The beer world is full of fascinating stories and the more intertwined I get, the more I stumble upon. Like earlier this summer, when I judged the World Beer Awards in Norwich. Out of the blue, I was lucky to learn the tale of a legend – the brew master behind Lapin Kulta, also called Lapland’s Gold.

Beer competitions are fantastic, in many ways, not least for the incredible people I get to meet. From brewers who have travelled to the competition from all corners of the world, to renowned beer writers with impressive portfolios of published works.

One of the other judges at the World Beer Awards, which took place in Norwich this summer, was a Finnish brewer. Feeling very excited indeed to meet a fellow Scandinavian, I couldn’t help myself telling him that last year, it was actually a Finnish beer that won World’s Best International Lager in the same competition. “Yes, that’s my brewery’s beer,” he stated. Boom!

The straightforward Finn is co-founder of Tornion Panimo, a brewery in Finnish Lapland that’s on a mission to revive the brewing tradition in Tornio. Later, over some beers, as is needed when hearing recollections of legendary beers and their brewers, he told me about Leo Andelin.

Thanks to this random meeting, I learnt that the 88-year-old brew master Andelin is involved not only in the award-winning brewery, but he’s also in fact the man behind Finland’s most famous beer: Lapin Kulta. Most Scandis will be familiar with this classic, which also goes under the name Lapland’s Gold.

Check out the documentary Panimomestari (The Master Brewer in English), it’s an earnest account of the brewing heritage in Tornio, and the passion and relentless strife of Andelin. And do read the special feature about the Finnish icon of beer in this issue, which you’ll find on page 28.

Malin Norman Booking.com

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