Juhlia
Heavyweight Brewing Co.

Cloudy, pale peach in color with a bubbly white head. A steady stream of carbonation keeps it at a solid layer throught the whole glass.
Herbal/floral notes dominate the aroma. Juniper, hints of rosemary, a bit of farmhouse funk thrown in for good measure. It reminds me alot of a subdued Rabbid Rabbit.
Light peppery notes & juniper berries on the onset. There is a creeping bitterness that leads to a hint of mint mid-glass. The beer finishes rather "ginny" as it warms.
Medium-light body with prickly carbonation that leaves you wanting another sip. I was hoping the body would be just a touch fuller though.
Overall an unbelievably drinkable beer. Hats off to Heavyweight for taking a stab at such an obscure style. Did they hit the mark? I can't say for sure, but they sure made an enjoyable beer in the process.

750ml bottle obtained via trade with meathookjones. Thanks for the opportunity...

Poured into an imperial pint glass, formed a frothy 1 3/4" white head over the golden brew. Head stays constant, very resilient, and lacing is artsy and delicate. Aroma is lightly of wild yeasts and spicing. Taste is interesting, with a a spritzer of juniper upfront, a mild malt component through the middle, and a dry finish with a slight biting aftertaste. Mouthfeel and drinkability are nice considering the eclecticness of some spontaneously fermented products.

sampled as part of 'heavyweight night' at moan and dove

chuck yeah!

appearance: dark crimson. carbonated and inviting.

looks murky, a nice golden-orange color.

aroma is piney horse blanket and armpit. very herbal, very strong and strangely appealing.

taste is bursting with juniper and conifer. clean going down, bitter in the finish and crazy drinkable. somewhat yeasty, which is a surprise. tart and dry overall with a lingering taste of the forest.

something in this beer reminds me of sourdough.

so different that i have to be completely awestruck. get this while you can.

I have no basis of comparison for this beer, except maybe a Gruit or a lambic?
Pours a cloudy yellowish amber, topped with a one finger white head, leaves webs of lacing.
Strong juniper aroma, very malty, bread, dough, toffee and flowers.
Medicinal and spicy taste, juniper, flowers, resinous, malt, bread, lots of herbs.
Medium bodied.

Truly a wonderful and unique beer. I have no other sahtis to compare this against, but you don't need to compare this against others in the same style. This beer stands on its own merit.

Pours with a head which dissipates to a nice lacing. Amber-gold color. Smells funky. The smell of this beer perfectly describes the taste of the beer. Smells bready as well.

Taste is very similar to a lambic. Part of me feels bad giving it a 5 given my lack of sahti knowledge. But, dear me, the taste is truly exceptional...if you like the funk. Sort of like the blues, not everybody is cut out for funky or sour beers. But if you do like it, this is for you.

Smooth. Very drinkable. Carbonation levels seems just right. Hard to pay attention to it with all the funk.

From notes. On-Tap at the BBF in Boston last November. Murky/Cloudy light orange. Moderately carbonated with some nice lace patterns forming in my cup. Aromas are spicy, flowery, and full of juniper berries. Very gin like in its herbalness. Taste is very herbal and raw with various spices trying to shine through and all of them get slapped by the big blast of Juniper berries! The finish is rawer still, alcoholic, and unsuprisingly gin-like and spicy. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, and this beer is so raw and yet so refreshing that all one can do is ponder its greatness and chug away. Herbal, refreshing, challening, and almost RICOLA-like. Wow, artisinal brewing at its best here. Fermented with bread yeast. Woo-doggy. I wish I had some bottles of this to lay down for a while. Well, there is always the next open house.

My first sahti, and I have a feeling I won't be having another one anytime soon, due to it's limited availability, and the fact that I don't live in Finland. Cloudy orange gold with a small, dense white head. Smell is...interesting. Light malt backbone with hints of fruit (?) but what really stands out is juniper berries, ginger, and perhaps other similar spices. Taste was very similar. Strong juniper and gingerbready malt. Not sweet at all, with mild fruit and citrus notes. Finish is mildly bitter. Medium bodied, with a creamy feel. Very interesting beer, and I would like to try some actual Finnish samples to see how this compares. Props to Heavyweight for trying this crazy style.

