Review: Lammin Kataja Olut
I can’t even begin to pretend to pronounce the name of this beer or its brewery, but I do intend to provide you, dear reader, with my review of Lammin Sahti Oy’s Kataja Olut. The Kataja Olut is a Sahti-style ale produced in Finland with an alcohol-by-volume of 7-percent. The sahti-style of beer is completely new to me and one that I had become rather excited about. According to well known beer aficionado Michael Jackson, “Sahti is the only primitive beer to survive in Western Europe…Fresh juniper twigs are used in the filter bed on the bottom of the lauter tun and also infused in the hot brewing water.” Indeed the bottle of the Kataja Olut references the use of juniper branches in the brewing process, but I’ll be darned if i can find evidence of that. Regardless, this beer looked interesting and unique among the hundreds of bottles that sat before me on the shelf during my first visit to Cyclone Liquors of Ames, Iowa. I added the Sahti to my small collection, and purchased the imported 11.2 ounce bottle for $2.99.
For those of you who haven’t heard our podcast (and I strongly urge you to subscribe), we here at The Beer Genome Project have four segments to our beer reviews: Appearance, Aroma, Taste, and Overall Evaluation. Additionally I am taking into consideration the idea of a “photo review”, so take a look at those as well. So, without further adieu, I present to you Lammin’s Kataja Olut from Finland.
Appearance
Out of the bottle, the Kataja Olut poured a clear orange to amber color. It was quite striking how clear the beer actually was, and equally amazing was how there was absolutely no head on top. Held up to bright light, the Kataja Olut became much more orange in color and it became evident how very little carbonation was within the beer. I could see some sediment floating around inside the glass, which I felt was unique to such a clear beer. Around the top of the glass there was no evidence of lacing. This beer was flat, clear, and could easily be mistaken as an iced tea of some sort.
Aroma
As soon as the first pour leaves the bottle, you can smell the sweetness of this beer. I can only best describe it as being a fruity juice smell. I picked up hints of apple, plum, and grape – so it runs the gamut. Just know that this beer is going to smell very sweet with absolutely no hints of hops or malt. However, if you take in a longer breath you may pick up the smell of alcohol, but it is subtle and not influential of the aroma in any way.
Taste
The pour of this beer gave away that it would be flat, with no carbonation. I figured the Kataja Olut to be a smooth, light beer, but it tends to have a heavy mouth feel. I attribute that to the abundance of a grainy, malt taste. Given the fruity characteristics of the aroma, the graininess came right out of left field. It’s a taste that will cover your entire mouth and linger. This particular beer lacks any characteristics that I could describe as refreshing, and I feel that some carbonation might leave a better crisp feeling in the mouth. At first sip, I imagine you won’t be impressed with the taste of the Kataja Olut, but I do feel it has a great deal of drinkability as it seems to improve greatly in taste as your sips continue.
Overall Evaluation
The fruity characteristics of the aroma are definitely a turn off to me, though I know some people will find this sweetness appealing. The taste of the Kataja Olut does not match what you would expect, especially with the idea of apples and grapes in your head. Truth be told, the first sip of this beer isn’t something I found too desirable either. However, the malt-graininess taste kept bringing me back for more sips. I found this to be a highly drinkable beer, but not one that I would necessarily want more than one of in an evening. The beer does fall quite flat in the mouth, due to its lack of carbonation, and I feel this is its weakest point. However, I will say that I am eager to try out more of the Sahti-style and see how the Kataja Olut compares.
Mike’s Rating: 3/5
