Beer review: Sinebrychoff Koff III (4.5% Finland: Sinebrychoff)

The Sinebrychoff Koff III is a lager, more specifically a Pale lager. It's one of the 'basic beers' of Finland, along with Karhu, Lapin Kulta, Olvi and Karjala. It's produced in bulk quantities by Sinebrychoff, the oldest brewery in the Nordic countries founded in 1819. Nowadays Sinebrychoff belongs to the Carlsberg Group, the 5th largest beer brewing corporation in the world. Koff is usually one of the cheapest (and often the cheapest) beer in Finland so it's definitely worth reviewing, although one shouldn't really expect any good quality from it (although back in the day it apparently won some awards in international competitions).

Taste: The Sinebrychoff Koff III is a light-bodied lager. It starts with a watery, malty taste with a slight metallic flavor and finishes with a very faint metallic hoppy bitterness.

Overall, the aromas that the Sinebrychoff Koff III succeeds in delivering are quite thin and one-sided. This makes the beer quite easy to drink and to enjoy, but taste-wise it doesn't really offer much. For a beer connoisseur it's one of the worst beers available, but I guess it serves its purpose if your aim is just to get drunk.

35 Below average

Beer review: Sol (4.5% Mexico: Cuauhtémoc-Moctezuma Brewery)

Sol is a lager, more specifically a Pale Lager beer. It is one of the "victims" of the large beer corporations. It is brewed by Cuauhtémoc-Moctezuma Brewery which belongs to the Heineken corporation. Since the Finnish brewery Hartwall is also part of the corporation, it is in charge of importing Sol for the Finnish markets. When the large beer corporations are involved, one can expect no personality from the beer. Keeping this in mind, Sol is a beer meant more for refreshment and inebriation than for tasting.

Taste: Thin, watery flavor with almost no recognizable maltiness. A faint taste of lemon of the beer should definitely be accompanied by fresh lemon or lime.

A really average beer which I would only recommend if you do not want to taste your drink too much. If you just want a refreshment Sol and a lime will serve you well enough.

35 Below average