BeerVisits - UK - Europe - USA/Canada - World

Pub Visit - Europe (except Germany)

Teerenpeli 1Sunday 21st July 2013

Bob Thompson

This is another in the chain of five Teerenpeli pubs in Southern Finland. Unlike the others, this has a small brewery as well as offering beers from the main plant in Lahti. It is to be found in the Kamppi district of the city, not far from the main station. The pub is located on the ground floor of a contemporary office block and the decor is not quite minimalist, more "decorated modernist". It is long and narrow and spreads over two floors, with the small brewery to found on the upper floor.

Teerenpeli 2
I entered and found a tall table opposite the bar. On the wall I noticed many graphics of the company's mascot, the Black Grouse. Teerenpeli is the word in Finnish for the courtship dance of the bird and translates as "Flirtation". In the series of drawings on the wall above me I could see that he eventually gets the girl, if I've interpreted it correctly; please see photograph.

The original brewery opened in May 1995 in their first pub in Lahti. By August 2002 this had proved to be too small to supply the growing number of pubs and a new brewery was built. The old brewery was then relocated to the Helsinki outlet that I was visiting here, and is used for small batch brewing.

Teerenpeli 4As far as I can work out the main brewery in Lahti has been increased in sized and relocated further out of the town centre. It produces around 200,000 litres of beer per annum. There are normally ten different beers produced on it but not all of them are available in any pub at the same time. Nevertheless there was a good representation of the range in this pub with seven beers from Lahti, one from Helsinki and three ciders.

The beers on offer that day were:

Onnenpekka (4.7%): A light malty lager in the style of a southern German Hell.
Laiskajaakko (4.7%): This is a dark malty lager of the German Dunkel type.
Hippaheikki (4.7%): An extra special bitter in the English style.
Sauhusanttu (5.0%): A smoked beer in the Franconian style.
Vauhtiveikko (5.3%): This is a wheat beer.
Kausi Olut (4.5%): A seasonal called "Blanche de Brut", a Belgian style wheat beer.
Luomuleevi (5.0%): An organic pale lager.

Teerenpeli 3The above beers all come from the main brewery in Lahti. The following ale was produced in house on their micro brewery:

Talon Olut (House Beer) (6.6%) was an immense Pale Ale produced with Australian hops.

Finally there were their ciders, some fruit-flavoured in the Scandinavian style:

Lempi Omena (4.7%): This is a medium cider.
Lempi Mustikka (4.5%): Cider flavoured with Blueberries.
Lempi Puolukka (4.5%): This one has Lingonberries added.

Teerenpeli 5I tried the E.S.B. and the smoked beer and I thought they were both extremely good. In conversation with the barman I learned that "Talon Olut" meant house beer and that it was the only offering from the in-house brewery, so I had to have it. The Australian Pale Ale was absolutely superb, with a good body flavour and a real depth of bitterness in the finish.

This pub offers a full dining menu and is very convenient to central Helsinki; it is well worth a visit.

Important Information:

Panimoravintola Teerenpeli Kamppi, Olavinkatu 2, Helsinki, 02320. Tel: 042 925 260

Open: Monday-Thursday: 12.00-02.00; Friday-Saturday 12.00-03.00; Sunday 15.00-24.00

The pub is less than ten minutes away from Helsinki Rail and Bus stations.
The area is well-served by several tram routes and the Metro at Central Station and Kamppi. The latter station is just around the corner, less than five minutes away.