Monthly Archives: March 2017

4 - Good (buy), Almanac Beer Co., Beer Reviews, USA, Wild Ale

Almanac Dogpatch Sour

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Brewery: Almanac Beer Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 7.5%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Farm to barrel. Ale brewed with cherries and aged in wine barrels

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This barrel-aged wild ale is named for the San Francisco neighborhood we call home. It’s our version of a Flanders-style Red with a distinctly California twist. Brewed with juicy California cherries and aged in used wine barrels with our house blend of San Francisco sourdough and wild brewer’s yeasts. Pair this complex ale with ripe figs and blue cheese or rich seafood bouillabaisse.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.27
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 375ml bottle, Batch No.4, bottled in May 2015. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A clear copper amber colour with a one finger off white head that dissipated quickly while leaving sparse lacing.
Aroma: Cherry, hard candy, wine and barrel.
Taste: Tart, sour cherry, red wine, acidic, vinegar and oak.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: This was nice and refreshing with good tartness. Would be even better with even more cherries and perhaps slightly less acidity.

4 - Good (buy), Almanac Beer Co., Beer Reviews, USA, Wild Ale

Almanac Farmer’s Reserve Blueberry

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Brewery: Almanac Beer Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 7%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Farm to barrel. Sour ale aged in wine barrels with blueberries

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Every year, the blueberry harvest heralds the coming of summer. We selected the very best hand-picked berries grown in the hills of Butte County, California, and added them to a sour golden ale aged in wine barrels. The resulting beer is infused with the essence of these jewel-like berries, creating a fruity character reminiscent of mom’s blueberry pie and a reminder of long summer days.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.17
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 375ml bottle, bottled in October 2015. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A very nice clear ruby red colour with a one finger white head that dissipated quickly and left sparse to no lacing. (Note: the final 1/6th poured extremely cloudy and colour became a murky reddish purple colour).
Aroma: Tart, cherry, blueberry, vinous white wine and wood.
Taste: It’s what you expect from the aroma, sour, tart, acidic, blueberry and cherry, with a vinous white wine and oaky finish.
Mouthfeel: Dry, light to medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: Nice, enjoyable and refreshing.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), American Double IPA, Beer Reviews, Stone Brewing Co. x Marble Brewery x Odell Brewing, USA

Stone x Marble x Odell Megawheat Double IPA

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Brewery: Stone Brewing Co. x Marble Brewery x Odell Brewing
Country: USA
ABV: 8.4%
Style: American Double IPA
Other Notes: 2017 Stone Collaborations. 70 IBUs. Hops – Motueka, Mosaic and Mandarina Bavaria

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Kick back and crank it up – we’ve done all the brewing… the we being Stone and the special guest appearances of two heavy hitters in the indie craft beer industry: New Mexico’s Marble and Colorado’s Odell. Credited with 58 years of brewing chops, our trio built a wheat ale foundation on the classic “C” hops. Then we rocked a pure hop triad of “M” hops to achieve a supercharged succession of orange, tangerine, lemon, lime, spice and dankness. The undulating rifts of Motueka, Mosaic and Mandarina Bavaria hops slash through the wheat haze with equal footing, never playing over one another. The cacophony of flavor is what fans would expect from a name like Megawheat. So join us as we forge ahead on a path that directly leads to the main stage… and then off the front of it, into the crowd! If you feel the urge to smash the bottle afterwards, don’t. That’s what guitars are for.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.46
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.4

Intro: A 22 oz bomber, bottled on 9th January 2017 and to be enjoyed by 6th April 2017. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A clear copper orange colour with a two finger white head that had great retention and nice lacing.
Aroma: Orange flesh and peel with hints of honeydew melon.
Taste: Bitter with lots of citrusy orange peel and pith, pine, dankness and hints of apricot plus melon. I’m also getting a tinge of alcohol here and there.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: This was ok, but mainly, I’m just not fond of getting any sort of alcohol booziness in any IPA, and in this case, I kept getting a tinge of just that, here and there.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Gose - Fruit, Omnipollo, Sweden

Omnipollo Bianca Blueberry Lassi Gose

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Brewery: Omnipollo
Country: Sweden
ABV: 3.5%
Style: Gose – Fruit
Other Notes: Brewed and bottled by Omnipollo at Buxton Brewery in the UK (England)

Brewer Description: (from website) A milky gose brewed with buckets of blueberries, lactose sugar and rock salt. Dry hopped with Mosaic.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.28
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 1st April 2017. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A deep dark purple-ish red colour with a one finger purple-ish pink colour head that dissipated fairly quickly while leaving some sparse lacing.
Aroma: Tart and sour with a Ribena like aroma of blueberry, blackcurrant and grape with hints of grapefruit.
Taste: Tart and lightly sour. Again like the aroma, the Ribena comes through with blackcurrant, blueberry and grape. There is also hints of salt. Sourness increases towards the end along with acidity.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with high spritzy carbonation.
Overall: Very refreshing and very easy to drink with nice amount of fruit and tartness.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), American Double IPA, Beer Reviews, O/O Brewing AB, Sweden

O/O Muscles

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Brewery: O/O Brewing AB
Country: Sweden
ABV: 8.2%
Style: American Double IPA
Other Notes: Pronunciation guide: O/O Brewing = Oh! Oh! Brewing

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A potent Imperial IPA brewed with the finest hops around. Muscular, childish, likeable. Unfiltered & unpasteurised.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.68
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 330ml bottle, batch 038, with a best before date of 29th May 2017. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A very nice hazy golden straw yellow colour with a one finger white head that dissipated quickly but left nice lacing.
Aroma: Pineapple, unripe mango, grapefruit, pine and grass.
Taste: Sweet pineapple and candied orange followed by bitter grapefruit, orange peel and pine. Long and lingering bitterness on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium bodied with moderate carbonation and hints of alcohol.
Overall: This was pretty good, but I’m not so sure about the sweetness, and I was definitely getting some alcohol here and there which wasn’t ideal.