Sampled from a 750ml bottle on 1/8/05. This is the first of the style I have had and was a little anxious about trying it. Pours out a slightly hazy orange yellow with a tall white foamy head. Good retention on the head and thick rings of lacing were left all around thing the glass. The first scent that hits my is a interesting floral sprucy smell that I can only imagine being the juniper. Notes of grassiness, a light min and other herbal/floral scents were mingling in as well. Very unique and pleasant smelling brew. Taste of the herbal tree was very strong which I am guessing was the juniper as well. Other herbal and floral flavors were present. I had a really hard time pinning down any of the flavors in this one but is was tasty that’s for sure. Very crisp clean feel to it with a light to medium body, which was a perfect match for the flavor. Ridiculous drinkability it goes down easily is fairly light with an interesting/complex flavor that keeps you coming back for more. Great beer of a style I hope gets explored more in the future. Thanks goes to slander for the chance to try this gem.

Sampled from a 750 ml bottle purchased at the brewery. The color is orangish yellow. There was not much head, but nice lacing. This beer has a tangy berry aroma that I can’t get enough of. The flavor is sweet and tangy with a strong yeast presence. Crisp mouthfeel. One of the most drinkable beers I’ve tasted. I don’t think I have ever finished a 750 ml bottle by myself so quickly. Very different from most beers, but I loved it.

This beer poured a hazy, golden color with creamy, white foam that settled but clung to the glass and cloated it. The smell was dominated by sweet gale with light malt and light fruitiness. The taste was tart with strong juniper flavor, some mild citrus, and some fruity esters from the rye malt, and overall mild bitterness. The mouthfeel was dry and tart with medium body and medium carbonation. The aftertaste was bitter. This was a very interesting beer, and I would like another. It makes me want to seek out a sahti from Finland.

Hazy sunrise color. This extremely interesting brew smells and tastes like trees - pine and juniper run rampant with nutmeg, lemon, and a wood, earthy twang. All this complexity, in both taste and aroma. A stunningly complex brew, and all with a low, highly drinkable ABV. The bottle says 4.5%. Mouthfeel is crisp and dare I say, refreshing? Just the right amount of carbonation to lightly balance the very mild bitterness in the finish. I've had this on draught and have had the pleasure of having some small bottled samples...so glad I picked up this full bottle for myself. Exxxxcellent brew.

On tap at the Blind Tiger
***I must preface this review by noting the fact that this is my first foray into this Scandinavian style***

Appearance: Light orange in color with little to no head and very thin lacing.

Smell: Very pleasant and grassy. Similar to a saison, but the herbal and floral characteristics are more pronounced in the nose. Fresh and a bit spicy.

Taste: For lack of a better description it is very meadowy and earthy. Imagine brewing tea with wildflowers and using it in the fermenting process. Smooth and yet somewhat spicy as a result of juniper berries. Refreshing..

Mouthfeel: It is rather thin in feel, but in my opinion this adds to its refreshing, earthy character. Medium carbonation allows the flavors to come through.

Standard ABV makes these easily drinkable. Very refreshing and yet I cant imagine sitting around drinking more than a couple. A very interesting style and I relish the chance to taste it again.

Appearance – This one poured a light orange in color with no head at all.

Smell – This one’s got da funk, that’s for sure. The sharp barnyard aroma is reminiscent of a Saison, the big juniper berries of a glass of gin, and the doughy yeast that of a moldy piece of bread.

Taste – Wow! This one has incredibly intensive flavors. The gin is very ginny, if that makes any sense. Some finer gins smooth out that raw gin flavor but this is like gin in a plastic two-liter jug. The bread is straight, freshly baked white. Very nice.

Mouthfeel – The stiff ABV here will burn any cold sores on your mouth. The beer itself is a solid medium in the body and has a unique, dry, bitter finish.

