Divine and Silky Smooth Imperial Stouts – The Top 20 Best-Rated Estonian Beers
This time we’ll take a look at the statistics of Estonia and find out what kind of beer is a Sauna Ale.
Raise your hand, if you’ve ever tasted an Estonian beer! Well, there’s only 1,3 million inhabitants in this country, so there aren’t so many Estonian breweries, but still the quality is quite the opposite.
Today, on the 24th of February, is the independence day of this small country in Northern Europe at the shores of the Baltic Sea. To celebrate that, we’ve collected together the statistics of the best-rated and the most popular Estonian beers according to the ratings of the Pint Please community.
Estonia is known for its well-respected micro breweries and Tallinn is a popular destination for travelers seeking wild and up-to-date craft beer experiences.
The most interesting breweries at the moment are absolutely Põhjala, Pühaste, Anderson’s Craft Beer, Tanker, Õllenaut and Sori Brewing.
The Best-Rated Estonian Beers in 2021
Põhjala is clearly dominating the statistics of last year’s best-rated beers. This Tallinn-based craft brewery is quite fascinating for its capability to produce freshy and fruity IPAs and NEIPAs as well as dark and well-matured Stouts and Estonia’s own Baltic Porters.
The Cellar Series of Põhjala is a beer series with wax seals and meant to be matured, so these products are purposely dark and strong.
Above all, the Best Estonian beers happen to be basically dark beer styles with alcohol percents shooting skyward. The winner is way ahead of the others. Vanilla Pillow by Põhjala has an average rating of 4.09.
The Pint Please reviews are enthusing over this sweet Strong Ale as a divine delicacy. In addition to its vanilla aromas, there are notes from rich dark chocolate, and also the colour of the ale is merely brown-black. The beer has been blended and aged in Bourbon, Cognac and Sherry barrels. The rich taste of vanilla is a result of mixing together two different species, the Madagascar and the Tahitian vanilla beans.
The struggle at the head of the list is evenly matched. Tumeaine Port/Whisky BA by Pühaste and I Double Dare You Bourbon BA by Anderson’s Craft Beer are tied for second place. They are both Imperial Stouts with an average rating of 4.04.
Tumeaine by Pühaste has been aged in port wine and whisky barrels. In its profound malt bed are joined caramel and chocolate malts as well as soft oats. Tumeaine is lightly hopped with Columbus. The Pint Please reviews tell that the taste is near to a Rye Stout and that there can definitely be noticed some melted chocolate, fresh grains and softness of vanilla.
Instead, the I Double Dare You by Anderson has been aged in three Bourbon barrels and is described as a silky smooth Imperial Stout with heavy aromas. Not least because of its high alcohol content (13.5%) the taste is very intense. This Imperial Stout with chocolate and coffee notes is a desert par excellence itself.
| Brewery | Beer | % | Style | AVG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Põhjala | Vanilla Pillow (Cellar Series) | 12.9% | American Strong Ale | 4.09 |
| 2 | Pühaste | Tumeaine Port/Whisky BA (Silver Series 2020) | 12.0% | Imperial Stout | 4.04 |
| 3 | Anderson’s Craft Beer | I Double Dare You Bourbon BA | 13.5% | Imperial Stout | 4.04 |
| 4 | Põhjala | Pime Öö Hazelnut | 13.6% | Imperial Flavoured Stout / Imperial Pastry Stout | 3.99 |
| 5 | Põhjala | Cocobänger | 12.5% | Imperial Stout | 3.98 |
| 6 | Põhjala | Armchair Detective (Cellar Series) | 12.0% | Imperial / Double Baltic Porter | 3.88 |
| 7 | Põhjala | Tumma Tauko (Cellar Series) | 11.5% | Imperial / Double Baltic Porter | 3.86 |
| 8 | Põhjala | Vaquero Breakfast (Cellar Series) | 12.0% | Imperial Stout | 3.86 |
| 9 | Põhjala | Öö | 10.5% | Imperial / Double Baltic Porter | 3.85 |
| 10 | Sori Brewing | Ensemble 10 | 8.2% | New England DIPA / Hazy Imperial IPA | 3.76 |
| 11 | Sori Brewing | Ensemble 03 Mosaïc & Citra | 8.1% | New England DIPA / Hazy Imperial IPA | 3.71 |
| 12 | Põhjala | Virmalised | 6.7% | India Pale Ale | 3.7 |
| 13 | Põhjala | Must Kuld | 7.8% | Porter | 3.69 |
| 14 | Pühaste | Mosaiik Vienna IPA | 6.9% | India Pale Ale | 3.68 |
| 15 | Sori Brewing | Ensemble 05 Galaxy & Citra & Mosaïc DDH DIPA | 8.3% | Imperial IPA / Double IPA | 3.64 |
| 16 | Põhjala | Torm | 8.0% | Grodziskie / Gose / Lichtenhainer | 3.63 |
| 17 | Põhjala | Kosmos | 5.5% | New England IPA / Hazy IPA | 3.60 |
| 18 | Anderson’s Craft Beer | John Vic | 6.9% | New England IPA / Hazy IPA | 3.60 |
| 19 | Põhjala | Gimme Danger | 10.5% | Imperial Stout | 3.59 |
| 20 | Sori Brewing | Ensemble 12 | 8.1% | New England DIPA / Hazy Imperial IPA | 3.59 |
The Most Popular Estonian Beers in 2021
The most popular Estonian beer is without a doubt a bulk lager from A.Le Coq. Actually this beer, A.Le Coq Premium, has managed pretty well in blind tastings when competing with the other bulk beers. So when it comes down to price-quality ratio, it’s not a surprise to find A.Le Coq Premium on the head of the list.
Nowadays A.Le Coq is owned by a Finnish beverage manufacturer Olvi, which means that a large part of the Premium beers are actually brewed in Finland but with the same original recipe, of course. For domestic markets A.Le Coq still produces beer in Tarto, Estonia.
There are in total seven beers by A.Le Coq at the top 20 list, which shows that its popularity has widened a lot in recent years.
The second most popular beer is not exactly a bulk product. Põhjala is very well known for its high quality products, which was proven earlier in the section of the best-rated beers. But nowadays Põhjala produces also somewhat more simple beers that can be purchased at least in Estonian and Finnish groceries.
Kosmos NE IPA by Põhjala is a New England style IPA that continues the story of the equally popular Kosmos IPA, just equipped with a new label. This generously hopped Hazy IPA tastes quite tropical with juicy aromas from mango and pineapple thanks to the Citra and Mosaic hops.
This popular beer is also well-rated: it is ranked among the top 20 of the best-rated beers with a place 17. A nice price-quality ratio is a guarantee!
On the third place we’ll find Sauna Session Estonian Birch Ale by Tanker Brewing. Sauna Ale is meant to be drunk after sauna bathing because of the natural dehydration caused by heat and sweating.
This Sauna Ale is spiced with proper Estonian birch leaves, which makes it a tasteful and refreshing drink to quench the thirst. It’s described as a smooth and aromatic ale with a malty ending.
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