Finnish Beer

To stick with the beer theme, I figured today I would attempt to address the topic of Finnish beers. My good friend Burton is currently in Finland, and so I'm going to work with the information he has given me. It's hard to write about things you aren't currently experiencing, but I like learning about other countries and doing the research about them, so I'll take what Burton and the internet have given me and am open to additions later on.

There are a couple beers Burton has specifically mentioned. My internet searches on them have been a little bit less than fruitful, but I've found some stuff. Here is some information on some of the beers you would perhaps run into on a night out in Finland:

-Karhu: According to Wikipedia, HERE, Karhu is a Finnish beer brewed by the Sinebrychoff brewery in Kerava and Pori. HERE is the official Sinebrychoff site, and HERE is a direct link to the Karhu section. HERE is what Beeradvocate has to say about Karhu. You will notice that Sinebrychoff also has a Carlsberg section. According to their website they manufacture Carlsberg under license according to a Danish recipe. You can find the history of Carlsberg HERE. Burton has told me Carlsberg is popular there, and I can attest to its Irish popularity as well.

-Karjala: A product of Hartwall beverage company, HERE, with the link to the Karjala section found HERE. I was unable to find as much information on Karjala, however, Hartwall is also responsible for Lapin Kulta, HERE, which seems popular. On a couple of websites I found people debating whether Lapin Kulta or Karhu was the best beer in Finland. HERE is a link to the Lapin Kulta Wikipedia page and HERE is what Beeradvocate has to say.

For those of you interested in knowing what a night out will do to your waistline (although my opinion is if you are in Europe you should have your night out and diet once you end up back home) I've done some calculations:

Carlsberg and Karhu will both cost you about 40 calories per 100ml. What does this mean? There are 144 calories in a 12 ounce can compared to 110 in a can of Bud Light. Per beer, this seems to indicate no major damage, in my opinion at least, to your figure. Then again, I'm a Blue Moon fanatic, HERE, and that will run you about 170 calories for 12 ounces. Burton has informed me that people tend to drink a lot when they go out to drink. Drinks come either as 33 centiliters or in half liter glasses, and most people go with the half liter since it's a better deal. 33 centiliters is 330 milliliters or about 11 ounces, so about 100 calories for a Carlsberg or Karhu. Half a liter is 500 milliliters or about 200 calories for Carlsberg or Karhu. This is how a couple liters into the night might start setting your diet back. Couple rounds, and you might as well have eaten 3 extra slices of pizza that day. But in all honesty, if you're over there, I say you might as well go for it.

Feel free to point out errors or things that need to be added.

And drink responsibly.