Lagerboy Speaks – Lapin Kulta

“Lapin Kulta? Where the hell’s that from?” went through the mind of Lagerboy in front of the chiller cabinet at Peckhams the other day, as a new bottle poked into his field of vision. Initially I thought it was from Italy, but the place name I was squinting at was Tornio, not Torino. As it happens, Tornio is in the far north of Finland – Lapin Kulta means the ‘the gold of Lapland’. Never having sampled a thing from Lapland, golden or any other colour, I grabbed a few and wandered over to the counter. In the queue, a glance at the label reveals the fact that it was first produced in 1873, which is fairly impressive. As is it’s claim to be the most popular beer in Finland. But does this make it any good? England’s most popular beer is (after imports) probably Carling, and Scotland’s would be Tennants. Am I about to buy the Finnish Tennants?

According to their website although the brilliantly named Torneå Bryggeri Aktiebolag first brewed in 1873, Lapin Kulta wasn’t formulated until 1962. It seemed to go down well initially though, winning a gold medal at the 1964 Brussels Beer Festival. These days the beery boffins at Torneå Bryggeri Aktiebolag (I just love writing that) produce a range of lagers of different strengths, but since they were acquired by Hartwall who in turn are owned by Scottish & Newcastle, their base 4.5%abv lager has become available in the UK. So of course, Lagerboy has to try it. Well – it’s pretty sweet, tastes a bit hoppy, but to be honest doesn’t have too much to make it stand out. It is nice though, and you’ve got to respect the history of the operation behind it. Apparently Finns call it ‘Reindeer Piss’, which I discovered only after I’d drunk two bottles. So maybe it is the Finnish Tennants…

Lapin Kulta