for German-style beers.

Ölbeat

If the was any consistency in the beer and music pairings, the right kind of choice would be a sweet soul or an spicy r'n'b song. Nah, consistency is boring. The brew is not, and neither is Rammstein.

Rammstein: Ich Will (YouTube)

From the 2001 album Mutter, the song was written by Rammstein.

Ölbeat 091: Prykmestar Double IPA

Brewery: Vakka-Suomen Panimo
Country: Finland
Style: Imperial IPA
Abv: 8,5 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is dark brownish copper orange with a huge natural white head. Aroma has sweet citrus fruits and floral scents. Taste starts with tender sweet bitter bite. Sweet hoppy bitterness and a tasty mix of grapefruit and orange dominate. Near the finish the sweet fruits and malts get in front, and some piny dryness is added. Aftertaste has piny dryness, sweet bitterness and alcohol warmth.

This is not so hoppy bitter and grapefruit dominated Double IPA as they usually are. Smooth sweet and fruity flavours play ball. Tasty experience and excellent journey to the fruity side of hop-powered ales.

Ölbeat

Instead of aggressively powerful rock genre, I took a dive to mellow rock. Without forgetting that the brew tastes powerful and alive. Since IPA's have been labeled as beers of warm seasons, the theme of the song is pretty close to ideal:

Don Henley: The Boys of Summer (YouTube)

From the 1984 album Building the Perfect Beast, the song was written by Don Henley and Mike Campbell.