Jimbo's Beerblog

Finnish craft from Espoo. I guess these brewers are known for they hop-infused beers and this is no exception. I wasn't so fond of their collaboration beer "The Lizard" earlier, but this is way better. Sessionable, refreshing, with lots of tropical fruits and nice hoppiness all the way. Quite easy-drinkable IPA but with enough taste palette to rise from the masses as a very nice session IPA. ***1/2 Very tasty session IPA Picture from FatLizard

Strong, malty, British Ale. Classic.With nice hoppy palette to make it even better. Modern. Whoo, this is surely a strong one. Not alcoholic, but very malty, hoppy and full stuff. Very nice. Had this for a Yule present from a friend. Life is good and this is great. **** Great

For me a lmost non-drinkably hoppy, dry, grapefruit-juice-like IPA. And I like IPA, but if you put loads of hops into the beer, then you might as well put loads and loads of malts in it and make some triple-IPA of it. Maybe. I don't know, I'm not a hop head, though I prefer my beers with enough hoppiness – still, enough is enough. And I might add that this is in no way a bad beer, its just fucking hoppy. **+ Just drinkable for a non-hophead, so not for me

So, this is ”winter ale”, not a yule beer. But looks the same as them – dark brown malty stuff. Quite sweet. Maybe too sweet...but hops save this to be nice and easy-drinkable (which is not a bad thing for any beer imo :D). ***- quite ok

Well, another yule beer. Dark lager with nice easy-drinkability. Hallertau hops and nice maltiness. ***- quite ok

Another yule beer. This time too sweet for me. My bad. ** Drinkable

This is quite ok for a bulk, although I have recently drank more macro beer (Olvi and Sinebrychoff) than in years. This has quite nice malty character with some hoppiness also. Not bad for yule beer. ***- Quite ok for a yule beer

F resh and hoppy, fruits and flowers, very nice aftertaste - dry & aromatic strong hoppiness. Sonnisaari rules ok. **** Great Picture from Sonnisaari

House beer in Tampere's Oluthuone restaurant. Oatsy IPA aka OPA. Maybe mouthfeel is a bit more "oily" and easy-drinkable than in some "normal" hoppy IPAs but yeah, quite ok hoppy ale. ***- Quite OK

Roasted malts and Finnish sea-buckthorn berries with some apricot. Nice and malty taste with fruity feel. Could be nice with some spicy or salty food and cheese. Not the greatest porter, but definitely a good spiced up porter. ***- OK and has potential

I have been drinking this in bar situations a couple of times. Very good there, as there aren't many choices in those bars I have visited in my hometown. Easy-drinkable and a bit sweet and herbally hoppy saison. I also like the label, as it reminds me of forests and we Finns are a forest people after all. But yeah, not any greatness here, but very nice in a bar – and even girlfriend liked this over her preferred ”basic lager” which might tell something about this beers easy-drinkability. *** OK

I have been reading about NEIPA-style more than I have drank them. I have also read a lot praising reviews about Cool Head Brew. So maybe the hype was too much, but I was heavily disappointed. This is juicy beer with pineapple, grapefruit and other tropical fruits. And of course its hoppy. But this is not for me. Smells good, tastes even bad at times. Well, taste yourself and decide if you like juice-beers and maybe I have to taste more NEIPAs before judging the whole style as disappointing. ** Drinkable

Nice, spicy, tasty & yet very easy-drinkable "kölsch". **** Great PS. Review made during Finnish hot summer of 2018.

Perfect shit! Lager, but really wonderful highly drinkable, tasty, nice 5,5% lager with softening wheat. Could drink this all night! **** Great

Beautiful, tasty, easygoing Irish styled red ale from Finnish Lapland with malty softness. ***+ Very good

Perfect lager. No gimmicks, just perfect drinkability. ***+ Very Good

Hoppy, local, dry and tasty session IPA from the backwoods of Finland (where I live :)). *** OK Picture from Imgrum-site

Saimaa Brewing has had some shit in Finnish beer scene as their beers are doomed to be stripped from aroma and freshness, as they pastorize their beers. Beer is not milk dudes and dudettes! But still, this one was a nice easy-drinkable, I enjoyed it fast and a lot. A gem in the thrash bin? *** OK PS. Review is from summer 2018, when this was in a good form or then there were not better beers for the heatwave in Finland from our little grocery store in the neighbourhood :)

At first just a dry, burned, ashy stout. Then a lot of nice dry hoppiness. Gets better after a while and turns into a nice black IPAish beer. Still, for a nice drink this is a bit too not-nice. If you like cold black coffee, you like this. I'm more of a coffee with cream -type of guy, so this is a bit harsh, but still, not bad, not bad at all. ***- OK, just

Wheaty IPA. British styled malty IPA, maybe some wheaty smoothness, but end is hoppy dry and a bit dull. ***- OK, just

Grapefruity IPA. Easy-drinkable and fruity, citrusy stuff. ***- OK, just

Golden ale with Challenger and Cascade hops. Golden clear beer with smooth white head. Nice and fruity at first, but then dry hoppy finish. Nice and good. *** OK

