Back in January I read that Madison's Karben4 Brewing was reorganizing their line-up going into 2022 by doing its best Ronald Reagan imitation with many beers going the way of the dodo, er, air traffic controller. Our very own beer baron, Chris Drosner, wrote that Karben4 "began its 10th year by bidding adieu to most of its regular beers that don’t carry a gun-toting, unicorn-riding ninja cat on its label… And its seasonal lineup will mostly be replaced by two new rotating-monthly series of beers…" Brewmaster (and owner) Ryan Koga is quoted as saying, "The whole point is going to be turn and burn. We want to keep it exclusive and fresh."
Yikes!
This seems a shame to me. I was at Karben4's opening back in 2012 and have been enjoying their smoked porter, Night Call, since then. And now they've gone and tossed it to the wayside like a used rubber? Well, that's men for you. Always wanting something younger with whorish displays of tropical fruit flavor, no doubt.
I figured this Karben4 V2.0 would be like going to see Lynyrd Skynyrd. They start playing "Gimme Three Steps" and you realize that there's only 1 guy left who was actually in the band when they recorded that song. But when I go to the brewery's webpage, I find more that is familiar to me than some unicorn-riding ninja cat. Indeed, there are a lot of brews that I recognize at the site that aren't collected under the "Retired Beers" section, including my beloved Night Call. What gives?
Perhaps they've had a change of heart. Or maybe their webmaster hasn't updated the page to reflect the changes.
Sadly, I guess it's goodbye Night Call, hello rotating monthly beer series. One series sounds like it's going to be all fruity tasting IPAs and fruity sours so I am taking a hard pass. Instead, I will take the magical zymurgy tour which features beer styles from around the world – the aptly named World Beer Tour series. The initial stop in January was the home of the eminent poet Robert Burns as well as haggis – Scotland. Did Adam Smith drink wee heavies as he rhapsodized about the Invisible Hand? I don't know but Karben4's take on the style is soooo two months ago. Who cares? Turn and burn, baby!
February saw stop numero kaksi – Finland! – and a sahti. The first thing I noticed when I saw a 4-pack of it at the liquor store was that it didn't have a funkadelic name and instead had the unexciting, although apposite, "Finland" on emblazoned on the label. I mean, Karben4's flagship is named after a Traffic song so why can't this one also get the treatment? How about "Jani Barleycornonen Must Die"?
It's probably been 15 years since I've had a sahti from Finland. It was Kataja Out from a brewery called Lammin Sahti Oy. The short bottle with the red label. I don't know if you can find the stuff here in Madison anymore. But I have had a few American interpretations of the style over the years which were all ales made with rye and flavored with juniper berry. (In its homeland, sahti was traditionally filtered with juniper branches for that piney taste.)
My glass had a big, light tan head in it. And this was firm foam. It barely moved when the mug did. And the stuff had staying power. The beer itself was a lovely amber with just a touch of haziness to it that in no way obstructed my view of some bubbles scattered about inside. I could smell banana when the glass wasn't near my nose. Putting it a bit closer, I smelled some toasty grain and a whole lot of fresh juniper. Juniper is often thought of simply smelling like pine. It is, after all, the ingredient that gives gin its evergreen aroma. But there's more to the spice than the pine provided by the compound called – wait for it - pinene. To my nose, juniper also has fruity and floral elements to it and they are present here as well.
The first sip revealed a nice, firm fizz inside a medium bodied brew. There was a definite malty sweetness that was redolent of honey along with a light rye spice. And a big juniper flavor. Again, not just pine, although that's a major component here, but also a citrus-floral kind of taste that melded really well with the sweetness. On the finish, malt sweetness slowly faded allowing what tasted like a faint herbal hoppiness/piney juniper mix to come through but also really boost the dryness.
Exactly how "authentic" this stuff is is surely a matter of debate. If you have any interest at all in this beer style, I highly recommend reading "The great Finnish sahti expedition" by Norwegian beer historian Lars Marius Garshol. Lots of great information about this style and an account of this "farmhouse ale" actually being brewed in a barn using wood burning boiler.
Whether or not any of the homebrewers that Garshol meets would recognize Karben4's take as being representative of their country's best known beer style, this sahti is excellent. I loved every piney-floral-fruity sip. There's just something particularly wonderful about the malt-juniper pas de deux here. This is a fairly big beer at 7.2% and rather sweet too – both things typical of the style – but the sweetness is smooth and the juniper never lets it become cloying. Marvelous!
Junk food pairing: if you can get a hold of some Finnish snacks, get some Taffel Horseradish potato chips. If not, go with Jays Hot Stuff chips.
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