The Best Beer in Finland (Suomen Paras Olut ) -competition will be held on June 8-9. It is the only competition judging strictly Finnish beers, in which both large and small breweries can participate.
The goal of the Suomen Paras Olut competition is to raise the appreciation of Finnish beers and make both beers and their producers better known.
The Best Beer in Finland competition was organized for the first time in 2011. In more than ten years, the competition has grown into the most significant annual Finnish beer competition. Last year there were more than 400 different beers from more than 50 breweries.
Since its beginning, the competition has been organized by the Suomalainen Olut ry, whose members are the Panimo- ja virvoitusjuomateollisuusliitto and Pienpanimoliitto. Olutliitto represents beer clubs, beer enthusiasts and consumers. This year it is also responsible for the practical arrangements.
The purpose of the competition is to make Finland’s versatile beer and brewing culture better known. The importance of the competition has grown among both consumers and breweries. The beers are judged in their own series blindly, where the taste is decisive.
Takatalo & Tompuri Brewery ´s Kaski Mustakaura beer won the Finland’s Best Beer competition for the second time in 2023. Mikko Suur-Uski, brewer and brewery entrepreneur from that brewery, values the competition victory highly.
”For us, the win meant both an increase in the brewery’s reputation and better sales for both years. The sales of Kaski Savubock beer, which won in 2022, increased sevenfold. The sales of Kaski Mustakaura beer, which won in 2023, doubled, and other beers from our brewery also attracted more consumers. This was best seen in our brewery shop, where customers came to pick up the winning beer and bought other things at the same time. It was also gratifying to see how many people sent us pictures of themselves enjoying the winning beer on social media and traditionally by e-mail.”
Suur-Uski invites breweries to participate in the competition. ”Winning this race created great hype for us both years. I can’t say anything negative about the win. Small breweries are having a hard time at the moment and winning the competition brought positive support for us, which is clearly reflected in sales. There are many beers in shops and restaurants, winning the competition allows you to stand out positively both as a brewery and among beers. We could never afford to invest in visibility as much as we got thanks to winning the competition. We will definitely participate again this year!”
Marjo and Mikko Suur-Uski, Takatalo & Tompuri Brewery
The Best Beer in Finland competition is open to all domestic beers produced in Finland by commercial breweries and are regularly available. The competition can be entered for retail consumer packaging, i.e. beers packed in bottles and cans. Competition series are renewed every year to meet the needs of breweries and consumers.
The Best Beer in Finland competition will be held in Helsinki at the premises of Perho Liiketalousopisto in June. A jury consisting of beer professionals, beer enthusiasts and beer consumers will evaluate the beers sent to the competition according to beer categories in blind tastings.
Judging in the competition
Anikó Lehtinen, the Chair Person of Olutliitto is the Competition Leader, beer writer and judge Jussi Rokka is the Master Judge of the competition and Veera Savolainen is responsible for running the competition on the set. The Chairman of the final jury is beer judge André Brunnsberg and, as usual, there are also international beer judges.
Anikó Lehtinen, Veera Savolainen and Jussi Rokka
This year, the beers will be evaluated electronically for the first time, with the help of the Beer Awards Platform. It gives the judges the opportunity to give written feedback on each beer entered in the competition.
After the judging, the semi-finalists, the three best products of each category (not in order), will be announced in June. The Finland’s Best Beer results will be announced at the beginning of September at an event where the awarded beers in their categories and Finland’s Best Beer 2024 will be presented to the media.
The main partner of the Finland’s Best Beer competition is Viking Malt, who sponsors 2 beer categories. The other partners are Caldic Brew Nordic, Rastal, the Suuret Oluet – Pienet Panimot -event and the Perho Business School. Olutposti magazine acts as a media partner.
The Suomen Paras Olut competition is one of the seven competitions approved by the European Beer Consumer Union (EBCU).
Olutliitto invites parties that promote beer culture and above all breweries to participate in Finland’s Best Beer Competition!
Finland Best Beer in Finland competition:
- Breweries: Announcement of competition beers .11.4.-.20.5.
- Judges: Application for a competition judge 1.3.–10.4.
- Volunteers are welcome at the competition! Register at info@suomenparasolut.fi.
- Delivery of beers to the competition 6.–7.6. at restaurant Perho
- Competition judging 8–9 June, final 9 June at Perho Business School
- Announcement of the semi-finalists, i.e. the top three of each series (in alphabetical order) 10.6.
- Announcement of results in August 2024.
Follow the Suomen Paras Olut competition on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SuomenParasOlutKilpailu/
Instagram @suomenparasolut
Pictures for media use: https://olutliitto.fi/medialle
More information:
Olutliitto ry / Anikó Lehtinen, chairman 040 738 1670
puheenjohtaja@olutliitto.fi