At first this Finnish indie smoky lager is just smoke flavor without anything else, just awful. After a while it gets a bit better, but if you want great smoked beers, try VASP Prykmestar Savu or some German smoked beers instead. This is just a waste of time and money. ** Drinkable

Very good peppery saison. Summer is here!  *** Good PS. Reviews are pouring from archives. This is from summer 2018. Sorry for the lack of words - there are reviews from more professional reviewers if you want, I just go with the words written in my notebook and often they are just a sentence or two - but you still hopefully get the drift: Beer is either good or it is not :D

Spanish IPA, which count heavily on citrus and grapefruit, which suit well for Spanish beer, I think. There is also some oily freshness, almost like peppermint, with the heavy citrusy hoppiness that dominates the beer. Quite good and drinkable, but still lacking some body and other aspects than heavy citrusy hoppiness, though this is American styled IPA, so maybe it is stylelike, in the end. **1/2 stylelike citrusy session IPA

Very juicy, fruits and hops. Fucking nice, highly drinkable NEIPA. Liked it a lot! ***+ Very Good

This light yellow stuff might be called some kind of  "Berliner Weisse". Good stuff! Sour and, well, odd, but great tasting. Very hoppy and sour aftertaste, really tasty beer. *** Very good odd sour "Berliner Weisse"

Berliner Weisse from Berlin breweries, makes sense :) Light yellow hazy beer with a fast disappearing head. Tastes like orange juice. Or something. Quite refreshing shit. Very sour. Hip? Indeed. Not my glass of beer, but ok. **+ Orangy sour

Green bottle, skunk? Yeah, it's in the scent. Flat head, copper brown red ale this is. Finnish craft, but I detest green bottles. Taste is a bit off too. First a promise of hoppiness, then malty sweet dullness. What a waste. *+ Shit, but drank the bottle through, so not the worst of the lot (still skunky shit)

Not so Pale this Ale, and don't know about that India either. Still, very good highly drinkable, malty but also in a nice way hoppy (not hoppy hoppy, but you know what I mean) easy-drinkable. Session IPA, nothing to report, but would drink this anywhere, anyhow. ***- Very good sessionable beer

Review 20th April 2018. Opened this after just witnessing sad news, that a young EDM-prodigy Avicii, also known as Tim Bergling has died at the age of 28 yo. Fuck. That is too young. Only the good die young. Beer is good though, but I am fucking sad to see talent like this go. Maybe these EDM greats are prized after they are gone, but I must admit I found it fucking funny when Finnish rap duo JVG sang ”Klubilla soittaa Guetta, musiikin korviketta”. You can't really translate that, but it is the old hippy way of dissing electronic music by saying it really ain't music at all, just sounds from machines and replaying them and also sampling old music. Fuck it, still. All music is music, fucking MUSIC. It's the only thing that counts and nothing else matters. Music rules ok! Avicii's music will live forever! Very nice beer, hoppiness is like no other. Beer rules ok, too. This is highly sessionable, tasty, fresh, refreshing, fruity, perfumy, candylike, nice and whatevert...

One of the most embarassing reviews of my beerblog is ”Karhu Ruis” as I did it in the heat of the moment and thought afterwards that there must be something wrong, as my review ended with ”**** Great”. Bulk shit with rye is great? But...after this beer I must think, "was I right?" – at that moment. This is not bad, this is good, actually very good. Drinkability – great. Hoppiness – nice. Basic sessionable bulk beer but with good taste – definitely. Yeah, me likes – not great but very good bulk my friend :) ***+ Bulks can rule too

Promising by the outgoing outlook, but did not deliver. Did not even notice normal wheaty flavors? Some perfumy hops maybe, drank it fast, sessionable, but not very well crafted. ** Drinkable Picture from FatLizard

A bit ”bulky” tasting Irish. Maybe a bit old already. Drinkable, sure, but not very well crafted. ** Drinkable

I thought this would be also a nice sauna beer, but I was wrong. Only citrusy hoppiness rose from taste, but aftertaste was surprisingly weizenlike...until I discovered that this indeed is like a wit according to ingredients. Well, didn't figure that out. Left me a bit numb, first it was like a sessionable APA/IPA, but afterwards just dull and stuffy. A disappoinment after a promising first sip. ** Drinkable NOTICE! This and lots of following reviews have been made during 2017-2018, so these are all season beers side by side :)

4,2% Weizen seemed to be a good choise for sauna brew and I was right. Refreshing beer but not watery, there is enough taste to rise above bulky shit. Peppery vibe in taste and aftertaste with usual banana/bubblegum-vibes, but luckily this is more a refreshing sessionable (sauna-)weizen than some yeasty overload. Liked this a lot in the hot place. Must give this a nod for the effort, 'cause I'm not a big weizen fan and this was very nice. *** OK

Wow. Great IPA. Malmgård is here again! Copper brown 6,9% IPA with fucking nice malty body/backbone, but still with great hoppy backing. Fucking nice beer, I love it! **** Great IPA

