From: ak200032@sol.yorku.ca (Alan Marshall)
Subject: Re: Finnish beer and other things
Organization: York University
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1993 18:11:34 GMT

Returning (or at least getting closer) to the original thread, I've only had
the chance to sample a couple Finnish brews, both made by Synebrycoff (?sp?).
This was in the Helsinki Airport, while waiting to change planes.  A few
observations, some maybe starting new threads:

1.  The 'coff (as the beers are called locally, so I've been told) are really
    very good.  If this is indicative of the quality of brewing in Finland,
    then it would indeed be nice to get Finnish beer here.

2.  On my east-bound flight, I stayed with a U. of Helsinki professor in a 
    University building beside the Synebrycoff Brewery.  I was told that 
    had left Russia, settling in Helsinki and opening the brewery in 1895,
    if I remember correctly.  Does this mean we can expect something 
    SPECIAL from Synebrycoff in two years?

3.  (I might get flamed for this:  Don the Asbestos lab coat!)  I have heard
    that Finland has a vey serious probelm with drinking and drunkeness.
    Casual empiricism and observation backed this up:  (1) On the night I
    stayed in Helsinki, we walked over to the main campus and about 1 out
    of 3 people we saw on the street was severely tanked;  (2) (turn on 
    joke mode) Q:  How can you tell who are the Finns on an airline flight?
    A:  They're the ones who stop at the bar for two beers before they claim
    their luggage!  (turn off joke mode)  No harm intended, but it was
    explained to me that the drinking laws are extremely restrictive in
    Finland, and that the airport was one place where they could get a 
    beer with little hassle.  (3) In Estonia, which was my ultimate 
    destination, they told me that one of their best sources of foreign
    exchange was Finns and Swedes traveling to Estonia because the drinking
    was so cheap!  Again, there was lots of evidence of this in Tallinn and
    Tartu.

    Is this true, about the social problems and the restrictive laws?  (We
    could start another thread about this, but I suggest not.  Those who
    want to argue this one out should followup to soc.some.other.group)

4.  In Estonia (May 1990) the drinking was VERY cheap, particularly if 
    one exchanged their money at the Mobile Street Bank (black market).
    Eesti beer cost one rouble (about $1.60 U.S. at the official exchange
    rate).  In the black market, you could get 25 or more roubles to the
    dollar, meaning that you could drink beers for 4 cents each!!!  (turn
    on joke mode, again)  The Soviet economist returned from a conference
    in Boston and was asked the difference between the Soviet and
    American economies.  "Not much," he replied, "in Boston you can't buy 
    anything with roubles, and here it is the same!"  (turn off joke mode,
    sorry if that was too eclectic!)

5.  Regarding the quality of Eesti beers, I would say that, in general, 
    it was fairly poor.  Under the Soviets, getting consistent supply and
    quality of ingredients was very difficult.  now that their are on
    their own, we can only hope that some quality, exportable, product
    will become available.  There is some tradition of quality brewing
    that hopefully can be revived!  There was one good beer that I had
    on a few occasions.  It was Glaadiator, good full bodied flavour, 
    with a nice rich aftertaste.

Enough for now.  This TPU editor is driving me up the wall.  If there are
DEC VAX experts out there who can answer some questions that I have about
VMS NEWS, please *MAIL* me.  When I have asked about it here, I have been
told "We are not supporting NEWS"

-- Alan Marshall -- AK200032@SOL.YORKU.CA  (York University, Toronto, Canada)