E-Malt.com News article: Finland: Sinebrychoff Light Beer makes a comeback

Many remember Sinebrychoff Light Beer from the 1980s, better known by the name “eagle beer”. The classic, now gluten-free, will return to shops and restaurants in early September, Koffj.fi posted on August 22nd.

After Light Beer was launched in 1982, it was Finland’s first and only light beer for many years. In May 2004 the name was changed to 4.1 Täyteläinen Kevyt Olut.

“With the 4.1 Täyteläinen Kevyt Olut name, our intent was to communicate the product’s lower-than-average alcohol percentage. We now believe that the message has been received, so we decided to bring back the beer under the Light Beer product brand. Consumers had also wondered where the eagle had gone,” Brand Manager Harri Rantala says.

Of Sinebrychoff’s beers, Light Beer and KOFF I meet the Finnish Coeliac Society’s requirements for gluten-free beer. A beer can be called gluten-free if it contains less gluten than 20 mg/l and the gluten concentration has been studied from no less than five different production batches. Gluten concentrations are monitored at least twice a year. A coeliac can check the beer’s suitability with the label’s gluten-free marking.

“Here’s a tip for restauranteurs: Light Beer should be marked on menus as a gluten-free beverage alternative,” Rantala suggests. “In Finland there are already about 25,000 coeliacs, and about 2,000 new diagnoses are made each year.”

Light and strong!

Mid-september, a Light Beer advert, including a clip from the original 1980s version, will be seen on TV. In it a White-tailed Eagle named Breezy hovers above the wings of Rudy Kisshazy’s hang glider. At one time the film was thought to be skilful trick photography, but the truth was even more astonishing. Kisshazy tamed Breezy – a bird of prey born in a zoo and abandoned by its mother – and taught it to fly. Breezy was a fast learner, and it followed Kisshazy’s hang glider like a shadow.

At the start of this year’s Finnish Championship League season, Light Beer will also adorn the shirts of the Blues ice hockey team. The Blues’s first match at home will be played 18 September at the LänsiAuto Arena in Espoo.

Awarded many times

Light Beer has been awarded several times in the international beer “Olympics” held in England. In 1987 and 1990 it earned silver medals. In 2000 an international jury of experts at Guildhall in London voted Light Beer III as the best lager. The win came in the bottled and canned lager series (2.2-4.4% vol.)

Light Beer — lighter beer enjoyment

Light Beer is a lightly hopped lager beer with a light aftertaste; there are only 30 calories per millilitre.

“Typical of light beers is a low original gravity, as well as a long fermentation process that results in a low energy content. Light beers are what their name would suggest: light in colour and extremely light in taste,” Brewmaster Tapio Kangas-Heiska explains.

Ingredients: Water, barley malt, starch, hops, and sodium metabisulphite E223 as an antioxidising agent.

Original gravity 8.5% Plato
Alcohol content 4.1% vol.
Energy content 30 kcal (130 kJ) / 100 ml
Carbohydrates 1.5 g/100 ml
Colour 8 EBC
Bitterness 15 EBU
Gluten content < 20 mg/l

Beginning in September, Light Beer will be available at shops in 50-cl cans and at restaurants in 33-cl bottles.

White-tailed Eagle stock growing

The protection of the White-tailed Eagle (Haliaetus albicilla) is one of the most impressive success stories in the natural conservation field. In 1973, when conservation officials and the World Wide Fund for Nature Finland initialised a protection programme for sea eagles, Finland’s White-tailed Eagle population was estimated at approximately 30 pairs. Not one eaglet had hatched along Finland’s coasts. Thanks to the efforts of the WWF White-tailed eagle working group, the population of eaglets began to increase. Currently there are approximately 1,000 White-tailed Eagles inhabiting Finland. In 2007, 245 eaglets were hatched.

Oy Sinebrychoff Ab is Finland’s leading manufacturer of beers, ciders, soft drinks and energy drinks. The company’s annual production is approximately 400 million litres. Sinebrychoff is part of the international Carlsberg Breweries A/S.


24 August, 2007