Ölbeat 232: Iso-Kallan Bière de Garde

Brewery: Iso-Kallan Panimo (in Finnish)
Country: Finland
Style: Bière de Garde
Abv: 7 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is bright copper red with a small diminishing white head. Aroma has sour fruits, sweet berries and some flowery scent. Taste begins with yeasty citrus bite. Sour and yeasty fruits take over with slightly sweet caramel malts. Towards the end nutty dry bitterness joins the flavours. Aftertaste has dry lemon sourness and bitter alcohol warmth.

Refreshing Saison/Farmhouse Ale like brew. Sour, yeasty and fruity start and dry, bitter and a bit boozy finish fit together nicely. The Kuopio brewery shows that Savonian people can also brew. In addition to being crooked in humorous self-hurting way and speaking an odd dialect.

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

Ölbeat

For one minute, I thought that France's representative in Eurovision song contest 2014 would have paired with the beer perfectly. But despite the greatness of the song - placed last in the final after a direct entry - I just couldn't fit moustache in the same picture with the brew. So because it's a nice trick from Savonians to brew a French-style beer, I picked a song sung in English by a French lady. No logic? Never needed. But I liked the song already as a kid.

Vanessa Paradis: Be My Baby (YouTube)

From the 1992 album Vanessa Paradis, the song was written by Gerry DeVeaux and Lenny Kravitz.

Skitbit Feb 2017: Stallhagen Hefeweizen

Brewery: Stallhagen (in Swedish)
Country: Finland
Style: Hefewezen
Abv: 4,7 %
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What about the beer?
Colour is hazy murky yellow with a small white head. Aroma has sour lemon, clove and bananaish wheat. Taste begins with funkily sour bite. Sour lemon and sweet spicy malts take over with a strange meaty side flavour. Towards the end some thin citrus-banana sweetness gets added to the taste. Aftertaste has tart lemon and watery-dryish malts.

Unfortunately, this brew has the questionable honour to be this month's Skitbit. I'm not a huge fan of Hefeweizen style, but I'd expect some growth in the flavour near the finish. This just dies out after the start's sour-spicy hit.

Skitbit

An ungreat brew for summer requires a bad summer song. Since Stallhagen brewery lies in Åland, which is an autonomous Swedish-speaking region of Finland, the Skitbit is the worst Swedish-sung summer song in history.

Actually it's probably not, since it's a cover from an 80's original by Freestyle, which is utterly horrible. And we can't forget Herreys and Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley, which is a fine alternative to water torture and an excellent reason to avoid shit like Eurovision song contest even in the 2010's. But this brew wasn't that bad.

Drömhus: Vill ha dig (YouTube)

From the 1998 album Drömmar, the song was written by Tommy Ekman, Joakim Hagleitner, Christer Sandelin and Anders Uddberg.

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 230: Suomenlinnan Zander Stout

Brewery: Suomenlinnan Panimo
Country: Finland
Style: Foreign Stout 
Abv: 8 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is black with a huge beige head. Aroma has rye bread, roasted malts and dark chocolate. Taste begins with roasted malty and bitter bite. Heavy charcoal-roast with bitter liquorice takes over with ryeish flavours. Towards the end roast and bitterness get heavier, dark chocolate gets in the picture with strong espresso. Aftertaste has strong malty dry roast and cocoa powder bitterness.

Holy shit. Now we have a clear winner of this year's Alko artisan beer round: Foreign Stout with strong roast, bitter, dark chocolate, malts and even espresso. Dark and powerful. Hits the button. Got to store one for later.

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

Ölbeat

Avoiding funny but stupid associations like "Zanderstruck" or "Zander and Lightning", the brew's name is the key. Bastion Zander in Kustaanmiekka has been the flag bastion of the Suomenlinna fortress throughout its history. The flag flies in the bastion every year from 12 May to 29 September. So, theme and mood of the brew help in selecting the style of the song.

HIM: This Fortress of Tears (YouTube)

From the 2003 album Love Metal, the song was written by Ville Valo.

Ölbeat 229: The Flying Dutchman Flip Flopped White Socked Strong Hopped White IPA

Brewery: The Flying Dutchman Nomad Brewing Company
Country: Finland
Style: India Pale Ale (Witbier?)
Abv: 5,5 %
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What about the beer?

Colour is cloudy yellow with a large white head. Aroma has strong lemon, yeast and sweetish malts. Taste begins with biting bitter citrus. Sour lemon and funky yeast takes over with a wheaty side tone. Towards the end citrus turns to tart-bitter grapefruit and some herbal spices show up. Aftertaste has dryness with sour lemon and bitter grapefruit.

Funky sour-bitter citrus-packed IPA with a yeasty twist. Really fruity stuff. Nice spicy-dry finish. Excellent fresh brew once again.

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

Ölbeat

Funky brew requires fun(ky) music. That comes easy with the obvious choice: the song behind the brew's name. Right, Dutchman?

Super Furry Animals: White Socks/Flip Flops (YouTube)

From the 2009 album Dark Days/Light Years, the song was written by Super Furry Animals.