Beer review: Iso-Kallan Savo Dark Lager (4.5% Finland: Iso-Kallan Panimo)

The Iso-Kallan Savo Dark Lager is a lager, more specifically a dark lager. It's brewed by Iso-Kallan panimo, a Finnish microbrewery founded in 2013 and located in Kuopio. Their beers are currently available in some supermarkets in the Savo region but they're also available in beer houses all around Finland.

Taste: The Iso-Kallan Savo Dark Lager is a medium-bodied beer with a slightly sweet, bready and faintly roasted malty body. The malty aroma is quite pleasant and the beer finishes with a faint hoppy aftertaste.

Overall, the Iso-Kallan Savo Dark Lager is a really pleasant dark lager. Especially when comparing it to the other dark lagers available in Finnish supermarkets, the Savo Dark Lager does well.

80 Great

Beer review: Sinebrychoff Porter (7.2% Finland: Sinebrychoff)

The Sinebrychoff Porter is a porter, more specifically a Baltic Porter. It's brewed by Sinebrychoff, a large Finnish brewery which is part of the Carlsberg Group, the 4th largest beer producer in the world. Sinebrychoff was founded in 1819 and they have been brewing porter on and off since the 1860s. Thus, the beer has long traditions and it's an award-winning beer. For example, it was chosen as the best beer in Finland in 2011.

Taste: The Sinebrychoff Porter is a medium/full-bodied beer with a rich roasty malt body. It offers faint aromas of chocolate, coffee and liquorice but mainly focuses on a roasty, smoky malty body and finishes with a long, full taste of burnt malt, faint tar and even ash.

Overall, the Sinebrychoff Porter is an excellent beer from one of the largest breweries in Finland. This shows that the company does have the skill-set required to brew a good beer, but unfortunately most of their beers are produced with a quantity-over-quality mindset. This beer offers a sophisticated aroma-rich flavor and since it's one of the cheapest strong beers available in the Finnish liquor stores, it's one of the best beers in Finland price-quality-wise. The only downside for me is the slightly musty aftertaste which is too burnt and ashy for my taste.

80 Great

Beer review: Weihenstephaner Vitus Weizenbock (7.7% Germany: Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan)

The Weihenstephaner Vitus Weizenbock is a wheat beer, more specifically a Weizenbock. It's brewed by Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan, a German brewery located in Freising. It's arguably the world's oldest brewery, dating all the way to 1040.

Taste: The Weihenstephaner Vitus Weizenbock is a medium/full-bodied beer, with a mature and aroma-rich body. The beer starts with a banana, sweet fruity aroma and then produces a wheaty malt aroma. It finishes with medium hoppiness, soft and round yeast aromas and slight bitterness.

Overall, The Weihenstephaner Vitus Weizenbock is a sophisticated and flavor-rich beer. It's the "bigger brother" of the normal Weihenstephaner and this is apparent in every way. It delivers all of the same aromas as the normal version, but in a stronger package. If you want a strong experience go with the Weizenbock but if you prefer a refreshing wheat beer, then go with the original. In any case, they're both well-accomplished wheat beers, and among the best of their kind.

80 Great

Beer review: Fuller's Black Cab Stout (4.5% England: Fuller's Brewery)

The Fuller's Black Cab Stout is a stout, more specifically a dry stout. It's brewed by Fuller's Brewery, a medium-sized British independent brewery located in Chiswick, London. The company was founded in 1845 and currently produces about 26 million liters annually.

Taste: The Fuller's Black Cab Stout is a medium-bodied beer with flavors of roasted, bready malt, chocolate and coffee. The beer then continues with sweet aromas of caramel and finishes with a touch of bitterness.

Overall, the Fuller's Black Cab Stout is a really nice, sophisticated beer. It's slightly more watery than some of the other stouts that I've tried, but considering the low percentage of alcohol, it delivers a really aroma-rich flavor. A really nice supermarket strength beer.

85 Great

Beer review: Trappist Achel 8 Blond (8.0% Belgium: Brouwerij der Sint-Benedictusabdij de Achelse Kluis)

Trappist Achel 8 Blond is an ale, more specifically a Belgian strong ale Tripel. This means that the brewers use up to three times the amount of malt used in standard Trappist beers. It's brewed by Brouwerij der Sint-Benedictusabdij de Achelse Kluis, the smallest of the eight currently approved Trappist breweries. The brewery is located in the Abbey of Saint Benedict in Achen in Belgium. Sounds really promising, can't wait to try it out!

Taste: Trappist Achel 8 Blond is a medium-bodied beer with a strong, malt-dominant body. It is a very sophisticated and mature beer with challenging, but rewarding aromas. It delivers fruity aromas of peach, apple and citrus. The aftertaste of the beer is a herbal hoppy aroma and the beer finishes with quite distinct hoppy bitterness.

Overall, the Trappist Achel 8 Blond is a really nice beer. However, maybe I expected too much out of it (considering that it's a Trappist and you really can't go wrong with them) but it didn't deliver any real wow factor to me. It's a great beer, but not among the very best I've tried. Still definitely worth trying, because like most of the Trappists it delivers a range of flavors equaled by only a few others.

80 Great