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Showing posts from December, 2011

Bad Elf

Yet another "christmas beer", but bare with me - this is THE last one, at least this year :D Well, the bottle is fun looking, beer not that much. Head goes away soon and the taste, well, it's kinda ok. Aromas are at minimum, when smelled, but taste is all right. Basic English bitterness comes through, maybe some not-so-good metallic shit too, but still, this is better than average shit, definitely. I would drink this again, for sure, so this is easily *** beer. But, thank goodness, christmas and Yule are now finally sorted out and let's set out eyes to future. Next year is knocking at the door, but I have no idea, what I would drink next. Maybe the last bottle in my cellar (before the maybe-non-alcoholic January)? *** OK

There Is No Santa

Whew, Brewdof, easy on that spice jar! There is a distinctive Brewdog-vibe going on, but the fucking christmas-spices, shit. Without those spices this would be ok, but maybe not so anti-christmas then, would it :D ** Drinkable

Laitilan Kievari Savuruis

Well, I'm not done yet with that smoky shit (read earlier Urbock-story), but now we come back to Finland. This is a beer of "pee soup brewery", that makes soft drinks and occasionally also some ok beers. This seems promising, cause it has my favorite grain in it: rye. But, it is also alarming to have that "smoke" in it - though I liked the actual smoke beer, the-earlier-reviewed-German , it was quite fine actually. Copper brown beer looks nice and has a quite nice head, at least at first. Aroma is not at all smoky compared to Urbocks's real shit. This is just aromatized stuff. Taste really surprises me. It is very good at first, but I'm sorry to say, that the end-taste and aftertaste are not that great. There is nice hoppiness and some smoky bitterness in the mouth, when tasted, and the aftertaste is some odd mixture of it all. This is not spicy, not at all. This is quite easy-drinking, but still very interesting. They might still be into something with

Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Urbock

I thougth I'd end this great beer year of mine with this special beer from Germany. I'm not a big fan, or not even a tiny fan of German beers, and I remember this being quite odd or not for me at least, when I last had this (must have been years ago)...This is a smoke beer and I don't necessarily like anything smoked. But I like beer - and beer enthusiasts usually like this beer. So, let's give it another chance - at least I have a better perspective now after this years magnificent journey around the beer world of different beer tastes. Aroma is unbelievably strong - as opposed to many other beers. There is so much smoke (and ham, I'm afraid, as I'm a veggie :D), that this reminds me of some times around the fire. Taste of the beer is actually quite mild compared to the aroma, but the aftertaste is smoky all right. Head goes away quite soon, which is a bit disappointing, but maybe this has that much aroma, that it doesn't matter. It has a nice feel in mouth

Jingle Bells

This beer is so full of Christmas, that it has to be drank now or never. Yule has been quite nice for me, though I was a bit tired this morning, but the day and the celebrations went well. Jesus was not mentioned :D Pukki visited us and 3yo son said, that Pukki had "human eyes". Well, he wore a mask. And was not frightening. Kids got the most of the presents, I had fucking great black woolly socks. We ate well and did not drink a drop of alcohol as it's a principle in our family to give children a Yule without drunken people. So it's better to be not drinking at all and drunkards can do their dirty deeds now, when kids are asleep. But hey, I am writing a review of this Danish small Ørbæk bryggeris jingly stuff, so let's start the drinking! Smells a bit like spices, but tastes very spicy. This is christmassy, that's for sure. There is also wheat and rye used in this alongside oats, so this is kinda interesting, but the spicyness is a bit overwhelming for me. I

Grimbergen Blonde

Blonde Ale, I guess. Belgian. 6,7% alc vol and 0,33l bottle. No ingredients in Finnish or in English revealed, so this is not customed to out markets, just imported. Head quite non-existent. Aroma Belgique - guess it's yeast, again. Taste is also very much like Belgique-yeasty, but not that good than in Duvel, that comes to mind the most. Something's missing. This seems a bit too sweet and sharp (metallique?!) to be a gently drinkable but still great tasting beer. Is this lager? That might explain all the odd miss-outs. Kinda odd for a late-night beer, but might serve as a one-off beer in need of a one-off :D ** Drinkable

Interlude no. 5 - Great duel of Winter Solstice

Yay, it's time for a battle of the giants in time of Winter Solstice known by christians as "Christmas", which we Finns call joulu, as in pagan Yule celebrations as it's an ancient festival of light, when winter has it's darkest hour and day begins to get longer again after couple of days' "solstice". Well, christians can celebrate their "Christ's mass", but I celebrate love and family. But first, let's get into fighting business. It's time for a duel: Tonight on ring are the two maybe best beers in the world. At least best of the Belgium beers - Chimay Blue and my all-time-favorite Duvel. Of course it's quite funny to first speak of pagan Yule and then have one beer, that is made by trappist monks (Chimay) and then have a counterpart in drink called "devil" (Duvel). But well, we are the generations moulded by christianity and it's effect in European culture, so let's just go with the flow. So, here you go,

