Karhu Korpisavu

Brewed by Sinebrychoff (Carlsberg)
Style: Smoked
Kerava, Finland

Many thanks to Finn for the 330ml bottle. Slightly beige head, slowly fading over a crystal clear, amber body. Obvious, but vague, smoked malt and grain in aroma and flavour. The flavour is developing in the direction of sweet, dark caramel malts, while the aroma has got a touch of dry vegetables. Medium bodied and rounded mouthfeel. Some refreshments in this, but still a bit sweet and lack of bitterness. I wouldn’t say no to another bottle, though (Tromsø, 07.04.2009).

330 ml bottle. Amber color, foamy off-white head. Malty aroma. Where’s the smoke? Pretty sharp flavor with a touch of caramel and just a touch of smoke. The carbonation is unpleasantly strong and the taste is ...strange. Could be worse for a pale lager, but a smoked beer? Please.

330ml Bottle - Dark amber/copper coloured. Malty and slightly soapy aroma with smoky hints. Smoky and malty taste with some light hints of bacon and grain. The finish is sweet and smoky with a slight fruity hint. Not bad, but not as smoked as I was expecting.

330 ml bottle. Finland. Copper brown colour with medium white head. Grainy aroma with some hints of caramel and if you look very carefully some hints of smoke. Flavour is a bit more smoky but unfortunately not that much. Grainy. Not bad but Korpisavu cannot be mentioned in a same sentence with German Rauchbiers. Which I just did. Disappointment as a Rauchbier but quite decent for a lager. When it gets a bit warmer there’s some more nice smoky flavour and aroma. But as the label says, "drink ice cold".

Draught a small glass tasted at Kittys. Pale head. Mild nose. Soft taste with hints of smoke. Slightly sweet. At the end some hoppiness. Too mild smoke tastte!

330 ml bottle. Clear amber colour, medium white head. A hint of smoke in the mild, malty aroma. The flavour is simple, malty, with some smokiness. Medium-bodied. Tastes better than the regular, unsmoked Karhu, but that’s not much of an achievement.

Well what do you know, Smokey bear is back in black. Apparently the whole "Remember! Only you can prevent forest fires" angle is effective since the aroma betrays no hint of smoke, only grainy notes emerge with some sweetness. Maybe this was Smokey’s way of saying the old fuck you to the great german rauchbiers. I get a hint of smoke in the flavor and after huffing the beer for a good 15 minutes I get some in the aroma too. Some hops in the smell, just a hint so the average Joe drinking his domestic piss won’t get annoyed. Sweet, evokes old memories of pissing out someones camp fire. Drinkable, kinda makes me want to go out to the woods in the summer and drink beer. Not this beer though, some real manly beer. Like a real rauchbier perhaps?

So...a smoke beer version of one of the better finnish bulk lagers, eh? Doesn’t seem to promising, does it? Well, here goes anyway: Pours a clear brass, with a small white head. Flavor and aroma much like regular Karhu IV, but with a mild, tarry, leathery smokiness added -- more prominent in flavor than in mainly malty aroma. Dryish, slightly tarry finish, leaving a bitterish aftertaste. Fairly light body, moderate carbonation, and clean mouthfeel. Not too shabby at all -- perhaps a good, gentle introduction of smoke beers to the general lager public?