#summerbeer22 A surprise invitation by our summerhouse neighbors: a new batch of local Sahti for tasting. Juhannussahti by the local brewer didn't impress me, far from it actually. Let's see if this performs any better. The Sahti colors misty, light-brown. Even with a slight, deep orange hue. Carbonation is basically nonexistent but a surprisingly good, latte-hued, soapy head forms on the top and melts then quickly away. The scent offers the familiar banana aroma, nicely ample, and some dried apricot as well as sweet bun. Much better than the Juhannussahti version. Banana hovers beautifully on the tongue. It's somewhat fermented but doesn't forget fresh flavor completely either. I can also pick some dried apricot and a bit of orange peel as a new element. The taste is considerable nicer than that of Juhannussahti. There isn't such an unpleasant alcoholic touch as what disturbed me last time. The body is medium-full. The finish doesn't change from upfront at all. The aftertaste dives into the Scandinavian pagan history for a while. The mouthfeel is soft, smooth and lip-glueing. It's also modestly tart but neatly attractive. Good stuff this time!

Our countryside neighbor asked us to come over and taste some Sahti. The local Sahti guru had brewed this Sahti for the Midsummer festivities. I couldn't resist the invitation. 😅 Hazy, medium raisin-brown Sahti with no carbonation flows from a plastic Tupperware jug to the pint. A faint ring of bubbles forms on the surface and vanishes rather soon. Nice banana, a bit fermented though, some mango and apricot constitute the fruity fragrance. Basically attractive but suffers from the raw nuance of wort. The taste serves distinct fermented banana, a tad dried apricot, some biscuit and a citrusy hint. All this could be appealing but a stingy alcoholic back kick disturbs the experience. The body is surprisingly weak, like light-medium at best. Alcohol is modest but a bit sharp, even chemical and, hence, unwanted on the tongue. Fermented banana and banana skin as well as dried apricot frame the end otherwise. The aftertaste dances around a Midsommarstång for some time. The mouthfeel is medium-light, lip-glueing, distantly tangy, modestly alcoholic and faintly tart. I find this barely reasonable but not up to the level these Sahtis used to be. Not even close. It's interesting that we learned from a master who himself now brews Sahtis that are substandard. No idea what has happened, things are not just the same as they used to be.

Why be happy with one Sahti when you can have two? Yes, TWO! Our beloved summer cottage neighbors have also another Sahti to try out: this one is a local brew, from the local sahtimaster whose brews I have enjoyed so many times before. The problem with this Sahti is that it's a bit aged. It was brewed for Christmas, and it's now early February. Age doesn't usually do good to Sahti. Sahti is a living product that evolves all the time. Sometimes a Sahti is at its best at two weeks, more often at three to four weeks. Our own homebrewed Sahtis have sometimes been very good as late as at six to eight weeks but sometimes six weeks has proved to be too long, and the remaining Sahti pours to the ground. I once tasted a commercial Sahti that was six months old and it was still drinkable, if not perfect. You'll never know when you play with Sahti. Ok, this Sahti shows a cloudy, medium-brown gown. A very amber tint shines in it, too. Carbonation is still alive albeit phlegmatic, and a thin ring of grayish-beige bubbles forms on the top. The scent is weak: I can solely pick distant fermented banana. It's slightly sweet. Maltiness is absent. 🤔 I have to mention here that the drink is really cold, it's off course a good sign for preservation but may flatten the nuances to some extent. The taste gives first the same fermented banana with a faint yeasty tang. Medium-sweet malt accompanies and invites a bit of flour to the palette. Unfortunately, I also encounter recognizable alcohol on the tongue. The palate is somewhat tangy, especially when the Sahti is ice cold but it levels off a bit together with the rising temperature. The body is medium-full. The finish offers too distinct alcohol that renders the package sharp. Not really appealing to my taste. Banana is there but not particularly nice. Malt seems to disappear somewhere. The end dies fast. The mouthfeel is sharp, slightly tangy and a tad alcoholic. It's medium-full but missed many good characteristics of Sahti like softness, smoothness and stickiness. Well well... this Sahti starts unwelcoming but improves with increasing temperature. Still, it never reaches a point of true enjoyability. This is obviously too old at this point. I give first 2.5 for the edgy experience but I raise the final verdict to 3.3 as it improves reasonably.

