When I was in
Finland few weeks ago, I simply had to taste this new beer named
after Finland's eighth president Urho Kaleva Kekkonen.
Kekkonen's presidency is the longest in the Finnish history, it
lasted for over 25 years. He is an iconic Finnish leader known for
his active neutrality policy balancing a small country from the 1950s
until early 1980s between the Soviet Union and the west.
The title of my
post refers to the vote counting in the presidential election of
1978, my year of birth. Back then the votes of the electors were read
outloud, which formed a monotone reading, as Kekkonen was re-elected
by a landslide victory. Watch a video clip here to get the idea of
how it went. These scenes have basically become a running gag in the
Finnish popular culture.
So
this spring Kekkonen Keskiolut 4,2 % came
to the Finnish beer market as a refreshing novelty. It's brewed by a
small family brewery Saimaan Juomatehdas.
I was already very keen on tasting it as soon as I heard of it, and
on my holiday I finally had the chance. The design of the can is
brilliantly lighthearted with Kekkonen's picture and quote. I
photographed Kekkonen in the Finnish spring landscape in the
countryside, I hope that he would have approved.
The colour of the
beer is reddish and it's quite full-bodied. The taste has hints of
toffee and bitter almost burned caramel with a light aftertaste of
grapefruit. This is a very good beer and I need to get more of it
soon!
Taste a Kekkonen
if you can or just read about the man himself!
Your VegHog
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