Koff Velvet

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

Very dark brown, almost black. Smooth roasted, somewhat smoky aroma with hints of liquorice. Light body with roasty coffee-flavour. A nice stout-ish Schwarzbier.

One of the few dark beer brands made in Finland. Not probably the best, but still drinkable!

Bottle. Very dark brown (almost black), with huge foamy, lacy brown head. Roasted aroma of caramel and perhaps some dark chocolate. Silky smooth, palate a bit sticky. Roasted coffee and malt sweetness in flavor, as well as some hoppy bitterness, and a roasted, slightly bitter dark chocolate finish. Delicious, stout-like beer.

Subdued aroma: Hops, lemons and a bit bubblegum. Nice dark brown, full creamy head. Tastenotes of chokolate, dark sugar and roasted bits. Lightbodied, exits fast. A topferneted Schwarzbier? I thought this was a porter, oh well :-)

Bottled
Almost opaque. Tanned creamy head. Aroma sweet and coffee. Starts bitter, medium thin, sweet toffee and roasted malt, some bitter hops in the end. Just too thin to be excellent beer and needs more ABV but otherwise complex enough and one of the best from KOFF brand, like a little brother of brewery's world famous Porter.(6/5/7/4/14 3.6)
Re-rate: (Bottled, BB 03/2005)
Opaque black with tanned brown medium head. Roasted malt, rubbery aroma. Roasted, slightly sweet and medium-bodied. This is not "an ale" but more like "Schwarzbier". (6/5/5/3/14 3.3)

Bottled 0,50L. Much compact and creamy head, optimal fullness and longest persistence. Much dark brown color, nearly black. Dense and decidedly impenetrable also backlight. Optimal aspect, much elegant one. Pleasant and rich scent with decided bitter chocolate, cocoa and braced malty notes. Medium prickly taste, not too much dense but balanced. Little mellow with rumors of toasted caramel, cocoa and licorice (little). Not overly bitter. Amazing.
Thanks to mabjork for this beer.

An ok schwarzbier, but, but, but...... It lacks something despite the nice maltiness.

The best thing about being in Finland, besides of course the fact that you're in Finland on vacation, is that it's a country that drinks freely and doesn't export its beer. Which means that you've got a lot of new, unrated beers to choose from. The Koff Velvet has more character than most. It's a schwarzbier with plenty of hops added for bite. Pitch black in color, this has less malt flavor than its appearance would make you think. Somewhat roasty.