Welcome to the Grown-up Travel Guide 2015 Beer Diary!
A little background info: in December a group of us decided to set up the 2014 Beer Advent Calendar, whereby we would try a new beer each day up until Christmas. We shared our tipples on Facebook and Instagram and a great time was had by all – plus we all got to learn about some fine brews from around the world.
Faced with a sense of emptiness when the challenge was over I decided that 24 days a year was just not enough. Why not a year of beer? And so here we are. I reckon a beer a day can keep the doctor away – but even if not it’ll be fun, right?
Given that a large proportion of the year 2015 will be spent in foreign climes there will be the added element of finding a new brew wherever we travel and there are a huge number of excellent beers available here in Norway too – most of which I doubt any of our readers will have heard of.
Your participation is not only encouraged but required – just use the hashtag #grownupbeerdiary if possible. Add your entries here and/or use our social media channels – whatever works best for you.
To keep it simple follow the same format as we do here: describe your day in a maximum of five sentences, add some info about the beer and a photo or two.
Obscure ales and imports IPAs are always interesting but there’s to be no snobbery here – anything goes, even alcohol-free as we all need a good alternative now and again. We’ll work out the practicalities as we go – but since the first day of the year is nearly over we better get started on this journey around the world – in beer form. Cheers!
Day 19: January 19, 2015
Diary entry:
Well, this area of Finland is proving to be quite something.
After a leisurely breakfast it was off to the frozen lake for some horse-sledging and drone filming.
Next was a trip to the island of Niinisaari where we tried out some kick-sledges and visited the smithy.
After decorating some souvenir amulets and lunch we went snow-shoeing in the forest.
Our evening consisted of a walk on the lake at night, an incredible dinner and a sauna/hot tub combo – the latter being under the clear skies filled with stars – magical.
The Beer:
Name: Marsalkka Vaalea
Producer: Saiman Juomatehdas, Finland
Alcohol content: 4.6%
Bottle size: 0.33 l
Purchased from: Sahanlahti Resort, Puumala, Finland
#grownupbeerdiary
Another from this local craft brewery, the Vaalea is an all-malt lager. It’s organic, too, and very crisp and refreshing.
For a full list of all the beers sampled so far this year, just look under the Beer Diary category – you’re sure to find some tasty inspiration 🙂
