Laitilan Kievari Retale

Brewed by Laitilan Wirvoitusjuomatehdas
Style: Irish Ale
Laitila, Finland

amber pretty color, small head. good bitterish and dry hops. fruits and caramel.

0.5 l bottle from Minimani, Jyväskylä. Amber color with small fading head. Sweetish, toasty, bready and caramelly flavor with hints of fruity hops. Dryish toasty and bitter flavor with toffee, caramel and restrained fruitiness in the background. Toasty-bitter flavor is fairly dominating making this a bit one dimensional. There is also a hint of the same mushroomy flavor that was more apparent in Kievari Mämmi.

500 ml bottle. Finland. Clear reddish copper colour with small off-white head. Sweet caramel and berry aroma with malts. Malty flavour with bitter hoppiness. Also some notes of vegetables. Rather good.

500ml bottle (K CM)
Pale red, small head. Simple grainy aroma. Soft carbonation, smooth palate. Fruity and hoppy body - has the typical Kukko vegetal aspect. Big hoppy bite. Long bitter finish. I don’t normally like red ales as they are too sweet, but Laitila have nailed this - there’s no stickiness at all. Well balanced, loads of malt and hops working well together. Good show.

(Bottled) Clear copper with a small, fading and lightly lacy head. Slightly stuffy aroma of caramely-bready malt and hints of strawberry. Flavor is metallic, somewhat stuffy, caramely-malty and lightly aromatic. Also some hop bitterness in the aftertaste. Almost medium body with low-medium, slightly fizzy carbonation. There’s something stuffy (the yeast?) in all the Laitila’s ales - and this one, being the least flavorful by itself, really emphasizes that. Simply not good, sorry guys.

(Draught at Villi Wäinö, Helsinki, on 2009-06-13) Amber and almost clear. Small white head. Caramell and malts in aroma. Medium bodied and dry palate with medium carbonation. Malts, light roastedness, bitterness, lightly sweetness, hint of fruitiness and grass in taste. Malty and bitter aftertaste.

16/06/09. Keg at Mallaskukko, Turku. Copper, firm silky pale head. Bready malty nose, interesting mild fruitiness, bubblegum, little yeast esters, gooseberry? Flavor is more toasty bread, same fruitiness, very dry and biting bitter finish with lingering herbal notes. Some house flavor in the finish too. Great silky smooth palate for the ABV. Not at all refreshing, actually on the edge being stuffy, but works as a basic session brew nicely.

Bottled (BB 01/2011). Tnx oh6gdx! Clear amber-copper color, small off-white head, some lace. Aroma has rye, caramel malts and honey melon. Pale malty flavor with some caramel and quite hoppy finish. Crisp carbonation. Aftertaste is long and bitter. A bit thin (like 4.4% indicates), but quite nice Finnish grocery store beer - hoppy and tasty.