Beer review: Teerenpeli Laiskajaakko (4.5% Finland: Panimoravintola Teerenpeli)

The Teerenpeli Laiskajaakko is a lager, more specifically a dark lager. It's brewed by Panimoravintola Teerenpeli, a Finnish brewery restaurant group. The brewery was founded in 1995 and is located in Lahti. Teerenpeli is one of the first micro-breweries in Finland and has received several awards for its products. Let's see what the Lazy Joe (=laiskajaakko) is all about.

Taste: The Teerenpeli Laiskajaakko is a medium-strength beer with an excellent roasted, faintly sweet malt aroma. The beer offers a malty aroma with roasted, dark bread flavors and ends with slight bitterness.

Overall the Teerenpeli Laiskajaakko is not the most diverse of beers. Then again, I don't think that dark lagers are really supposed to be diverse. In my opinion, they are best when they're easy to drink and feature a nice, simple roasted malty aroma. The Teerenpeli Laiskajaakko does exactly what I expect of a dark lager and since it's supermarket strength (4.5%), it's, without a doubt, one of the best dark lagers widely available in Finland.

5/5

Beer review: Olvi CXXXV (4.5% Finland: Olvi)

The Olvi CXXXV is a lager, more specifically a Pale lager. It's brewed by Olvi, one of the largest breweries in Finland. Olvi was founded in 1878 and is located in Iisalmi. The beer celebrates the 135 years of Olvi and is described as having matured with good time. It follows the recipe of the original CXX beer, which celebrated the 120 milestone of the brewing company. Let's see how the slow maturing affects the taste of the beer...

Taste: The Olvi CXXXV is a light/medium-bodied beer with a slightly sweet malty and faintly fruity flavor. The flavor is quite soft and round, and unlike the bulk lagers of Finland (Lapin Kulta, Karhu, Karjala, Koff, and the basic Olvi) it lacks the unpleasant cardboard and metallic tastes. The beer finishes with a pleasant faint touch of hoppiness.

Overall, the Olvi CXXXV is clearly more mature than the basic Olvi lager. This isn't saying much, but actually the CXXXV is quite easy to enjoy. It doesn't offer any exciting aromas, but as a refreshing beverage it works much better than the basic bulk lagers in Finland. Overall, it's a decent accomplishment in the category of Pale lagers and personally I definitely prefer it over the basic bulk lagers.

65 Above average

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

The Hartwall Karjala III is a lager, more specifically a Pale lager. It's one of the 'basic beers' in Finland along with Lapin Kulta, Olvi, Koff and Karhu. It's brewed in bulk quantities by Hartwall, one of the largest breweries in Finland. Hartwall was founded in 1836 and their annual production (alcohol and soda drinks combined) is about 400 million litres. The name Karjala refers to the Finnish region of Karjala (Karelia), part of which was lost to Russia in the Winter War. Hence, a somewhat popular catch-phrase among people for whom Karjala is the beer of their choice is: Karjala takaisin, vaikka pullo/tölkki kerrallaan. (Karelia back, one bottle/can at a time.)

Taste: The Hartwall Karjala III is a light-bodied lager. It starts off with a slightly roasted, bready malt taste and then finishes with a slightly metallic, faint bitter hoppiness.

Overall, The Hartwall Karjala III suffers from the same weaknesses as all of the other bulk lagers in Finland. It's quite watery, the taste is metallic and doesn't really have any real hoppiness. However, in my opinion the malty taste in Karjala offers a bit more roasted, bready malt taste than other basic lagers of Finland and if you're into that, maybe Karjala should be your choice. However, Karhu is the most aroma-rich when it comes to the Finnish bulk lagers. Karjala isn't the best but neither is it the worst. Really average!

50 Average

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

Cider review: Sherwood Apple Cider (4.7% Finland: Olvi)

The Sherwood Apple Cider is an apple cider produced by Olvi, one of the largest breweries in Finland. Olvi was founded in 1878, has a 24% market share in Finland and is the largest Finnish brewery not belonging to the large international beer corporations. The Sherwood cider brand is a relatively new release by Olvi and it aims to honor the English ciders in its taste. Let's see if that's true!

Taste: The Sherwood Apple Cider is a light-bodied cider with a sour apple taste. The taste is quite natural and is reminiscent of apple wine and apple juice (which is logical, since the ingredients list reveals that it's actually a mixture of the two in addition to other things of course).

