Saku Tume
Saku Brewery LTD

Look is very dark brown, almost stout-like with a 1/4" head. Smell is caramel and yeast mostly. Taste is malt, caramel, and a slight hops taste at the end of the mouthful. Beer finishes clean, a pleasant malty aftertaste and is low in carbonation overall.

Brown color where light passes along the edge of the glass. Appears to be clear. Small beige head that settles quickly and leaves only a modicum of lace.

Sweet, hazelnut aroma. Very bock-like. Some molasses and toffee in the background.

High carbonation cuts into the sweet treacle flavor. Rich but not as much as this sugar level typically provides. Brown sugar flavor dominates the swallow. In short, sappy.

 

Poured from a brown 16.9 oz. bottle. Has a very dark brown color with ruby highlights and a 1/2 inch head. Smell is of dark fruits, dates stand out, and bready malts. Taste is identical to the aroma, a touch of brown sugar. Feels medium/full bodied in the mouth and overall is a good quality beer.

 

 

L: Dark red, almost like coca-cola color, one finger off white head, ok lacing, good carbonation.

S: Alcoholic caramel.

T: Sweet, caramel.

F: Very light, watery.

O: Very average beer. Drinkable but nothing special.

 

 

BOTTLE: Brown glass. .5L. Branded gold and black pry-off crown cap. Simple red label.

6.7% ABV. Reviewed from notes as a dark beer per the label. Best before: 030416. Produced: 090415. Served cold into a tulip in Finland.

No bubble show forms as it's poured.

HEAD: ~2 inches wide. Khaki colour head. Great shiny complexion. Creamy and foamy. Nice thickness. Retention is quite good - ~5 minutes.

BODY: Dark translucent ruby amber. No yeast particles are visible within. Quite clean and vibrant.

It's a good appearance overall. Inviting and attractive.

AROMA: Rich toasted amber malts, cherries, red fruit, cherry skin, and bready sweetness. An excellent aroma overall, but seemingly more of a winter ale judging by the sweetness.

Hop presence is minimal. Suggests a balanced beer with above average complexity.

Aromatic intensity is average.

TASTE: Has a lovely dark cherry presence with supple notes of cherry skin and cherry flesh. The toasted amber malt backbone is damn near perfect, and the interplay between the cherry and the amber malts is lovely. The caramalt presence is subtle and wonderful. It's not too bready, but boasts an apt and subtle sweetness that makes it more of a winter ale. Hints of winter warmer-esque English spice.

Perfect balance. Great overall build. It boasts above average intricacy and ample subtlety. Sure it could have even more depth of flavour - and variety of flavour. But as-is, it's an enjoyable amber with a gestalt build. I quite like this.

As it warms, I become more enamored by its balance - particularly the sweetness, which is ideal for the style.

TEXTURE: Aptly medium-bodied, with ideal thickness on the palate. Has just enough weight and heft on the palate to support this flavour profile. The texture feels custom-tailored to the taste, and helps accentuate the cherry notes nicely. It's slightly coarse and dry from the toastiness, which really plays into the malt backbone beautifully.

It does suffer from slight overcarbonation, and some will find it a biteen syrupy.

OVERALL: A surprisingly good dark beer from Saku, Tume is a treat of a beer in its style and will impress the discerning drinker. Well worth the price even as an import in Finland, Saku Tume is a brew I can definitely see myself revisiting in the future, and my only criticisms concern its potential to be better (e.g. its potential for still more intricacy and depth), not any shortcomings. I look forward to trying it on-draught. Highly drinkable and very pleasant, hiding its ABV very well. Hat tip to the brewers responsible. I'll greedily finish the whole bottle.

B

 

 

 

 

I bought this single 500ml brown bottle at Sal's Liquors in Addison, IL for $1.49. I don't know what the word "Tume" means and I didn't know this was a doppelbock when I bought it. I have since learned that tume means "dark" in Estonian, so it all makes sense now.

The beer poured a dark brown color and made a huge 4-finger light tan head on top. Retention was good, but it left very little lacing.

The beer had a brown sugar, caramel, and toffee smell - very sweet.

Malty sweet with caramel, toffee, and brown sugar flavor. It also has some raisin and plum fruitiness to it along with a surprising trace of hop bitterness.

Medium body with medium carbonation.

Very good if you like your beer on the sweeter side.

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Poured into a Chuckanut pint glass. Pours a dark ruddy brown with ruby tints. Fine one finger light tan head with great reteniton and lacing. Aroma of sweet, bready malt, toffee and dark bread. Flavor of dark, sweet bready and toasted malt, brown bread, figs and dates with a fleeting hint of cherry and maybe rye in the finish, which is sweet and malty with mild toastiness. Light to medium bodied. Listed by the brewery as a "dark Estonian beer", I think the sweetness and malt profile do lean towards a doppelbock style as categorized here. A bit on the sweet side, and not quite as malty as a traditional bock, but a pleasant sipping dark lager.