Lapin Kulta Luomu Jouluolut

Brewed by Hartwall (Heineken)
Style: Amber Lager/Vienna
Helsinki, Finland

Serve in Dimpled mug, Lager glass, Shaker

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Bottle 330ml.

Clear dark brown colour with a average, frothy, good lacing, mostly to fully lasting, off-white to beige head. Aroma is moderate malty, roasted, caramel, spicy, earthy - damp stain - fusty. Flavour is moderate sweet and light moderate bitter with a average to long duration. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft. [20111205]

Bottled (from Prisma, Vaasa): Very deep ruby red colour with a mediumsized off-white foamy head. Aroma is toasted malts, mild toasted nuts as well as some grains. Flavour is big time bitterness meeting a big toasted wooden and toasted malty tone. Ashy aftertaste. Quite aggressive flavour that is a bit out of balance.

Bottled at chriso’s. Clear chocolate brown, small head. Mid sweet with light-medium body and sloppy un-firm mouthfeel. Slight spicy hops, near no bitterness. Heineken-y quality...

Bottled 330ml (BB 03/2012)
Deep chestnut color, small off-white head. Nose is a bit harsh with toasted malts, hay, metal, coffee and brown sugar. Light to medium-bodied but watery palate. Coffeish, caramelly, lingering toastyness. Harsh bitterness in the aftertaste. Not too bad, stronger version could be quite ok.

330ml bottle (K Kamppi, Helsinki)
5+ Slightly stodgy roasty bready aroma, a bit caramelly and cakey, and biscuity.
4 Deep red, tight off-white head, persistent and leaving lots of lacing.
6 Almost chocolatey twist to the roastiness. A bit stodgy and mashy. A touch on the sweet side, but nowhere as bad as the US sugar bombs. (So it’s swee, but not sugary.)
3 Full smooth palate, you can sense the residual sugars. Pleasant carbonation. Immediate finish is nicely chocolatey, and later had some bitterness from both the roast and from earthy hops.
10 Got all the right ingredients and in roughly the right proportions. One of Lapin Kulta’s better offerings. However, there’s something that makes it not quite work. It’s a bit dead. Anna thinks it’s a bit astringent and wants me to drop the points a bit, but honestly, this isn’t a bad beer at all in my mind. Throw out the caramel, and make this all year round, and phase out that normal Lahden Kusta that you make, Hartwall, please.

330ml bottle from Finn Arvid, shared with ratebeer-Finn. Frothy and bubbly beige head, spotty lace to the glass. Deep, dark brown body. Vague smell of chocolate malts, moderate roasted. Dark malts to the taste buds, including dark chocolate and nuts. Roasted bitterness to the finish. Accepted, in fact, rather nice in a Lapin Kulta context (session in Tromsø, 12.01.2012).

(Bottled, rated 2011-11-27) Dark reddish copper with a quite large, but quickly fading, lightly lacy head. Caramely-malty, lightly metallic and vegetably nose. Flavor is metallic, caramely and lightly roasted-malty, roughtly bitter. Light and watery body, stingy CO2. This is watery and metallic pale lager spiked with some caramel malt.

UPDATED: MAR 8, 2012 330 ml bottle. Finland.
Dark reddish brown colour with tiny tan head. Caramel malt, toffee, rye and dryish grains in aroma. Flavour is dry yet mild bitter hoppiness and some caramel sweetness accompanies. Surprisingly good. I could have another one before xmas.

0.33 l bottle from Prisma, Jyväskylä. Dark amber color. Aromas of caramel and bread. Fairly bready taste with toffee, nuts and herbal bitterness in finish. Not sweet, not dry. Hint of metal in aroma and finish. Tastes richer that typical Finnish supermarket lagers, which is a good thing. Balance is towards malt, although herbal bitter finish is typical for finish mass lagers.

330 ml bottle. BBE 18.03.2012.
Pours a light brown colour with a white thick head. Aroma of slightly toasted malts with metallic notes and toffee. Flavour of slightly toasted malts, grassy hops and really unpleasant metals. Light bodied, thin mouthfeel and a somewhat bitter and malty finish. Just plain bad. What’s up with the metals? That’s not organic.