Overall, the Sherwood Apple Cider is quite refreshing and a decent cider. The Finnish supermarket ciders are quite poor when it comes to taste, and the Sherwood Apple Cider doesn't really make the situation any better. However, personally I'd say it's above average when comparing it to other market ciders, although not by much. It's on the same level as Somersby and if you prefer sweetness go with Somersby, but if you prefer some sourness, choose Sherwood.

50 Average

Beer review: Laitilan Kukko Lager (4.7% Finland: Laitilan Wirvoitusjuomatehdas)

The Laitilan Kukko Lager is a lager, more specifically a premium lager (a beer type balancing between pale lagers and pilsners). It's brewed by Laitilan Wirvoitusjuomatehdas, a medium-sized Finnish brewery mainly focused on soda manufacturing. The company was founded in 1995 and is currently the fourth largest brewery in Finland. The beer is available in Finnish supermarkets.

Taste: The Laitilan Kukko Lager is a light/medium-bodied lager with aromas of bready maltiness, metallic bitterness and an aftertaste of grassy hoppiness.

Overall, The Laitilan Kukko Lager is a decent lager. It doesn't offer anything exciting but neither does any other Finnish bulk supermarket lager. In my opinion, it's actually among the better supermarket lagers and competes with Karhu and Sandels for the title of the best bulk lager in Finland.

55 Above average

Beer review: Laitilan Kukko Pils (4.5% Finland: Laitilan Wirvoitusjuomatehdas)

The Laitilan Kukko Pils is a pilsner brewed by Laitilan Wirvoitusjuomatehdas, a medium-sized Finnish brewery mainly focused on soda manufacturing. The company was founded in 1995 and is currently the fourth largest brewery in Finland. The beer is available in Finnish supermarkets and is one of the few pilsners produced by the large Finnish breweries. Apparently there isn't a large demand for pilsners in Finland, but let's see if the Laitilan Kukko Pils is good enough to satisfy the needs of pilsner lovers.

Taste: The Laitilan Kukko Pils is a light/medium-bodied beer with a slightly sweet malt dominated aroma. It starts with a slight citrus aroma, then offers a sweet malt body with some metallic bitterness and the beer finishes with a slight herbal hoppiness.

Overall, the Laitilan Kukko Pils is a really decent beer. I hate to admit, but in my honest opinion it's one of the worst beers available in Finland. It offers the aromas characteristic for a pilsener, but it fails to offer any of them in a pleasant way. The overall impression of the beer is a metallic, bitter sourness and it's quite far from the aromas that I like in a pilsner.

30 Below average

Beer review: Laitilan Kukko Vehnä (4.7% Finland: Laitilan Wirvoitusjuomatehdas)

The Laitilan Kukko Vehnä is a wheat beer, more specifically a Hefeweizen. It's brewed by Laitilan Wirvoitusjuomatehdas, the fourth largest brewery in Finland. The brewery was founded in 1995 and has since grown immensely. Since the Laitilan Kukko Vehnä has only 4.7% alcohol in it, it's available in Finnish supermarkets and therefore contends in the category of "supermarket strength Hefeweizens".

Taste: The Laitilan Kukko Vehnä is a medium-bodied wheat beer with all the classic characteristics of a Hefeweizen. The beer starts with a sweet fruity banana flavor and then moves on to deliver a wheaty malt body and faint sweet yeastiness. The beer finishes with a citric, herbal hoppiness.

Overall, the Laitilan Kukko Vehnä is a good Hefeweizen. Unfortunately the Finnish alcohol laws force the Finnish breweries to create beers which are slightly watery and lack strong flavors. However, in the category of "supermarket strength Hefeweizens" the Laitilan Kukko Vehnä is a well-accomplished individual.

70 Good

Beer review: Prykmestar Vehnä (4.5% Finland: Vakka-Suomen Panimo)

The Prykmestar Vehnä is a wheat beer, more specifically a Hefeweizen. It's brewed by Vakka-Suomen Panimo, a medium-sized Finnish brewery located on the western coast of Finland, in Uusikaupunki. The brewery was founded in 2007 and its products have received several awards since. The Prykmestar Vehnä contains only 4.5% alcohol so it's allowed to be sold in Finnish supermarkets (dumb Finnish alcohol laws limit the sale of alcohol stronger than 4.7% to liquor stores).

The Prykmestar Vehnä is a light/medium-bodied beer with a typical Hefeweizen character. The beer delivers a fruity banana flavor with a hint of pepper which is followed by a sweet wheaty malt aroma and a slight taste of yeast. The beer finishes with a dryish citric hoppiness.