Jule Spektakel

Bottle looks actually very nice, though I thought at first glimpse (in earlier visit to our Finnish alcohol monopoly Alko here in my hometown Kajaani), that this one looked particularly "Christmassy", though there is no mention of christ of any sort :) This is Jule Spektakel with crazy looking figure shouting besides the chr...Yule tree :) Pagans, we pagans, we are funny at chr...Yule time, I know ;D So, the bottle looks very fine, but how about the beer? It looks nice. Black with foamy head. My nose does not hate it either, though it rarely scents any aroma - it's my problem, hopefully not many others'. Taste is really wonderful, aromatic, rich. There is roastedness all right, but there is fruitiness too. There is bitterness, but there is something very refreshing too. Tastes go tingling and changing on top of the tongue and this feels like a splendid beer. Very, very good, indeed! Aftertaste is slightly burned, but very pleasant, very nice, very characteristic I thi

Samuel Adams Winter Lager

Okay, of this, I don't wait anything. Other than shitty dark lager, I guess :) Head goes away soon, as expected. This does not smell like anything. Taste is like drinking cardboard and metally (or rusty) water with a hint of beer in it. Very light. Guess this is very "easy drinkable" too. Not for enthusiasts. Sorry to say, but this is bulk shit. Appearance: 2 Aroma: 1 Flavour: 2 Palate: 2 Overall: 3 = 10 points. ** Drinkable stuff (this goes down, so must be beer :D) PS. Rust is "ruoste" in Finnish, so here you go: CMX - Ruoste

Nøgne Ø #100 - review no. 2

Nøgne Ø #100 (batch 568) Appearance: 4 Bottle is very simple and easy to recognize as Nøgne Ø -product. Beer has amazing head that lasts for a long and careful tasting session. Beer is black. Aroma: 8 First very citruslike (when the head is at its fullest for about 5 minutes. Then slightly burned, porterlike. Flavour: 5 Taste is quite hard to explain...first its citruslike, like it was in the aroma, then some nice but with every sip more and more roasted malty taste and aftertaste. I guess its a little bit of oily at first, I think. My soon to be ready late night supper might go well with this... Palate: 3 First very fresh, then very heavily oily and stucky. Overall: 15 Dangerous beer with 10% alcohol by volume and goes very well with my quite spicy late supper that has halloum cheese in it. Me likes and raise hat for those Norwegian mad men, that brew these over the top beers. Punky stuff. 4+8+5+3+15 = 35 points First review of the same shit...

Interlude no. 4 - New rating scale added

I will add a new rating scale system based on ratebeer.com's system (that also many other beer reviewing sites use). This will not take away my own scale of 1-5 stars, but to add more comparability, if some of you readers happen to visit other beer lovers' sites also :) Appearance 1-5 points Aroma 1-10 points (aka smell or scent) Flavour 1-10 points (aka taste) Palate 1-5 points (aka "feel of the beer in different parts of mouth and when swallowed") Overall 1-20 points (aka everything else, that comes to mind while drinking the beer including the "final feel" when beer is finished, is it worth drinking again, is it good for its value etc) So scale is from 5-50 points .

From *Jarkko* via Mikkeller to *Jimbo*

This special beer from Danish Mikkeller's comes with the special bottle (as pictured). This is a present all right, and as I'm my best beer friend also :) I had to give it to myself. I love you man! I know. This is a very dark roasted beer. Actually it tastes like someone burned some beer, rather than brewed, but wtf, it still comes in a nice bottle. My comparison for tonight is excellent Imperial India Pale Ale from Nøgne Ø , so this is quite poor compared to that, I'm sorry to say. This smells burned, and it tastes a hell of a lot more burned. There are some odd tastes coming through, that I cannot recall, but I can't say, that I would love this beer. Maybe I don't even like this. It's odd, and too burned for me too. There is one porter, that has a slight resemblance to this, which is actually the king of porters: Koff Porter. But, this lacks the final touch. This is just ok, if even that. Maybe some enthusiasts love this, but I have to be honest to this one

Interlude no.3 - My life, in general

I don't know, why I talked about my "special lady" so much in this blog, but maybe it was easiest here as "Jimbo, the beer lover". Maybe I also was more merrier when having a couple of pints and thought of life and love as well as my beloved beer. I'm sorry to say, that we still ended up splitting our ways and now this "special lady" is my friend, of one kind. Very special woman, of course, but no more in a romantic way...so, was I sad or did I got wasted after this happened? Well, I have been very well, thank you, and last friday I also got wasted, but not for sadness, but for the celebration, instead. My dear friend had just his 25th birthday and I had to drink lots of shitty lager with him (of course I didn't call it "shitty" in his face :D) and also great Finnish Koff Porter and American Liberty Ale. Evening did go well, for me at least, but my celebrating friend got into a stupid quarrel over beers we had in one nice community of

