Sahti Juniper Beer
Nickel Brook Brewing Co. - Burlington

From tasting notes dated FEB 9, 2009.

sampled from reserve at the brewery. poured a cloudy amber with a smallish tight pored cap.

Aromas of sweet grains and lemon grass with a light mustiness. Spicey-fruit overtones to the ample malt body. Middle is herbal-bready-light bittering.

Very approachable. Drying finish with a juniper nip to it. Not over powering, interesting flavor amalgam, tastefully carried off.

My first sahti, and surprisingly courtesy of a local Ontario brewer and not a Finnish one called Jens or Yuri. I believe this beer has been made as a one off for a couple of great events that happen every Fall in Toronto - beer festivals at Caffe Volo and C'est What. I was in Japan trying to fit through the nostril of the Great Buddha of Nara at the time of the C'est What fest, so I made a beeline for it at Volo. I'm glad these events exist. Without them I doubt any Ontario brewer would have made an attempt at this style.

The appearance thankfully looks like beer, and a decent one at that - a golden body supports a small white head of foam. Decent fruity malt aroma, with a bit of spiciness, which I presume is from the added juniper. The taste seems a bit hollow - some light juniper and sage in the inital hit, then a plastic emptiness, followed by a smooth lightly juniper finish. With a bit more body and a good transition in the middle I think this could have been a very pleasant brew indeed. As it is, I still find it drinkable, but not quite what I hoped for. I have to also agree with Derek's assessment that this is reminiscent of some of the scottish old ales, which probably comes from the use of a hop substitute for bittering and added flavour. Finally, I should comment on the body - its hard to go wrong with the cask dispensed results that provide a pleasing smoothness but I feel that perhaps a bit more prickly carbonation would help this one out and conceal some of the blandness of the mid-taste.

A: Hazy gold, white head, some retention, good lacing.

S: Big berry-bubblegum fruitiness. I assume this is a combination of juniper berries and a fruity ale yeast?

T: Big juniper berry flavour (which I've determined I'm not particularly fond of); light breadyness; very little bitterness, which isn't surprising by the lack of hops in this style. I've had a couple other sahti's which were much drier. Here the fruit & berry flavours really work with the slight residual sweetness.

M: Moderate body is smooth with an off-dry finish.

D: It's well-crafted, but the Juniper berries are pretty strong, so you really gotta like 'em!