Visting briefly our cottage neighbors. Having a glass of Sahti. This has been brewed by the local Sahti Master who taught us the secrets of Sahti brewing. He hasn't made Sahti for more than half a year for which reason we started to brew our own Sahti. We are still on that road. Now he had decided to brew some Christmas Sahti. The Sahti colors semimurky, medium-brown. The carbonation is negligible but a surprisingly visible, cream-colored head emerges on the sides of the glass and retains there for some time. Interesting... The scent is, generally speaking, restrained: I'm picking faint, slightly sweet malt and fermented banana. The taste portrays fermented banana and a whisper of alcohol. The taste profile is a tad bitter, rather light, dryish and not particularly inviting. This strikes me with surprise: where's the fullness? Where are the sweet residual sugars? It seems that the fermentation has been allowed to continue too long and the final gravity too low. The body is astonishingly light. Whaaat? The Sahti finishes with bitter banana peel and a citrusy touch. Not good. The aftertaste confuses the tastebuds briefly. The mouthfeel is light, distantly alcoholic, moderately tangy and somewhat dry. Worty. Unfortunately, this is now the weakest one of the Sahti Master's products that I have tasted over the years.

A new batch of local Sahti, specifically for the Christmas festivities. The beer pours murky, brown. No carbonation as this is a real ale, hence, no head either. Merely a hair-thin, broken chain of minuscule bubbles floats on the side of the top. The scent is moderate; I can only get a bit of fermented banana and truly remote biscuit. The taste is much more familiar but still surprisingly light: fermented banana, fermented malt, faint oat flour and some lemon biscuit. This tastes young although this should have already taken its time to gain strength and body. Hmmm... The body is, notwithstanding, light. This is the lightest Sahti by the local Sahtimaster that I have so far tasted. The beer finishes with medium-strong fermented banana, a tad lemon pulp and a moderate malty backbone. The aftertaste lingers on the tastebuds over medium to long duration. The mouthfeel is somewhat light, reasonably soft, faintly lip-glueing but simultaneously also distantly mouth-drying. Interesting. It's, generally speaking, quite easy and quaffable, also refreshing. So far, the least bold Sahti by the local Sahtimaster, could actually work much better in the summer.

The final batch (#3) of the local Kesäsahti. This batch is of special importance to me because I participated in all the phases and documented every step and detail for my intention to brew my own Sahti in the future. A funny detail is worth mentioning: the Sahtimaster uses a strong wooden paddle to stir the Sahti in the early phases of the process. After each batch is ready, he carves a small notch on the paddle. This batch is overall #228.  👑🏆 The beer colors murky, medium-brown with no carbonation. The color is a bit paler than the two other batches. A modest ring of medium-sized bubbles circles the surface for quite some time. The fragrance puts forward hefty fermented banana, a bit of cantaloupe and a note of mango. I also pick a little bit of apricot, sweet drycake and dough. The taste is sweet, delicious and a bit thin. The beer allows one to enjoy strong fermented banana, accompanied by moderate proportions of apricot, cantaloupe, mango and faint raisin. Furthermore, I get biscuit, sweet dough and a tad sweet drycake. Attractive and multilayered. The body is medium. This is probably the weakest link of this batch: the two previous batches were a tad fuller. The taste becomes a bit fuller over time but approximately at this time of the process, the beers used to be a bit fuller. The beer finishes with fermented banana, apricot, fermented mango and biscuit. I also find sweet drycake and dough. The aftertaste rolls on tongue for some time. The mouthfeel is a bit sappy, somewhat lip-glueing and relatively soft and smooth. It's also satiating and gluggable as well as nicely multilayered.

