Beer review: Nikolai Alkoholiton Vaalea Lager (0.0% Finland: Sinebrychoff)

The Nikolai Alkoholiton Vaalea Lager is an alcohol-free lager, more specifically a Pale Lager. It's brewed by Sinebrychoff, a large Finnish brewery which is part of the Carlsberg Group, one of the largest brewery corporations in the world. Since the beer contains no alcohol, it can't really be considered a real beer. However, let's give it a try.

Taste: As expected, the Nikolai Alkoholiton Vaalea Lager offers a light-bodied flavor with just a hint of maltiness. It's quite watery and it's really best described as malty water.

Overall, the Nikolai Alkoholiton Vaalea Lager is a disappoinment, even when having no expectations. I've tasted a few alcohol-free beers and some of them actually succeed in being surprisingly close to real beer, but this one falls miles short. Don't buy it, there are better options if you want an alcohol-free beer.

15 Abysmal

Beer review: Mufloni IPA (4.5% Finland: Panimoravintola Beer Hunter's)

The Mufloni IPA is an ale, more specifically a session Indian Pale Ale, brewed by the Finnish brewery restaurant Beer Hunter's located in Pori. Although the beer selection of many Finnish supermarkets has widened nicely, IPAs are still quite uncommon. Therefore, a Finnish IPA is an interesting and welcomed product.

Taste: The Mufloni IPA is a medium-bodied Indian Pale Ale. It starts with a lemony, faintly sweet aroma which is surpassed by the strong, slightly dry and very bitter hoppiness. The aftertaste of the beer lasts quite long and the beer finishes with a strong bitterness that is left lingering in the mouth.

Overall, the Mufloni IPA is a nice beer, and it succeeds in nicely delivering all of the qualities associated with IPAs. The hoppiness is quite strong with this one, which is quite a good accomplishment considering the market strength of the beer. If you're into IPAs, this one's worth trying out, although it doesn't deliver anything memorable.

70 Good

Beer mix review: Red Girl (3.9% Germany: The Bremen Beer Company)

The Red Girl is a beer mix, more specifically a mixture of lager beer and ginger ale, the ratio being 80-20. It's produced by, and currently the only product of The Bremen Beer Company, an unknown German brewery located in Bremen. Beer mixes are shunned upon by beer connoisseurs but since I only focus on the taste of the beverage, you never know...maybe some day I'll be introduced to a beer mix that is actually really great. Let's see if today's my lucky day!

Taste: The Red Girl tastes precisely as expected. It's a mixture of beer and ginger ale, and although the ratio is 80-20 the aroma of ginger is surprisingly dominant. It offers a thin aroma of malt which is unfortunately surpassed by the taste of sweet ginger. Thus, the Red Girl ends up tasting like a strange beer ginger ale lemonade.

Overall, the Red Girl isn't the beer mix that will change everyone's opinions about them for the better. However, if you're into ginger ale and basic lagers, it's definitely an easy-to-drink mixture of both. Not bad, but not great either.

55 Above average

Beer review: Luostari Dubbel (7.5% Finland: Saimaan Juomatehdas)

Luostari Dubbel is an ale, more specifically a Dubbel, brewed by Saimaan Juomatehdas, a relatively small family brewery located in Mikkeli, Finland. In 2014 they produced a total of 900 000 liters. The Luostari Dubbel is produced in association with Valamon Luostari, an orthodox monastery in Eastern Finland. Thus, Luostari Dubbel prides itself in being the only orthodox monastery beer in the world. Let's see if it can equal its Belgian siblings.

Taste: The Luostari Dubbel is a medium/full-bodied beer with a malt-dominant flavor. It provides a sweet, fruity and berry flavor and finishes with a slight herbal hoppy taste.

Overall, the Luostari Dubbel is a nice beer but still has some growing up to do, if it wants to challenge the Belgian monastery beers for real. It offers a nice variety of flavors, but still looks a bit thin when compared to other Dubbels. However, it's definitely worth trying since it's among the best Finnish beers available in Finnish liquor stores.

75 Good

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

Beer review: Höss Adler König Das Echte Weissbier (4.7% Germany: Privatbrauerei Höss der Hirschbräu)

Adler König Das Echte Weissbier (German for Eagle King The Real White beer) is a wheat beer, more specifically a Hefenweizen, made by a relatively small German brewery. It is an interesting addition to the beer selections of Finnish supermarkets and gets a plus in my books for its lightning stopper sealing method and stylish labels.

Taste: The Adler König Das Echte Weissbier offers the traditional flavors of a Hefeweizen: a wheat dominant flavor with a faint citric aroma and a touch of herbal hop. However, it is a bit dry, disappointingly thin and light-bodied.

