What do you get when you combine an award-winning Lappeenranta roastery and an award-winning Lappeenranta brewery? Of course, a drink that is even more Leso-like, namely Lesoilu stout.
Lesoilu stout is a dark and thick Imperial Stout-style drink brewed by Tuju Brewery, using Pusupuisto coffee roasted by Lehmus Roastery. And not just any Pusupuisto, but a special version that has been aromatized for eight days in a bourbon whiskey barrel on the roastery's premises.
The beer has been matured in the bottle for six months at the Tuju Brewery. The beer will be available in restaurants on Friday, September 22. (Restaurant list at the end of the article.)
Pusupuisto coffee beans were aromatized in such a barrel. The barrel in question has previously been used to mature bourbon whiskey.
Brewer Tuomas Mäkiniemi stands at the premises of Tuju Brewery where Lesoilu stout was bottle-aged for six months.
Apparently the first roaster-brewer collaboration in Finland
Lesoilu Stout cask coffee beer is reportedly the first beer in Finland to be produced in this way by a roaster and a brewery.
“Both make handcrafted products where flavors and production methods play a big part, and drink connoisseurs enjoy both drinks. In that way, this was natural, because in the big world, some breweries have even started roasting their own coffees, and at beer events, roasters serve their cold-brewed drinks directly from the tap,” says Samu Koskinen, beer manager at Lehmus Roastery .
The coffee was cold-extracted into the finished beer. The coffee used was the aromatic and multi-hued Pusupuisto .
“Pusupuisto’s coffee beans are Bourbon Arabica, so we thought it would be fun to give it a little more special flavor through a bourbon whiskey barrel. We rotated the beans in the barrel for eight days to ensure a consistent flavor,” says Visa Tuovinen , the roasting master at Lehmus Roastery and who also appears on the label .
To celebrate the launch of the Lesoilu stout, Lehmus Roastery and Tuju Brewery are organizing a Lesoilu evening at the Wolkoff wine cellar starting at 7 p.m. The event will include a quiz on the subject of Lesoilu, information about beer, and a relaxed atmosphere.
Stout and coffee go well together
Brewery company Tujun Tuomas Mäkiniemi labeled and packed Lesoilu stout bottles into boxes on Tuesday at the brewery's premises.
Brewery company Tuju has brewed stout-style beers before. Tuju's export-strong stout has made it to the finals of the Finland's Best Beer competition, among other things. Tuju had never made such a strong, 9 percent stout before.
The coffee flavor was extracted into the beer after fermentation. Lehmus Roastery's coffee beans were added to the finished beer by extraction, i.e. adding the roasted beans to the tank after the beer had finished fermenting.
“First, we cooled the beer after fermentation. Then we added the beans to the beer as usual in cold extraction. Ripe coffee beans contain carbon dioxide, as does beer. So the extraction was quite fast. Then the drinks were bottled. The beans remained at the bottom of the tank, meaning that no whole beans made it to the bottles,” says Tuju brewer Tuomas Mäkiniemi .
Strong beer should not be drunk cold from the fridge. Mäkiniemi compares drinking stout to red wine. The ideal serving temperature is 12-15 degrees.
“All the flavors are lost in the cold. If the drink comes straight from the fridge, it doesn’t really give its best. Only the last few pearls in the glass bring the real taste experience.”
Conscious drinking establishments are storing stouts in their wine cabinets, such as Wolkoff's wine cellar, Mäkiniemi suggests.
The Lesoilu stout has a fluffy, creamy head and a deep flavor.
Roasting master Visa Tuovinen explores the bottle label
The label of Lesoilu stout features Lehmus Roastery roaster Visa Tuovinen, who is riding a bicycle. Tuovinen has been on the podium in the Commuter Cyclist of the Year poll for years. Tuovinen, who is speaking on the phone on the label, is also known as a fast-paced and productive person who can handle things on the phone in any situation.
“The label style combines Lehmus Roastery's playful hand-drawn style with Tuju Brewery's clear and rough color scheme,” says Samu Koskinen, Lehmus Roastery's artistic director and label designer.
A little fun is also related to the fact that Tuovinen does not drink alcohol, even though he poses on the label of a strong beer with a whiskey barrel under his arm.
"Yeah, but I smelled the stout and it smelled really good," Tuovinen says.
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Lesoilustout launch party at Wolkoff wine cellar on Friday 22 September at 7-9pm. Facebook event here , please register!
Lesoilu Stout will be available at (at least) the following restaurants starting Friday, September 22:
Lappeenranta:
Beer
Wolkoff Wine Cellar
Old Cock
Old Warehouse
The Kitchen
Lucky Monkeys
Open You
Old Corner
Bar Hemingway's
Imatra:
Imatra Street Cafe
Helsinki:
Brewdog Helsinki
One Pint Pub
Straw basket
Little bird
Beer House Five Pennies
You can order Pusupuisto and our other coffees from our online store !