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Friday, August 10, 2007

Helsinki Göld

One thing about all this inventorying I'm doing for the ROS Party: I'm coming across beers I meant to review and lost in the shuffle. Like this beer-stop on the Otter Creek 15th Anniversary World Tour of beers: Helsinki Göld, a sahti-inspired beer brewed with juniper and rye. Happily, and appropriately, it's blowing cool through the window, a proper taste of Suomi to set the scene for my enjoyment of this not-quite transparently reddish-gold beer.

It is enjoyable, too. I've seen a number of 6.3% ABV for this beer, and it carries it well, spicy, sharp, but simultaneously creamy and smooth. The rye and juniper make for a pleasingly unfamilar tang, and cleans up the finish nicely: a twangy, gin-like Finnish finish. Heh. Sorry, had to.

I've enjoyed the whole World Tour series, actually, and might just get into another one -- Kilt Tilter -- tonight. Great idea, and great fun: the labels all otter-shtick, with otters placed in situ, a Finnish mama otter with a pitcher of beer in the door of a sauna on this one. Only one disappointment so far: the bottle of Otterbahn weizenbock I got was infected, a true bummer, given how I love that style...but when everything else is so darned good, I can forgive.

Keep an eye out for these babies, and love them while they're here.

“My candle burns at both ends; It will not last the night; But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends It gives a lovely light!" -- Edna St. Vincent Millay

(Oh...this is my 200th post on STAG...yay, me. I guess. Milestones...whatever.)

2 comments:

Dave said...

I've always been a fan of Otter Creek and this World Tour series has been pretty interesting so far. Haven't tried the Helsinki yet, though.

It's funny you should mention your efforts to deplete your beer stash...I'm in the middle of the same thing. I'm calling it Spring Cleaning (in August). Same idea, but my "problem" doesn't seem as large as yours...maybe two cases of random beers that are starting to age a little less-than-graciously.

Cheers!

Jeremiah said...

I also have a bottle of this somewhere in the "beer room" that I had forgotten about. You have inspired me to seek it out and enjoy. It should be quite an interesting specimen. I received it as a b-day gift back in May.

I've heard of ROUSes (Princess Bride? Anyone?) but never an ROS party, even though I have been to a few at a certian pouser monk's house. Perhaps we shall adopt to Dude's name and call them ROSes from now on?