Overall, The Prykmestar Vehnä is a very nice wheat beer. It's a bit light, which is understandable since it only has 4.5% alcohol. The Finnish alcohol laws limit the beer's strength and thus prevent it from becoming a true masterpiece. However, when it comes to wheat beers available in Finnish supermarkets, the Prykmestar Vehnä is definitely one of the best (although it's also one of the most expensive ones).

85 Great

Beer review: Iso-Kallan Savo Special Bitter (4.5% Finland: Iso-Kallan Panimo)

The Iso-Kallan Savo Special Bitter is a bitter, more specifically a British styled bitter. 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 Special Bitter is a medium-bodied beer with a refreshing, smooth and medium strength malty body with a faint yeasty taste. It finishes with a surprisingly mild, yet pleasant and round bitterness and light grassy hoppiness.

Overall, the Iso-Kallan Savo Special Bitter is a nice beer with a nice, surpisingly smooth bitter body. It's bitter in a British, sweet sort of way and what gives this beer it's distinct character is the surpisingly hoppy finish. In my opinion, the beer lacks some strength, but then again it delivers a really nice smooth bitterness.

75 Good

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: Sandels Tumma (4.0% Finland: Olvi)

The Sandels Tumma is a lager, more specifically a dark lager. The beer is named after the famous Field Marshal Johan August Sandels. It's the premium beer brand of Olvi, one of the largest beer producers in Finland. The Sandels Tumma is a dark version of the basic Sandels lager, and it's produced in bulk quantities. Thus, one can't really expect much character from it. Let's try it out nevertheless.

Taste: The Sandels Tumma is a light/medium-bodied beer with a slightly sweet bready malt taste. It's a bit watery and the taste is quite dull - the beer doesn't really offer anything besides the maltiness. The beer finishes with a faint hoppiness, but really nothing to speak of.

Overall, the Sandels Tumma is basically everything you would expect it to be. It's a dark version of the basic Sandels lager. It's quite smooth, but then again it's quite watery and dull. Although the Sandels Tumma manages to do an OK job, there are several better dark lagers available in Finnish supermarkets.

50 Average

Cider review: Crowmoor Dry Apple (4.7% Finland: Sinebrychoff)

The Crowmoor Dry Apple is an apple cider manufactured by Sinebrychoff, one of the largest Finnish breweries. Sinebrychoff belongs to the Carlsberg Group, the fourth largest beer manufacturer in the world. The cider promises a strong apple taste with no dominating oak flavor. It's sweetened with sugar.

Taste: The Crowmoor Dry Apple is a light/medium-bodied cider with a sweet, sugary apple taste. It delivers a flavor of sweet apples but fails to do much else. The apple aroma isn't refreshingly natural, although it isn't artificial either.

Overall, The Crowmoor Dry Apple is a decent bulk cider without anything interesting to offer. It tastes like one might expect, but the aroma is not really reminiscent of real apples. It's somewhat refreshing but I've tried many ciders that do much better in that area. I wouldn't really recommend it although it's OK.

50 Average

Beer review: Laitilan Kievari Ameriikan Ale (4.7% Finland: Laitilan Wirvoitusjuomatehdas)

The Laitilan Kievari Ameriikan Ale is an ale, more specifically an American Pale Ale. It's brewed by Laitilan Wirvoitusjuomatehdas, a medium-sized Finnish brewery mainly focused on soda manufacturing. The company was founded in 1995 and is currently the fourth largest brewery in Finland. The beer is available in Finnish supermarkets.

Taste: The Laitilan Kievari Ameriikan Ale is a medium-bodied beer with a slightly sweet malty body. It starts with a malty flavor and then delivers a strong herbal hoppiness with citric and fruity aromas. The beer finishes with a hoppy citric bitterness.

Overall, The Laitilan Kievari Ameriikan Ale is a great beer. Considering the market-strength of the beer, it succeeds in delivering a strong fruity and citric hoppy taste. It's definitely one of the better choices in Finnish supermarkets, and a positive surprise from such a large brewery.

75 Good

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: Grillimaisteri Gourmet (4.5% Finland: Laitilan Wirvoitusjuomatehdas)

The Grillimaisteri Gourmet is a lager, more specifically a dark lager. It's part of the Grillimaisteri brand, a barbecue brand of the supermarket chain Lidl aimed for the Finnish markets. Supposedly the beer is produced by Laitilan Wirvoitusjuomatehdas, a medium-sized company mostly focused on soda manufacturing. It's quite cheap and produced in bulk quantities, so I've got no great expectations towards it. In any case, let's find out what this "barbecue master" is all about.