A new batch (#2) of Kesäsahti 2019. The beer colors misty, medium-brown. This real ale has no carbonation, neither head. The scent offers strong sweet banana, bags of sweet dough and a faint candy-like aroma whose identification and origin remained mystery to me. The tongue receives extraordinarily soft, oversweet banana and loads of sweet biscuit dough. Juniper is truly modest. This batch is obviously even slightly sweeter than Batch 1. The body is medium. The beer finishes with sweet banana biscuit and a good amount of sweet malt, accompanied by a really subdued nuance of juniper twigs. The aftertaste rolls on tongue for some time. The mouthfeel is somewhat sappy, substantially soft and smooth as well as relatively lip-glueing. It's also a bit satiating. Booziness is totally absent. Overall, this brew is a bit lighter than Batch 1.

A re-review of this batch of Sahti since I reviewed it last time, a week ago, a little bit too early. Let's see what the week has done to my friend. The appearance is of course unchanged. The scent spreads nice fermented banana and a good amount of banana biscuit to the nostrils. The former grainy aroma has turned to sweet malt and, hence, lost its distantly sharp nuance. The taste is now attractively soft, offering hefty fermented banana, bags of sweet malt and a reasonable heap of banana biscuit. I can also detect hair-thin licorice whereas juniper is almost nowhere to be experienced. Yeast is completely history now. The body is still medium-full -- yet, I've tasted fuller versions of the local Sahti Master's products. The beer ends with relatively soft sweet malt, banana is slightly diminishing but still recognizeably present. No yeast anymore in the finish either. The duration is the same, i.e. medium. The mouthfeel is appealingly soft and truly smooth now, as well as nicely round. This is exactly what I expected of this Sahti earlier but was busy to taste it a bit too early. The mouthfeel is also somewhat lip-glueing, fresh and not boozy at all. Here we go! An increase of 0.2 stars now.

New batch of local Sahti, specifically for the summer vacationers. 👍🏻🍻 The rest of the pics are of the final stage of batch 2. The beer colors foggy brown. No carbonation, no head, just a few soapy bubbles immediately after pouring but soon the surface is flat still. The scent allows one to inhale strong fermented banana, a bit of overripe apricot and a soft grainy aroma. The graininess may be due to the fact that, although the Sahti is ready for drinking, it's best after one week from now. The taste follows the suit with fermented banana, a tad Digestives, grainy dough and a tiny pinch of juniper twigs. I pick a yeasty note among the gustatory elements. The taste still lacks the very soft character that is so typical of the local sahtimaster's products. It's my fault though, I should have waited until the next weekend. The body is medium to medium-full. The beer finishes with light-grainy malt, a good amount of fermented banana, graham cookies and a small injection of juniper needles. Yeast is identifiable. The aftertaste has a medium duration. The mouthfeel is relatively soft but not as soft as what I'm used to with this "brewery's" products. It's also somewhat lip-glueing, medium-strong and distantly boozy. This is substantially fresh but still young -- at least one week is needed for making it round.

Malty Midsummer festivities to all Pint Please folks! 🇫🇮 This Finnish festivity starts with the traditional Finnish Sahti -- what else? Produced by an old sahtimaster in our village. The beer colors very murky and colors deep sludgy brown. Sahti is a real ale, hence no carbonation and basically no head. The scent is not particularly massive but emits a generous punch of fermented banana and some biscuit dough. The taste is really soft and smooth, and hence quite dangerous as it's easily gluggable despite the ABV of 8 %. I can pick fermented banana, sweet bread dough, a little bit of overripe mango and a tad biscuit. I can also detect a substantially distant hint of licorice among the gustatory elements. The body is medium-full. The beer finishes with a faintly grainy, sweet malt, a small injection of fermented banana, oversweet biscuit dough and a recognizeable nuance of licorice. The aftertaste lingers in the mouth for a rather short time. The mouthfeel is a bit sappy, truly soft and smooth, somewhat thick as well as a bit creamy. It's also very remotely boozy as well as nicely satiating.