Well, this is a grapefruity and citrusy shit. Goes down well. Sessionable, all right, but is that enough? **+ Drinkable, with promise

Nice one from Ruosniemi – bottle is interesting and the story more intriguing with the female coder than the former male counterpart. Maybe the label sells, after all, though the female in label is not the usual ”babe” but an actual coder with lip-piercing and green hair. Still, let's talk about the beer: This ”American Lager” tastes kinda good, but still not very unique. Hoppiness helps this to rise from the bulk lager masses, but still, why do these lame old styles, if you are indie entrepreneur? I can't answer that, and will stay with products that are proven good. ** Drinkable

Well, this British styled IPA from Finnish Nokian Panimo is a bit off in many ways. Their Keisari 66 APA (rip) was at first one of the best American hoppy styled beer in Finnish grocery stores, but succumbed afterwards to some hop oblivion. This IPA however feels at its first bite like a tired old fucker, who tries to enjoy past fame. So a bit dull, even though quite ok to drink. **+ Drinkable, with promise

This is light, pale ale. Hoppy, but in a  futile way, not bitter or crunchy, just oily and odd/off. Don't like this very much. **- Drinkable, hardly

Well, this is a bit sad effort to make a good light blonde (4,2%), as it only manages to be a light ale with a decent but not specifically good taste. I don't know, what's happening in Saimaa, but let's see, they have a lot of these ”new” beers coming. ** Drinkable PS. Review from 2017 or early 2018. Actually had a couple of these in summer 2018 and they were a bit better during a steaming summer heat :)

OK, I'm not the greatest fan of the biggest ”indie”-brewery in Finland, Laitilan panimo. Still they also make great beers like Mississippi Beer and when I noticed their Atlanta American Pils, I immediately thought of Mississippi. So, this seems to be light pilsner. Scent promises nothing but pilsner. Taste is good at first, hops have provably been used. Very bitter aftertaste but also some annoying watery feel, so body is not full and 5,0% ABV does not give enough malty backbone. Not so fresh or refreshing tasting either. Quite ok and might work well with grilled food, but as a sessionable beer not. Still, hops save this to be better than bulk shit. **+ Drinkable with promise

Nationally a quite big indie brewery from Finnish Manse, Tampere. Pyynikin Panimo is a brewery that goes for the gold (and has won World Beer Awards) but still is indie in its heart & soul. Many times a bit too easy-going or hunting masses -beers, but still there is always a try to do quality beer. This is light hazy stuff with perfume and cat piss mixed in a splendid Mosaic hoppy scent. Taste is easy-going and Mosaic rules. Highly drinkable, sessionable and good. A beer for hot places to be drank semi-cold, as it still has high quality and nice basic hoppiness over every fucking bulk lager in the world. And yeah, this beer actually was one of those Pyynikin beers that won WBA: World's Best Seasonal Lager, whatever the fuck seasonal means here, maybe summer :D ***+ Very good light lager NOTICE! This and lots of following reviews have actually been made during 2017-2018, so there are summer and winter beers side by side :)

Copper brown permufe scenty session IPA that's essentially gluten-free, because they advertise it. Off-putting first taste, hoppiness is strong but not fresh or refreshing. Still, it's enough to give nice aftermath, that saves this as better than just drinkable. **+ Slightly good

I'm watching World War II in colors and it's in the phase of British defense. Air superiority was one of the most important things of defending British Isles. British didn't have that – The RAF fought with Spitfires and Hurricanes but with low numbers. Still, they defended their homes and that must have given them the greater will to fight and maybe therefore an edge to win battles. This beer is a bit off, not APA-like even, but hoppiness is strong and fine, so I don't judge. This beer is Spitfire which fights for survival and I somehow like it :) *** OK

Ugly orange can contains copper brown IPA, which seems to be more malty British-like than modern hoppy US-like counterpart. Some cat piss and pea soup included, but kinda ok to sip down and hoppy aftertaste saves a lot. Still, not the best of IPAs or even highly sessionable. **+ Drinkable

Easy-going blond(e) with an obvious Belgian twist. A bit too watery for me as the peppery yeasty vibes with a bit too sweet taste in low-bodied beer don't work like in stronger Belgs. So, a bit too hasty blonde? Still, nice aftertaste, but left me wanting some more body. **+ Drinkable, but not sessionable

British bitter. Nice one, for a change. This is good, even hoppiness works. And only 4,6% ABV, so highly sessionable, but still tasty bitter. Nice, easy-drinkable and GOOD. ***+ Very good

Copper brown, a bit flat wheaty red. Nice and hoppy first bite – familiar Stadin style, which I like a lot. Maybe some sweet flowery scent, but too cold, as my cellar is erm, well, cold. Still nice and very tasty, peppery feel. Hoppiness matches with maltiness perfectly. Some herbal (but not grassy) feel too, like refreshing and hoppy dry mouthing at the same time. Definitely a very good red ale – let's say great, this is quite low on alcohol, highly sessionable and fucking good! **** Great