As we moved into the final round, the tension was high. With one more round of votes to count, Finland had just overtaken Denmark for the first time in the night. Could it hold on the be crowned the winning country? Just like the IPA round, I tried to pick stouts with quite different taste profiles to really vary the selection the guests would be trying. I had my money on Lervig to blow everyone away here. I thought that stout was amazing when it came out a while ag and I was sure it would win. It didn’t. Not only did it not win, it lost out to what I though was one of the most unpleasant stouts I had drunk in a long time.
Results – Round 4:
1st place (9 votes): Svaneke Baltic Liquorice porter, Denmark (6.5%, 25kr)
2nd place (6 votes): Lervig Saskatoon Cheesecake stout, Norway, (12%, 50kr)
3rd place (5 votes): Stallhagen Baltic porter, Finland, (7%, 25kr)
Last place (3 votes): Wisby stout, Sweden, (5%, 22kr)
This round had the largest spread of voting of the whole tournament. There could be only one winner though and for this set of beers it was Svaneke Baltic Liquorice porter. I have to say though, I really disliked this beer. There was an overriding artificial sweetness to it that was just unpleasant. I tried this, took 2 sips then tipped the rest down the sink. It goes to show though just how different taste buds can be that so many others enjoyed it. I was surprised the Wisby stout came last as I think it a no-nonsense stout that is well made and with pleasant evenly roasted tones. Maybe it was a bit too basic for the groups tastes when compared to the other stouts and porters in the round, but ti still deserved more votes in my opinion.
So with the final votes added, we finally found out which country was crowned champion of the night. Click on the next page for the final totals and thoughts!