Huvila X-Porter
Malmgårdin Panimo

September 2015: 500 ml bottle, Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. Also bought at Vinmonopolet. ABV is 7.0%. Black colour, low tan head. Nice aroma of roast malts, roast nuts, coffee and dark chocolate. Medium roast flavour, coffee, dark chocolate, some hops, fairly bitter finish. A top fermented "Baltic" porter? Hardly much different from an American robust porter. Anyway, this is a good Finnish beer.

 

 

400ml on-tap at Taphouse, Copenhagen (40 Danish Krone):
Quite a thick & creamy beer that was loaded with roasted malts & a nice earthy flavours that featured a pleasant chocolate taste; this added some sweetness to proceedings & opened things up nicely for the vanilla & caramel sweetness that followed. The beer, on the whole, was a very nice one & a good introduction as my first Finnish beer with a good balance & plenty going on to keep you interested.

Dark brown color, almost black with really nice, creamy light brown head. Aroma has toasted malt, dark bread and a bit of brown sugar. Tasty starts on the sweet side with grains, a bit of brown sugar and a hint of dried fruits. Finishes bitter and roasty with a nice coffee flavor. Body and carbonation are medium. Overall it's a well made beer, really balanced between the sweet and bitter flavors. The start is quite sweet but the bitter finish and aftertaste makes it really easy to drink.

 

 

 

 

Ostensibly one of the Top 10 Finnish beers...let's see how she drinks.

BOTTLE: 50cl. Brown glass. Branded white & black pry-off crown cap. Appealing albeit simple label art. Purchased at an Alko in Kuopio.

7% ABV. 50 EBU. 250 EBC. KV 17.5%. 29.10.2016. Unfiltered. Top-fermented.

Served cold into a mason jar at low altitude in Kuopio, Finland, and allowed to come to temperature over the course of consumption. Expectations are above average given its reputation. Reviewed live as a Baltic Porter per Malmgard's website.

No bubble show forms as it's poured.

HEAD: Off-white/pale khaki colour head. Fair creaminess and frothiness, with decent consistency and fullness. Not the most robust, but sufficient. Leaves no lacing as it recedes.

Retention is average - ~2 minutes.

BODY: Opaque black, with cola-esque carbonation bubbles all along the sides of the glass. Not an ink-black or jet black. No yeast particulate or hop sediment is visible.

It's a decent looking Baltic porter, but has no bells and whistles. Pretty typical, with no unique or special attributes.

AROMA: Rich. Chocolate malts, vinous character, faint hints of port-like sweetness, raisin, caramel, cream, baker's chocolate, some breadiness, vague dark fruit (prunes? licorice), some toastiness which flirts with burnt character, and traces of sassafras.

Aromatic intensity is average, though the notes are reticent (if not even subdued).

Suggests a sweet beer with an intricate flavour profile and a pleasing mouthfeel. I find it inviting.

I can't decide if there're any nutty notes or not. I'm also confused by the yeast profile, which seems to suggest ale yeast esters in one breath and clean lager characteristics in another.

No booze, overt hops, or off-notes are detectable.

TASTE: Has an apt chocolate malt base with supplementary hints of baker's chocolate, faint prune, and dark & schwarz malts rounding it out. Lesser notes of vinous character, raisin, dark bread, and caramel manifest in the second act. Bitterness hits on the climax - probably from the somewhat harsh dark malts as well as a general toastiness. It flirts with burnt character but never commits (to its benefit), and avoids ashy or charred character.

I search for hops and find only herbal character suggestive of sassafras and baking herbs, though some might find licorice or anise or fennel as well.

I like how it bends towards the bitter end of the bitter/sweet spectrum; some will find it too bitter as a result, but I find it balanced. The bitterness seems to naturally accompany the raw unsweetened chocolate flavour that's so prominent in the build.

The wilted prune emerges more as it comes to temperature. This is a pretty well executed Baltic porter, with nice subtlety and notable complexity. The third act hits you with bitterness and the finish quells that with lingering sweetness, teasing the drinker to take the next sip. It might be a bit structurally uneven as its sweetness ebbs into bitterness and back, but boy is it a ride.

Likable stuff with above average depth of flavour and impressive flavour duration.

TEXTURE: It's almost a bit powdery, which suits it. Clean. Fairly dry and coarse - which might put off some, but I find it apt. Carbonation is near perfect, though a biteen overdone. Full-bodied, with an agreeably rough presence on the palate that helps drag more flavour out of each note in the flavour profile. It's aggressive but approachable; not for the timid drinker. Boasts a fine coffee-like acidity as well.

This texture complements the taste well, accentuating the beer's finer attributes. But I'd stop short of saying there's a natural harmony of texture and taste.

OVERALL: The rough (some might even say harsh) mouthfeel and aggressive bitter taste will put off drinkers less familiar with the style, but for my money this may well be the best Baltic porter brewed in Finland - or at least it deserves a place in the Top 5. Well-worth trying, and a nice departure from the usual Finnish pale lager schlock. Highly drinkable, though its 7% ABV isn't particularly disguised. This will please the discerning drinker, and is on the short list of Finnish beers I'd actually recommend to beer enthusiasts - which is saying something as someone who actually lives in this country. One of the only beers at Alko I actually want to buy a second time.

Finally, it's worth noting that this is a top-fermented Baltic Porter. I'm not sure if the brewery means that to suggest that ale yeast was used - or if it's a poor translation of hot-fermenting lager yeast, but it seems to me this is pretty uncommon if it's indeed a cool-fermented ale yeast Baltic porter.

B- (3.41)