The 2-4 Beers of Christmas 2019 Day: 13 Must Kuld by Põhjala

Beer # 513 Must Kuld Porter 

Brewery: Põhjala Brewing Company


Type: Independent Microbrewery    Est.:  2011

Location: Tallinn, Estonia

Beer Style: Porter

ABV: 7.8%      IBU: 45

Format: Brown Glass Bottle  Size: 330 ml

Cost: $3.45 CAD     Purchased At: LCBO

pohjalabeer

    @pohjalabeer

I think this is my second or third beer from Estonia. They seem to be starting up a craft beer movement now too. The first beers I had were old Pilsner/lager standbys from large national breweries, but this was my first from a craft brewery. Not too much information on this brewery, Just that they occupy a restored heritage building in the shipyard area of Tallinn on the sea.

Onto our beer...

Pours a very dark chocolate colour with a short tan head made of small bubbles. The aroma is deep and malty with chocolate and molasses. Mouthfeel is medium-thick and beer has a slight mustiness to it. Definitely unrefined. As it warms it sweetens a bit with deeper tones of molasses and brown sugar. Hints of liquorice. Aeration gives us more mustiness and some wet grain. It finishes sweet milk chocolate and toast.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 


Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 3/6 SO-SO
Re-Order:  5/6 PASS
Experience: 4/6 PASS
Christmas Cheer 4/6 PASS


Final Thoughts:

A decent porter. There are some slight imperfections but nothing to seriously fault the beer. The flavour profile is good and the style is not bad. I would be interested to see if a fresher version of this beer. one that hasn't made a TransAtlantic trip, would be better. Try it, especially if you are like me, and have not had an Estonian craft beer before.

Cheers

CJT

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Beer # 75 A. Le Coq Premium

A. Le Coq Premium


A. Le Coq & Co
Tartu, Estonia
Owned and Operated by Olvi Brewing (Finland)
Premium Light Lager 4.7% ABV Brown Glass Bottle 500 ml.
$2.40 (Canadian) At LCBO. 


A. Le Coq  traces it's roots back to a Prussian man Named Albert Le Coq who established a beverage trading company in 1807. In the 1820's he moved his operations headquarters to London England. There he began to take advantage of the demand for "Russian Imperial Stout" and began to bottle the beer purchased from London breweries under his own name and ship it back to Russia. In 1904 high import duties in Russia forced A. Le Coq to move the bottling plant to St. Petersburg Russia. And then began the search for an appropriate brewery for A. Le Coq to brew the stout in Russia. In 1913, Tivoli LTD. was purchased with it's two breweries The B.J. Hesse Brewery and the R.J. Schramm Brewery. The name was changed to A.Le Coq Ltd. It briefly became know as the "Tartu Õlletehas" (Tartu Brewery) during the soviet era in Russia; but finally, in 1997 Finnish Company Olvi purchased the brewery, privatised it, and renamed it A. Le Coq.


Without further ado:


Light to clear gold in colour with a frothy white head made up of tiny bubbles. Rich, clean, malty aroma. Very crisp euro-style, lager, malty and fresh. Hints of sweet clover, honey and a touch of flinty mineral. Slight medicinal hops. Well rounded finish with a touch of grain that lingers in the nose. Very thin in body, and does show a little of the "washed out" "rainwatery" character typical of the  euro lager. However, it is without any signs of chemical, tinny, aldehydes, that mar cheaper euro lagers.





Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional   


Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 5/6 PASS
Re-Order:  5/6 PASS
Experience:   5/6 PASS


Final Thoughts:


I was pleasantly surprised, I have tasted many "euro lagers" and pilsners that are generally quite horrible. Mostly canned, and cheap, with dubious production values. However, A.Le Coq is a refreshing well crafted brew, and quite easy to see why it is the most popular beer in Estonia. A good patio sipper or something with a light meal.


Cheers


CJT


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