Monthly Archives: September 2019

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, BrewDog, Scotland, Stout - Imperial

Brewdog Black Eyed King Imp Vietnamese Coffee Edition

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Brewery: BrewDog
Country: Scotland
ABV: 12.7%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Vietnamese Coffee Edition

Brewer Description: (from brewdogrecipes.com) This is the Vietnamese Coffee Edition. At 12.7% ABV, Black Eyed King Imp is a super intense and twistedly complex brew, with intense notes of sweet vanilla, rich espresso, smooth molasses and bitter chocolate barely contained by the whatever container it’s in.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.69
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.6

Intro: A 330ml can with a best before date of 8th October 2020. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a less than half finger brown head that dissipated quickly and left some nice fine spotty lacing.
Aroma: Roasty, coffee, milk chocolate, vanilla and molasses.
Taste: Much like the aroma, wonderful roastiness, coffee, bittersweet chocolate, oak, vanilla and a touch of molasses.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, full bodied, soft carbonation with a touch of booze.
Overall: A wonderful sipper with excellent aroma and flavours. Easily the best BrewDog beer out there. I’m just sad that this was my last can.

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4 - Good (buy), 8 Wired Brewing Co., Beer Reviews, New Zealand, Stout - Imperial

8 Wired iStout Unchained Imperial Stout

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Brewery: 8 Wired Brewing Co.
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 12%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: 3 year wine barrel aged. 2016 vintage

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Our highly rated imperial stout, iStout, aged for 3 years in Pinot Noir barrels with added brettanomyces. Roasty and boozy as the original but also funky, dry, wild and unchained.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.19
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 500ml bottle, 2016 vintage. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark dark brown to black in colour with a big two finger tanned head that had pretty good retention and eventually settled to a thin layer, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Light roast, cocoa, leather, brett, oak, lightly vinous and a touch herbal.
Taste: What you’d expect from the aroma, light roast, cocoa, funky, brett, tart, vinous, and oak.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Nice aroma and flavours although the Imperial Stout parts are probably overpowered by the brett and vinous aspects. This is really drinkable but I’m unsure I’d still call this an Imperial Stout.

4 - Good (buy), 8 Wired Brewing Co., Beer Reviews, New Zealand, Stout - Imperial

8 Wired Batch 2.18 Oak Aged Imperial Stout

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Brewery: 8 Wired Brewing Co.
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 11%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Fermented in open oak vats with dates, jaggery and vanilla beans

Brewer Description: (from bottle) The most regal of stouts. Brewed to commemorate the 18th batch of our new brewery in Warkworth, New Zealand.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.97
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 500ml bottle with no bottled on or best before date. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a dark brown hue and a thin brown head that dissipated quickly, but left lots of fine spotty lacing.
Aroma: Roasty dark malts, chocolate, molasses, licorice, prunes, oak, vanilla and a light char.
Taste: What you’d expect from the aroma, roasty, chocolate, prunes, plum, molasses, licorice, oak, vanilla and some light ash.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Nice enjoyable sipper, with good balance of roast, dark fruit and light sweetness.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), 8 Wired Brewing Co., Beer Reviews, New Zealand, Smoked Beer

8 Wired Barrel Aged Smoked Imperial Porter

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Brewery: 8 Wired Brewing Co.
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 11%
Style: Smoked Beer
Other Notes: 2011 vintage

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A Manuka smoked Imperial Porter, refermented with farmhouse yeast & aged in American oak barrels for 18 months.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.85
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 1 pint 0.9 fl. oz. bottle, 2011 vintage. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark dark brown to black in colour with a half finger brown head that stuck around for a bit while leaving some spotty lacing.
Aroma: Roasty, dark fruit, prunes, raisin, smoke. Maybe just call it smoked prunes.
Taste: Roasty, moderately sour, prunes, raisin, smoked dark fruit, oak, chocolate, cocoa.
Mouthfeel: Full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Interesting flavours which perhaps could be described just as ‘sour smoked prunes’. I’m unsure if this is past its prime, but if there was just a little more roast malt, chocolate, cocoa to balance the sour part, it would’ve been even better.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Fremont Brewing Company, USA, Winter Warmer

Fremont B-Bomb Coconut

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Brewery: Fremont Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 14%
Style: Winter Warmer
Other Notes: Malts – 2-Row Pale, Crystal-120, Munich, Roast Barley, Carafa-2 and Chocolate. Hops – Columbus, Willamette and US Golding. Adjunct – Coconut. Limited 2018 release.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Coconut Edition B-Bomb: Imperial Winter Ale with Coconut aged in Bourbon Barrels.

This year’s release of B-Bomb is aged in 8-12-year-old American Oak bourbon barrels and is a blend of 9, 12, and 24-month old barrel-aged Winter Ale. This special edition adds toasted coconut to complement the bourbon, oak, cacao, leather, toffee, and dark coffee notes achieved from its extended barrel aging and barrel blending. Each barrel contributes a different note, and combining each barrel to create a coherent tone is a distinct art and true pleasure. Please do enjoy this unique barrel-aged ale today but know that Coconut Edition B-Bomb will age gracefully for years to come. Don’t Be Afraid To Be Abominable.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.74
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: A 22 fl. oz. bomber, 2018 release. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark dark brown in colour with a thin brown head that dissipated quickly, but left some spotty lacing.
Aroma: Roasted malts, coconut, chocolate, vanilla and molasses with hints of oak and bourbon.
Taste: Roasty, moderate sweetness, bourbon, chocolate, coconut, vanilla, oak, a touch of booze and hints of molasses.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Nice sipper, but it got too sweet as it became warmer. I easily preferred Coffee Cinnamon B-Bomb which I thought was near perfect, over this version.