DoubleDog IPA

This American beer was recommended to me by a friend, who likes Imperial IPA. This is imperial all right :) Very tough shit, I might say, and maybe deservedly so: This is American "extreme beer" and punky in the same way as Scottish BrewDog's "Hardcore IPA". Very good beer, but quite hard on the aftertaste, if you are into refreshing yourself with the beer you are having :D Copper brown, very full tasting, not so much smelling (though my nose is so useless in these things, I might just say, if it's smelly or not - not smelly this time :D). Very hoppy - hops are used in vast amounts with this beer, I guess. 85 EBU, so there is this bitterness, which comes very dominant in the aftertaste. And of course very warming and relaxing feeling :) Good beer from across the Atlantic. This is so punky and full of attitude, that I have to give this an additional star - 'cause we punks love to drink punky drinks! **** Great

Interlude no. 2 - Learning beer reviewing

It has been a joyous journey so far, this beer reviewing and blogging journey of mine. I have reviewed - or at least had/drank/enjoyed 73 different beers so far as recorded in this blog. It has usually been nice and fun way of drinking the beer, that I enjoy with or without blogging. There have been some times during the blogs' short era (five months), that I had no interest in writing anything, so some beers like very odd "Puolukka Stout" by Sinebrychoff (Fin) or very pleasant and tasty "Winter Porter" from Stallhagen (Fin), have been left unreviewed at the time of drinking. But like I said in the introduction "Every beer deserves a story", so let this be a story of those unmentioned ones. Cheers! At the beginning of my blog era, I had a certain sense of beer varieties, but now, after only five months of my expedition throughout the beer world, I have been stunned with the tastes and scents and aromas of beers formerly unknown to me. A friend recommen

Nøgne ø #500

It's been three weeks since my last new review ( I added tonight reviews made in last three weeks), because life has made me wonder in different areas than beer-blogging :) Mainly I have been socializing with a special woman, which is nice. I also have had a couple of good beers with her, but no new ones, so that my review-self would not have to start concentrating too much on beer :D Well, now I'm back - though still socializing and having a great relationship. Yesterday I had to drink a bunch of Suomi-lagers as well as better Czech ones on our pre-Yule party with my co-workers - and later with my special lady. We had supper, sauna and karaoke. A word of warning to you all karaokeists: Never go out choosing your favorite songs "cause they are so great" - if they are like this legendary one, I tried yesterday - and raped the song totally: Iron Maiden - Infinite Dreams Tonight I review this one special beer I have waited to taste for a while. I thought I'll wait fo

Emelisse Barley Wine

This is my first ever barley wine I think. It's an English traditional strong ale - barley wine I mean. This particular one is Dutch. Beer looks like a bit amberish dirt water and leaves very little head or basically none. Smell is like of some wine...odd sweet wine. Taste is quite odd at first. It has bitterness, sweetness, alcohol and some odd and non-describable spices. Not my cup of tea, for sure. This is not a "drinking beer"...I may have to wait for a while and have this with my late saturday supper...well, after waiting for a quarter of an hour and having the rest of this barley wine, I started to get used with the stuff, but still, it's too odd to be enjoyment for me and might work better for someone else... ** Drinkable

Ayinger Winter-Bock

It's odd, that maybe a half a year to year ago I would have said: "This is a good dark beer". Now I just say: Another too sweet lager-stylish beer. I liked their Weizen-Bock hell of a lot more. This is a good dark lager and I have given good reviews to some Finnish counterparts, but now I gotta say, this is just drinkable, as this gives only good mouth taste at first with even some bitterness, but then comes the sweetness. It also lacks aroma like the worst lagers. I wouldn't buy this twice, though I have drank lots of worse beers in my life. ** Drinkable

Ayinger Weizen-Bock

I'm not a big friend of German beer, but maybe I have drank wrong beer before. This is very good indeed. Some unfiltered brown shit with enough wheat to make a sweet and very fruity drink. Very nice from the first to last sip. Das ist gut! Must try this again some time, because it ended before I even got to know all the aspects of the taste... *** OK **** Great for a German :)

Chouffe Houblon

This IPA Tripel is quite nice, citrus fruits and yeast come through, but that I guess very unique Belgian style - which of course Tripel's are - flowery hops, alcohol and very foamy head (it got up and over the glass...) is present here. I like this. There is also a nice bitterness in aftertaste, which I always endorse. Very good drink for the meal, I'm having, which is some chili and cheese. Still quite "easy" drink, so not enough memorability for the future use, but definitely I would drink this with smile on my face, if this was served in bars or by a friend :) *** OK

Mikkeller Santa's Little Helper 2011

Very deep black pours in the glass. A bit stout or porter like smell welcomes the beer lover to this Danish treat, which is actually brewed in Belgium. Head is thick and brown. Very burned, but also otherwise aromatic taste flows in mouth perfectly. This reminds me of some great porter, maybe Fuller's London Porter comes to mind a bit. There are definitely much roasted coffee and stuff, which bubbles under. Wish I could tell you about those sensations ;) This is very high on alcohol, 10.9% vol alc, but it doesn't show at all. You suddenly feel that relaxing warmth in your chest, while you tackle the aftertaste. This is a very, very good beer, you should not disregard, though it's fucking expensive and is a seasonal product. Never mind that - get this! **** Great