Handy Scandis

Today we have a mix of random Scandinavian beers, because why not?

We start with one from Lervig, called Skogen. It's the second of their collaborations with lambic blender Oud Beersel to come my way -- the first having been highly enjoyable. This one is calmer than Black Acid: 6% ABV and a mellow golden colour. Apparently it's brewed with fruit but I couldn't taste any of that in it. Mango, maybe? What dominates instead is the sappy fresh-oak barrel sourness and a very lambic-like dusting of white pepper. Unlike many a highly attenuated sour beer there's a richness in this, rounded like a fruity pipe tobacco. They've done a great job here of building good lambic features into a solid, if unexciting, base beer.

To Sweden next, and a pair from Stigbergets. On the left is a pale ale called New Wave: a modest 5.5%-er and a bright and cheery orange colour; hazy but not opaque. I get a sharp citric bitterness in the aroma, jaffa rind and satsuma pith, but also a softer and sweeter vanilla. I was worried I might have a sugar bomb on my hands. But no: while that side is there, especially in the long juicy finish, there's more than enough balance provided by the spritzy bittering. That does make it very drinkable, neither harsh on the palate nor curdling in the stomach, both things that can go wrong with this sort of modern pale ale. There's also zero yeast bite nor any savoury notes. There might be those who'd accusing it of lacking character, of not being flavourful enough for a high-end pale ale. Not me though. It's a lovely by-the-pinter, of the sort we rarely see from Scandinavian brewing over here.

The ominous dark fellow next to it is Trouble Sleep, an imperial stout of 12% ABV. Look at the darkness of that foam! I was expecting something so dense that it would end up drinking me in. It smells sweet, of salted caramel and café crème. The texture is lighter than expected, and the flavour cleaner and more straightforward. The coffee is there in a big way, tasting concentrated, like a syrup or liqueur. Moreso the latter when the alcohol asserts itself next, warming vapours effusing the palate. An acrid rasp of smoke comes in towards the end, and I caught a touch of the cherry fruit one sometimes finds in coffee. It was at this point I went to find out if there's actual coffee in it, and there is. Hence the name, I guess. Overall it's nicely done, the flavours well integrated with no jarring efforty attempts at being different for the sake of it.

Three very different beers, all perfectly executed. Can't argue with that.