Taste: The Grillimaisteri Gourmet is a light/medium-bodied beer with a bready malt body. It's a bit watery but delivers a decent roasted malt taste and finishes with a faint hoppy aftertaste.

Overall, the Grillimaisteri Gourmet is an OK, easy-to-drink bulk dark lager. It doesn't offer anything exciting, but it's fine considering the cheap price. There are definitely worse beers available in Finnish supermarkets, although there are also plenty of better ones as well.

60 Above average

Beer review: Nobelaner Kesäolut (4.5% Finland: Laitilan Wirvoitusjuomatehdas)

The Nobelaner Kesäolut is a lager, more specifically a Pale Lager. It's a "summer edition" of Nobelaner, a beer brand of the supermarket chain Lidl. It's aimed for the Finnish markets and it's brewed by a Finnish medium-sized company Laitilan Wirvoitusjuomatehdas.

Taste: The Nobelaner Kesäolut is a light-bodied beer with a watery, light and slightly sweet malty body. The beer finishes with a faint metallic and citric hoppiness.

Overall, the Nobelaner Kesäolut is an OK beer, but it doesn't impress in any way. It's one of the cheapest beers in Finland so it's OK in that sense, but that's basically the only good thing there is to say about it. For beer connoisseurs, it doesn't really offer anything.

50 Average

Beer review: Game Brewery RyePA (5.3% Finland: Panimo Hiisi)

The Game Brewery RyePA is a pale ale, more specifically a rye American Pale Ale. It's a collaboration by Panimo Hiisi, a Finnish microbrewery located in Jyväskylä and Game Brewery, an upcoming Finnish game company. Panimo Hiisi was founded in 2013 and has just released its first beers to wider distribution so I'm eager to try them out. Extra credit for the cool retro-gaming styled labels.

Taste: The Game Brewery RyePA is a medium-bodied beer with a smooth, moderately hoppied taste. The beer is slightly sweet and round, and unfortunately delivers a slightly watery feel. It delivers a smooth taste of rye malt and moderate bitter hoppiness but the taste fades quite fast.

Overall, The Game Brewery RyePA is a mild disappoinment in my books. Maybe it could've done with some extra kick since now it delivers a slightly thin set of aromas. It serves well as a refreshment and certainly does an OK job but it would've been great to be blown away by it.

60 Above average

Beer review: Humulus Lupus Double IPA (9.0% Finland: Panimo Hiisi)

Humulus Lupus Double IPA is a pale ale, more specifically a double Indian Pale Ale. It's brewed by Panimo Hiisi, a Finnish microbrewery located in Jyväskylä. Panimo Hiisi was founded in 2013 and has been in existence for just over a year. It's one of the most interesting upcomers on the Finnish beer scene, and I'm eagerly awaiting to check out their products.

Taste: The Humulus Lupus Double IPA is a medium/full-bodied beer with a slightly sweet, malty front. It is quite well-balanced and offers a strong herbal hoppy body with aromas of citrus, pine and fruits. The beer finishes with a medium-strength hoppy bitterness.

Overall, the Humulus Lupus Double IPA serves as a nice proof of the expertise of the guys at Panimo Hiisi. The world of IPAs, and even DIPAs, is really crowded and it's quite difficult to stand out. Nevertheless, the Humulus Lupus does an excellent job and is warmly welcomed into the variety of Finnish DIPAs. There's still some room for improvement though. Personally, I would've preferred more fruitiness and a smoother bitterness, but those are just my preferences.

75 Good

Beer review: Lapin Kulta Arctic Malt Dark Lager (4.6% Finland: Hartwall)

The Lapin Kulta Arctic Malt Dark Lager is a lager, more specifically an Amber lager. It's brewed by Hartwall, one of the biggest beer producers in Finland. Hartwall belongs to Royal Unibrew, the second largest brewery group in Denmark. The beer belongs under the Lapin Kulta beer brand, and is brewed in large quantities. Therefore, I don't have much expectations towards it but you never know, it might just surprise me.

Taste: The Lapin Kulta Arctic Malt Dark Lager is a light/medium-bodied beer. It has quite a rich bready, sweet malt dominant body and it finishes with a faint, slightly metallic hoppiness.

Overall, the Lapin Kulta Arctic Malt Dark Lager does an OK job. It delivers a nice bready, malty flavor but otherwise remains disappointingly boring. It doesn't offer any mind-blowing flavors, but neither does it disappoint in any way. It's a good alternative for the basic lagers available in Finnish supermarkets, but these days there are many better beers available even there.

65 Above average