Jimbo's Beerblog

Smoked Finnish indie beer that bows to German traditions of smoked beers, and the malts are actually smoked in Bamberg, Germany by open fire. I'm not a fan of smoked beers in general, but this was a nice surprise! Actually only same brewery's SavuKataja has risen from the crowd to be a great one. This is different, lighter, but also milder in smoke flavor, it has tar and maybe some coffee and liquorice also, but this remains distinctively a smoke beer - and a good one. I had this in local restaurant and after watching their drinks list (= wines list) through, I asked a young waitress, what beers do they serve. First question was "light or dark?". Well, I would like to know what beers they have, not their color. Secondly, she said, "we have also wheat beer and basic III". Ok. Basic III means lager piss in Finnish taxation class of under 4,8% alcohol level. Please, can you tell me, what beers do you serve? Then she started finally to tell, what beers they ...

Stadin Panimo is BACK!  Beautiful, reddish copper brown ale. Unbelievably nice scent! Hoppy, flower power stuff. Pinetrees and fruits. Beer to be sniffed throughout drinking, very nice. Taste doesn’t lack anything in comparison with the scent. Perfect. Hoppy, nice American styled beer. Taste it, while it’s still fresh. **** Great

When I was young, I thought that Czech lagers, mostly dark ones, were the best beers in the world. Tonight I remembered why. Bohemia Regent was always one of my favorites, maybe due to nice gothic typography, maybe because of my trip to Bohemia (a historic area in Czech republic) with my dad. And there are other bohemia-related things in my life too, but let’s finally get to this beer. This is actually wonderful!  Nutty, malty, Bohemian! Perfect in its own genre of dark lagers. **** Great

Hoppy Rye Pale Ale doesn’t sound like much of a beer, but actually it rises to the occasion. It is clear RPA with nice scent and lovely taste. I like it very much. It somehow reminds me of best bits of Trashy Blonde and 5AM Saint, respectively. A great beer! **** Great

Shouting, "Lager, lager, lager, lager". This is way better than worst of bulks, a little bit of hoppy vibe and multiple grains make this a wee bit of interesting. But just a bit. Quality lager, no doubt. **+ Drinkable, definitely

Basic stout. Nice and stouty. Easy drinking, burned malts and some sweetness. Quite ok. Nice dessert beer. ***- OK, basic stuff

SInebrychoff’s new “Brewmasters Collection” started with two beers, but Steam didn’t get its way to my groceries. This Irish Red did. Quite nice looking little ale. Nothing fancy about it, but very smooth and soft, very easy drinkable. This was a lovely “easy” beer with spicy Mexican food, so I can’t really complain – this is quality, but still lacks character. Good session beer altogether, but all too easy to be a standard and definitely not a classic. ***- Just about OK