WinterBänger
Põhjala Brewery & Tap Room

Copenhagen 13/1 2021. 33 cl bottle from Meny, Østerfælled Torv, Kbh. Ø. Murky painting in cool winter shades (wet green grey and white) on the label.

Pours opaque, dark brown with a small bubbly beige head. Settles as lonely patch of foam unable to cover the surface of the beer. No lacing.

Aroma is intense with a strong, pastry-sweet, sugary odor in prominent. Brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon.Boozy smell of dark fruits and alcohol.

Light carbonation. Thick, viscous, fat, smooth, soft texture. Lightly tingling.

Flavor is intense with a strong, sugary sweetness followed by a light bitterness. Aftertaste is sweet with a prominent boozy streak . Lingering. Finish is searing dark alcohol.

Another potent Bänger from Pohjala. They sure know how to bang in Tallinn.

Bottle seemingly conditioned. Jet black with a bubbly dark tan head which rapidly recedes. Effervescing vigorously.
Rich aroma of Christmas Cake similar to the one I baked for this yuletide. Treacle, rum infused dried fruits and all spice.
The treacle unfortunately overpowers the other flavours upon tasting.
Sparkly feel and yet smooth at the end.
A good start to todays proceedings.

Bottle: Poured a pitch-black color stout with a dark brown foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of roasted malt with some black chocolate notes and some cinnamon and light spices notes is enjoyable. Taste is also a good mix of roasted malt with some black chocolate with light residual sugar notes and cinnamon and light spices notes with a semi-dry finish. Body is full with good carbonation with no real apparent alcohol notes. Interesting mix of flavours with good drinkability/complexity mix.

 

 

 

 

Pitch black body, not overly thick.

Almost all on the spices here. I detect some cocoa powder from the malts but it's mostly on nutmeg and cinnamon.

The carbonation is overly high in my opinion which doesn't permits to get the complexity of the beer but sure enhance the drinkability.

Globally a well made Imperial stout

Got this from the Duvel guy in Utrecht

From a bottle into a snifter
Imperial stout with Ceylon cinnamon, nutmeg, and aged on brandy-soaked raisins

APPEARANCE: Black pour yields a 1+ finger, medium looking, slightly fizzy and crackly tan head with okay retention. Black body with slightly higher levels of carbonation evident for the style. Head recedes to a swirly half wisp leaves falling dots of lacing down the glass as it empties. Solid looking.

SMELL: Definite nutmeg here, with cinnamon, dark fruits, raisins and prunes, some licorice and some boozy notes as well. Bold aromas.

TASTE: Nutmeg, cinnamon flavors, dark fruit sweetness like raisins, dates and prunes, some licorice and tobacco flavors, as well as some solid spicy alcohol at the swallow. Bold finish of nutmeg and cinnamon spices, dark fruity sweetness, raisins, dates, some decent leather and tobacco, as well as some boozy alcohol as well. Bold, sweet, with plenty of spicy alcohol in this one.

PALATE: Medium lighter body with slightly higher levels of carbonation. Lighter on the palate, goes down fine with a decent burn and finishes somewhat mouth-coating. Enough heat lingers.

OVERALL: This is a big one. It’s a bold and boozy version of a non-peppered spiced stout. The label says it was inspired by British Christmas Cake, but whatever. There’s no objective resemblance here, unless you’re used to drenching your Christmas cake in rum, which you may or may not be accustomed to doing. Either way, the beer itself is flavorful and enjoyable enough regardless of what’s written on the label. Check it out if you’re a fan of this type of thing. Pohjala is always worth a shot. Cheers!