Kalana
Põhjala Brewery & Tap Room

 

(330 ml bottle, best before 24 01 19; purchased on shelf at State Line... decanted into a fat tulip)

L: chestnut brown liquid; big compact, tan, frothy foam topping it... thick collar keeps, but little lace... dirty slug left behind

S: all brown ale: leather, bread crust, nutty coffee grounds... overtone of choco-coffee coated caramel; little alcohol considering the abv... bit of a berry note in the back; no overt pine aroma... malt/ester aromas quintessentially Nordic/Baltic

T: rather clean, delicately roasty, bready malt underbelly; hum of toasty grain atop; clean, relatively dry finish, with the faintest hint of spicy booze lingering; again no overt pine (or dead, dry pine), but maybe a subtle red wine fruitiness coloring the aftertaste - could be hop resin artifacts... the vanilla, if it's even still there, is a phantom in the background... the base beer itself is a lovely dry, nutty brown ale with a subtle dark fruit note in rounding it out; dark(-order), neutral sugar flavors, little (caramel) sweetness

F: dry all around, flat-planed contour, but soft residual drag as if in greasy leather pants; stealth-ly healthy carbonation... the booze is there, but it takes awhile to present itself... rather quiet, warming drink

O: was looking forward to a vibrant pine against the brown ale, but it never happened... I suppose the vanilla colored it a bit, but it was understated (by now)... as a (dry, nutty-malty) brown ale, it's fantastic, so a past-due bottle is not necessarily a letdown (1424)

This one pours a decently dark brown color, with a small head, and a little bit of lacing.

This smells like pine and cedar, with fresh creamy vanilla, chocolate, toasted bread, and some fruitiness.

The pine needle flavor is fairly strong here, but that's not really a bad thing. It melds well with the sweetness and cake-like flavors of the vanilla added. There's some dark bready notes too, with some herbal type flavors too.

This is medium bodied, slightly creamy, with a good level of drinkability. It's a touch thin, but that's not a huge issue.

This brewery's beers are always interesting, and almost always good stuff.

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a dark walnut brown with a half finger, light khaki head with good retnention and nice lacing. Aroma of lightly toasted malt, brown bread, vanilla, cocoa, light pine needles and wood. Flavor is lightly toasted biscuit malt, cocoa, wood, pine needles, brown bread and vanilla. Lingering lightly piney, woody finish. Medium bodied with light creaminess. I've liked everything I've had from this brewery and was expecting to like this, but it is even better than I anticipated. There is a distinct pine woodiness that seems like it would throw this off-balance, but somehow the malt carries it beautifully. Very slightly sweet, the base is a pleasant light brown ale, but the pine and vanilla make it taste like it should be drunk in a cabin deep in the forest. Unusual. I really liked this a lot and am quite impressed.

 

 

 

 

 

Dark brown color, tan head, aroma of chocolate, vanilla, coffeee, medium sweetness, lightly bitter, medium body, soft carbonation, excellent, like the other beers from Pohjala.

Poured from the bottle into a tulip nonic pint glass.

Lush creamy khaki colored head. 3 fingers with cake like tall puck. Beautiful burnt red rust brown dark color for the body.

Aroma is spruce tips, vanilla and toasty malt goodness. Hints cream rich with soft malt and nice hop spice to herbal tones.

Palate does not disappoint or stray from the nose. Real nice velvet mouthfeel, tickling pine and forest green flavors with a resin like pine hop and spice. Light milk chocolate with a bit of toast to match, flavors of cookie dough, cake batter, and hop stinging needles.

This is a great added brown ale full of flavors and character. This could be a mess but instead it's a well made symphony.

 

 

 

 

 

Poured from the 330mL bottle into a tulip glass at Buddies Beer in Jinqiao, Shanghai, China.

A: The beer is a dark ruby red, brown at first glance but pure red in the light. Head is off-white and dissipates somewhat quickly.

S: Very vanilla smell. Hints of dark fruits - prune and slight sugary rum and some yeast. Malts are strong here, bread and banana bread or almost like cake. Not much pine.

T: Pine shows up in the finish here as a slight bitterness. Sweet vanilla cake flavor, malty like eating vanilla cake, in a good way. Sugary and yeasty, almost a nutty note with some banana bread. This is a unique flavor. A bit of a boozy finish.

F: A bit strong carbonation but nice.

Overall: This is an interesting dessert beer, but I'm not sure I'd get it again. Interesting concept but a bit cloying.

 

Hazy brown color with a tan head that goes away rather quickly. Aroma has mostly milk chocolate with some vanilla and roasted malt. The taste follows with milk chocolate, cacao, sweet coffee, some vanilla in the background but towards the finish it gets more roasty with a woody, resiny hop bitterness. Medium body with low carbonation. Quite tasty but it's not a beer you could drink very much of.