28th April 2014

Finally spring is upon is here in Finland. I just wish I had more money so I could go sit outside a nice pub somewhere and have a few nice beers in the sunshine. It will have to wait. For now though...

Amager IPA (Denmark)

This Danish brewery took inspiration from American IPAs rather than the British version, and who can blame them? The barman in this Copenhagen bar, called Ørsted Ølbar, told me that Amager used to make standard, safe lagers until a few years ago when they started making other stuff too. And if this is an example of what they can do, then thank God they decided to be a bit more daring. Great beer.

Celebration Ale (USA)

As you can see from the picture, I drank this at Christmas time and it's just now making it on to the blog. I was a little scared to drink this because I'd bought it a couple of years ago, and then forgot about in a cupboard in my mum's house. It looked cloudy, but I'm not sure if it was supposed to or not. It tasted fine, but I thought it'd be better if I played it safe and didn't drink the whole thing. If I come across it again I'll buy another and drink a fresh one. That way I could get a clearer opinion.

22nd April 2014

Let me begin by wishing everyone a belated happy Easter. I spent a lovely weekend in Estonia with my lovely wife where we sampled plenty of the local brews, and also some international ones. It'll take me a while to recover, and I don't really feel like writing about beer, but here goes. I actually drank these a few months ago, but because I've been writing the blog so infrequently they're only just making it to your computer screen.

Hoegaarden (Belgium)

There's nothing like a nice cold, refreshing beer after a hard week at work. And a remarkably nice beer too. If you like beer, you'll have no doubt heard of Hoegaarden and you're wondering "how haven't you drank this before?" Truth is I have. And I didn't care for it much. I cared for it so little, in fact, that I postponed drinking this in favour of other beers that I thought I would like more. But this time I had a pleasant surprise. Hoegaarden is nice. There, I said it. Now if only I could go back in time to teach my 22-year-old self something so I wouldn't have missed out on several years of Belgian excellence.

Jacobsen Saaz Blonde (Denmark)

Copenhagen is an amazing place, full of friendly people and some truly excellent beers. And although this isn't the most spectacular of the ones that I tried, it's still a very good example of what can be achieved with a bit of effort. Jacobsen is a branch of the Carlsberg brewery, and this is so much better than the flagship Carlsberg beer, that it makes me wonder why they don't use this as their standard.