Comments – This is bizarre. I like it, but it’s a calculated risk. I’d love to serve this to someone blindly and make them try to guess what it is. It would be hard to peg as a beer.

I snuck a bit more than my fair share of this spectacular treat, shared with Michigan BAs by one of Santa's most maniacal, evil elves.

Fleshy, fruity orange/apricot color -- sparkling with a big, bubbly head. Juniper! Fresh woodland, bushy aroma. The juniper really hits heavily. There's a certain airy dryness to the nose.

Now, I've yet to have a Sahti, so while the flavor was incredibly appealling to me, I couldn't judge its stylistic merits. (Though supposedly that'll change soon with the pending arrival of true sahti here in Michigan.) Anyhow, bitter cedar and juniper create a bit of a wild or farmhouse-like flavor. If I made bathtub gin, it might have flavors like this beer demonstrate. Like Norse farmhouse ale. Light bodied and lively, this is very natural and surprisingly refreshing.

Sampled at the 2004 Belgian Beer Festival. Taste is very pleasant, while I was expecting a gin-like flavor, it was much mellower, and the juniper tastes combined well with the hops. Mouthfeel complemented the flavor, with a nice light feel and mild carbonation. A unique beer, and one you might tire of after a while, but definitely one of the very few unusually flavored beers that I really have enjoyed.

Appearance: Pours a cloudy golden banana tone with a fluffy cream hued head forms nicely with a good bit of resilience. Aroma: Juniper berries and spicy rye notes swarm the senses, a nice sweetness underlies everything. Taste: Excellent mix here the rye spiciness almost takes the place of a spicy hop character and the juniper berries flow very nicely this beer just works interesting and so cohesive altogether, great stuff. Mouthfeel: Medium bodied evenly carbonated smooth going down very very drinkable. Drinkability: Unique Heavyweight brew that definitely pleased the senses and brought an awareness to me of another style.

Served in a pint glass at Fatheads. The color was a hazy dark gold, with a foamy head with normal dissipation. The smell was a light juniper with just a bit of rye in there. The taste is dominated by the fruity, semi-dry and slightly woody juniper berries, and the dryness of the rye provides a nice melding constrast here. Mouthfeel is average. As for drinkability, this is nice and refreshing as a drink and one I could enjoy quite a few of.

Once again, cheers to the inimitable Tom and Peggy Baker for their sheer creativity in making a style of beer that I'd honestly never heard of before it came out!! If you enjoyed the Two Druids, then this is a beer that you would very much like. Certainly, the worst part of OneTimeOnePlace is OneTime, so hopefully some of these will happen again!!!

Hazy, shower curtain, cloudy, orange storm in a glass that prevents me from seeing thru the turmoil clearly, under a mixed bubbles head coat.

Strong respectable rose petal and Earthy scents with a hint of mint.

Dandelions, even mustardy flavors lead to unsweetened tea and lemon flavors. Whew! 100% interesting flavors, with a dry slick finish.

Light bodied but mystique abounds.

Last swigs: Reminds me of Fraoch Heather and juniper flavors. After all, Tom Baker was standing next to me and sampled my Juhlia right outta me glass at TDR Exton and told me that juniper is in the mix. A 4.9% ABV sleeper. Extra points for unique bold style and flavor. Seek this if you are serious about trying unique rare styles like I do.

Beer is good. Happy beering.

hard to tell how well this emulates the style of sahti, as it's my first sampling within said style, but what i do know is that this was a damn tasty and refreshing brew. it poured a slightly cloudy bright orange to peach-esque colour, with a mild bubbly head atop. the smell was sweet and floral, with some earthy herbal hints as well. both the smell and taste, which had a sweet but dry snap to it, as well as some slight orange julius characteristics to it (does this chain/drink even exist anymore?), reminded me of heavyweight's gruit ale, but on a more subdued and more drinkable level. this is/was a great otop beer. i kept going back to it and the black ocean at the recent open house. tasty and different. definitely try it if you can find it.