Overall, the Adler König Das Echte Weissbier is not bad, but it's not good either. I really like the lager beer by the same brewery and therefore my expectations were quite high for their wheat beer. I'm sad to say that it's a disappointment, since it offers a thin and even a bit dry taste. If you're looking for a refreshing, aroma-rich wheat beer this is not your choice.

50 Average

Beer review: Wold Top Against The Grain (4.5% England: Wold Top)

Wold Top Against The Grain is a specialty beer, more specifically a gluten free beer made from lager malt, maize, hops and yeast. It's brewed by Wold Top, a small English brewery located in Yorkshire. Gluten free beers are quite rare, and therefore Wold Top Against The Grain is an interesting release, especially since at the moment it's found in some of the Finnish supermarkets. Let's give it a try!

Taste: Wold Top Against The Grain is a light/medium-bodied beer, with a faint malty taste. The maltiness is quite sweet and is combined with the flavor of maize. The beer is slightly fruity and features a medium strength taste of herbal hop. The aftertaste of the beer is slightly bitter.

Overall, the Wold Top Against The Grain is an interesting beer. It's gluten free and although, when it comes to brewing beer, it starts from this disadvantageous position, it manages to deliver a nice set of flavors. It's nothing unforgettable, yet it's a nice choice, especially for people sensitive to gluten.

70

Beer review: Nobelaner (4.5% Germany: Feldschlösschen)

Nobelaner is a lager, more specifically a pilsener. It's one of the main beer brands of Lidl, a German supermarket chain which has stores all over Europe. Lidl is present in most European countries and therefore all of its beer brands are produced in bulk quantities. The can of Nobelaner doesn't include its brewery - this might tell you something about the quality of the beer. However, the logo on the can seems to suggest that it's brewed by Feldschlösschen, a German brewery which belongs to the Oettinger Brauerei brewery group.

Taste: Nobelaner is a light/medium-bodied lager with a relatively smooth and rich malty flavor. It's a bit watery, but not to the extent of Finnish lagers. The beer also features a slight taste of grassy hop, but ends up with a slightly metallic and watery aftertaste.

Overall, Nobelaner doesn't offer anything exciting. However, it's really cheap and all things considered it's a decent bulk beer. Compared to the basic Finnish beers (Karhu, Karjala, Koff, Lapin Kulta, Olvi) it does fine, but doesn't outshine any of them.

55 Above average

Beer review: Keisari EloWehnä (4.7% Finland: Nokian Panimo)

Keisari EloWehnä is a wheat beer, more specifically a Hefeweizen. It is brewed by Nokian Panimo, one of the middle-sized breweries of Finland. Nokian Panimo prides itself in being an honest, independent brewery. Keisari EloWehnä can be found in supermarkets all over Finland and it offers an interesting alternative to the basic lager beers.

Taste: Keisari EloWehnä is a fine wheat beer. It offers a light-bodied wheat and yeast dominant flavor, with a hint of banana fruitiness. The aftertaste of the beer is pleasantly fruity and the beer finishes with a faintly bitter wheaty flavor.

Overall, Keisari EloWehnä is among the best wheat beers available in Finnish supermarkets. It's not the most refreshing one, since the flavor is quite rich. However, the flavors that it offers are really enjoyable and therefore the Keisari EloWehnä is definitely worth trying!

70 Good

Beer review: Karjala Maltti (4.5% Finland: Hartwall)

Karjala Maltti is a lager beer, more specifically an Amber lager. It is a new release by Hartwall, a large Finnish brewery that belongs to the Danish brewery group Royal Unibrew. Karjala is the main beer brand of Hartwall and thus Karjala Maltti follows along its traditions. As the name suggests, the beer offers an especially malt-rich flavor. It's sold, at least currently, in most of the Finnish supermarkets. Despite the fact that it's being described as a special batch, the wide availability shows that it is produced in bulk quantities.

Taste: As promised, Karjala Maltti delivers a significantly maltier taste than the basic Finnish lagers. It is surprisingly rich in aroma, considering that it is a bulk beer. The beer is light/medium-bodied and offers a soft, malt-dominant flavor. The aftertaste of the beer is quite a pleasant combination of faint hoppiness and smoky oak, coming from the bourbon aroma that is added to the beer.

Overall, Karjala Maltti is a welcomed release to the dull beer selection of Finnish supermarkets. The aroma is quite watery, but what can you expect from one of the largest beer producers in Finland? In my opinion, it is a positive surprise and I would recommend it if you want a change from the basic piss/watery-tasting lagers.

55 Above average