# lättöl, folköl, starköl



## Mats Norberg

Hei Hei

In Sweden we have 3 strength classes of beer: lättöl (kevytolut ??), folköl (kansanolut ??) and starköl (vahvaolut ??) also known as class I, class II and class III beer. What are the correct finnish counterparts of these names. Do they even exist in Finland?

How do I go in to a restaurant and order "en stor stark" ("a big strong") in finnish?
What do I answer the water when he asks for "juoma" if i want lättöl?
Can I say for instance: Haluaisin lasin kevytolutta? Will they understand?

Mats?


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## Grumpy Old Man

I think the most common terms are _ykkösolut, kolmosolut _or _keskiolut _and _nelosolut _or _A-olut. _For "en stor stark" you can say: _Saisinko nelostuopin / A-tuopin? _You'll propably be understood if you say _Haluaisin lasin kevytolutta. _The bartender might think you want non-alcoholic beer, though. Most people would say _ykkösolutta _instead of _kevytolutta. _People rarely drink that in bars.


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## Spongiformi

"Lättöl" would be "ykkösolut". It's also called, insultingly, as "rapakalja" (mud beer, or something like that). It was also called in the past "pilsneri", but for obvious reasons that might cause potential confusion these days when the beer culture has developed also in Finland.

"Folköl" doesn't really exist in Finland in significant quantities, but you would call it simply "kakkosolut".

Instead we have what you called "mellanöl". We call it, surprise surprise, "keskiolut", which means the same thing (middle beer). It can be also called "kolmosolut", "keppana", or a number of other names since it's the most common thing. If somebody offers you a beer, it's most likely that.

"Starköl" is "vahva olut". The most common class sold in grocery stores is "nelosolut". It has the alcohol volume percentage limited to a maximum of 5.5%, though. So, all "nelosolut" is "vahva olut", but not all "vahva olut" is "nelosolut". This is because "vahva olut" can naturally contain as much alcohol as necessary, but if it has more than 5.5%, it won't be sold in grocery stores.


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## Mats Norberg

Thanks for or interesting names. So "lättöl" is rapakalja? Hmm reminds me that "folköl" was one time in the passed, in some cirquits, called "fälldinspiss", because it was under Torbjörn Fälldin's goverment that "mellanöl" was replaced by "folköl, which is significantly weaker in alcohol percentage. You seam to have a more liberal alcohol politic in Finland. By the way here in Sweden "rappakalja" means unintelligable gibberish.

Paljon kiitoksia tiedoistanne.


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## hui

Finnish law abandoned the beer tax classes when we joined the EU but the breweries still use them: I, III, IV A, and IV B. The alcohol contents are about:

I: ykkösolut (0,5...2,8 %) = "lättöl" (?)
III: kolmosolut or keskiolut (3,5...4,6 %) = "starköl"
IV A: nelosolut or A-olut (4,7...5,5 %) = "starköl"
IV B: B-olut (5,6...) (used to be export only) = "starköl"

_Kevytolut_ (= light beer) is *not* the same as _ykkösolut._ Kevytolut can have higher alcohol content.


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