Heavyweight Juhlia

Formerly brewed at Heavyweight Brewing Company
Style: Traditional Ale
Ocean Township, New Jersey USA

750 ml bottle - thanks to Eyedrinkale for the trade. Poured slightly hazy golden orange with a large, creamy off-white head. Aroma definitely showcases the juniper and spices, with herbal, floral and spicy notes as well as lemon and lightly sweet citrus fruits. Wow, interesting flavors, the juniper again stands out giving a unique spicy, herbal flavor again with subtly sweet citrus tastes. Overall, the flavor is light and refreshing with a nice astringent bitterness in the sides of the mouth along with sour and almost funky organic notes. Body is light, with moderately cream carbonation. This is certainly an interesting and enjoyable change of pace in a beer. Thanks Mike.

to call this interesting or different would be an understatement. a golden body with a wispy white head gives way to what can only be described as the aroma of a freshly cut christmas tree. taste is rich with pine and juniper, which are backed up by some mild spices. aftertaste is very crisp and full of the junipers. overall a smooth beer that just tastes alot different than anything else ive had, but definitely not in a bad way.

One of the most original I have ever had. Went great with T-giving turkey. What else can be said about beer with juniper. You just had to taste it.

(750 ml bottle: Obtained in trade with Eyedrinkale, thanks Mike!) I don’t know my spices very well, I just follow recipes and use standard knowledge of what to put in which dishes, but this beer tastes like I went out to my herb garden and started devouring one of the plants. It’s somewhere between the flavor of basil, oregano and some kind of light pine. Is this what juniper tastes like? Sorry, I’ve never gnawed on a bough of juniper before. Lightly bitter, and with only a hint of sweetness, this really is all about the spice. The nose is also sweet but very spicy, like something I’m throwing into my pasta sauce, not something I’d throw in beer. Very clean and refreshing on the palate. The color is light golden and fully clear. Off-white head pours to an average size, and settles to a broken film with a thick rim around the edge. Another of what I’d consider a unique, boutique beer that touches senses rarely titilated by beer. And though it tastes more like something I’d be tasting out of a sauce pan rather than a glass, I find it very enjoyable. Hats off to the brewers for having the balls to brew a beer like this.

Juniper, grapes, mild alcohol and berries in the wine-like bouquet. Opaque yellow-gold with thin ring of white head. Lightly tart, bitter and woody flavour with lots of gin-like juniper character. Bitterness lasts on the tongue in the wine-like dry finish. Light body and refreshing effervescence from decent carbonation that is engaging on the tongue. Another interesting experiment from a courageous brewer. Sampled at the Extreme Beer Festival 2005.

Draft, EBF: Hazy yellowy golden appearance. Interesting aroma full of spices, salty and spicy malt together with bready yeast and seafood spices over a slice of rye bread. Weird taste that doesn’t really stand out to me, okay balance for such an original melting pot, salt and bread cohabiting. Nice medium carbonation pairs over a light-medium refreshing palate. Worth a try.

Sampled at the Extreme Beer Fest. Cloudy pale gold color. Surprising aroma of spices, fruits and rye. Great flavor of spices, fruits, herbs and rye. Light body, creamy texture. Wow, very good and original, if Finnish Sahti is like that I envy Finnish beer drinkers !

Sample at XBF:

The Lure:
Subdued perfume of juniper & white wine-y fruitiness tinted by a well-balanced light salmon saltiness. Appearance and carbonation are quite Belgian-like.

The Festivities:
Impressively bitter hay and rye malts get tiring. Leafy fruitiness and white wine character work efficiently with the Belgian, fluffy body. Quite interesting, but I can’t gauge it to a real sahti for now.