Helsinki Portteri

Bloody English bombard Suomenlinna
aka Viapori (in Finnish) / Sveaborg (in Swedish) in 1854

Porter from Finnish capital Helsinki. Small indie brewery from legendary "Finnish fort" of Suomenlinna made by Suomenlinnan Panimo.

Once upon a time, when Finland was part of Russia (Finnish history is divided into Russian and Swedish occupation until our declaring of independence in 1917), English fleet bombarded Viapori (nowadays Suomenlinna) and we have a nice song about it. But that's all for history, let's talk about this beer.

Well, it is porter, in a way. Actually it is "portteri", a Finnish way of saying "your real shit is too tough and tasty, we like lighter beers", or so it seems, because this is in my humble (but straightforward) opinion a light version of porter.

But let's not judge too harshly - this is still ok for a beer, however like a slightly watery version of better porters. There are much better, actually excellent porters in Finland too: Porter-X from Malmgård Brewery and off course the legendary Koff Porter. So, this is drinkable stuff in a tough brand of porters, but okay for a drink. Not bad, no no, but expectations are always high when you hear the call of a Porter :)

** Drinkable for a Porter
*** OK for a basic beer