Kekkonen Keskiolut
Saimaa Brewing Co.

Tough to sort which style this is. The brewery calls this a "medium beer" which is bottom fermented - so at least we can be sure it's a lager. But its "copper-reddish" colour comes from English colouring malt; the main grain is Finnish pilsner malt and the hops are Czech Saaz. This suggests to me that it's a Czech pilsner with some English malt for colour, but I digress. I've added it as a Vienna Lager per RateBeer until someone with better knowledge can properly classify it.

CAN: 500ml. Aluminum. Standard pull-tab.

37kcal/100ml. 4.2% ABV. 10 OG. 20 EBU. 30 EBC.

Purchased at a Prisma hypermarket and served cold into a pilsner glass at low altitude in Kuopio, Finland. Expectations are average given the brewery. Reviewed live.

No bubble show forms as it's poured.

HEAD: ~4.5 inches wide, occupying 60% of the glass. Off-white colour. Creamy enough, with a decent consistency and a nice complexion. Pretty frothy. Leaves no lacing on the sides of the glass as it recedes.

Retention: Good. ~6 minutes.

BODY: Clear copper with vague amber hues. Clean, with no visible yeast particulate or hop sediment. Could be more vibrant, but it's decent as-is. Translucent and transparent.

Overall, it looks nice for a copper lager (if not Vienna lager), but isn't unique or special. A deeper body and frothier head would make it still more appealing.

AROMA: Copper and faint amber malts, a brief wisp of toastiness/toasted bread, grassy Saaz hops, and a kiss of burnt sugar. Some might find it a biteen syrupy, but I think it's nice for what it is.

More of that rich toastiness and bread-like char would really set it off nicely. Yeast profile is clean and ester-free in classic lager fashion, with fair attenuation. No booze or off-notes are detectable. Hop profile is minimal, in line with a pilsner.

Aromatic intensity is mild.

TASTE & TEXTURE: Has a gorgeous bready amber malt backbone with copper malts filling it out nicely in addition to subtly handled grassy Saaz hops. It's aptly clean and crisp, with a refreshing light body that deftly supports the nicely executed flavour profile. Caramel, sure. Maybe some brief nuttiness. Vague fruit (probably from the yeast). Lager yeast is well employed here, yielding an ester-free flavour profile with fair depth and a mouthfeel that presents its distinct but complementary flavours cleanly and plainly. The toasted malt peaks just on the finish, leaving the drinker with a vague bread crust aftertaste that sets off the beer nicely and encourages the drinker to return for the next sip.

In short, this is rather well-executed and boasts above average depth and subtlety for a copper/Vienna lager. Good flavour duration. Average flavour intensity. What works best, though, is its balance. It's cohesive and nearly gestalt, with a seeming effortlessness to its nuanced layering of flavours.

Good harmony of texture and taste. Not too syrupy, sticky, boozy, hot, astringent, rough, etc. Slightly overcarbonated, though. Avoids the usual pitfall of canned Finnish beers in that it's not metallic tasting.

OVERALL: This is a surprisingly good copper lager dressed up in supermarket beer clothes. It pairs its clean yet adequately hefty mouthfeel with its subtly executed taste well, and I find it incredibly easy to drink. One of the rare Finnish lagers I'd return to, Kekkonen is a must-try for foreign craft beer fans craving something a bit more flavorful than the usual macrolagers. A pleasant surprise that will surpass the discerning drinker's expectations.

True to the can's label, this pairs well with Finnish rye bread.

High C+