Monthly Archives: April 2020

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Evil Twin Brewing, Stout - Imperial, USA

Evil Twin Harlan’s Even More Jesus

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Brewery: Evil Twin Brewing
Country: USA
ABV: 12%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Imperial Stout aged in red wine barrels. Produced and bottled for Evil Twin Brewing by Westbrook Brewing Co., Mount Pleasant, SC

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A few times in the history of craft beer it has happened that a highly praised beer rises beyond mortal stardom into a higher godly league. Usually the recipe to make such heavenly drops is thick fudge-like body, pitch black color, amazingly overwhelming aromas of chocolate, coffee, dark fruits and muscovado sugar. We took this beer to the next level and barrel aged it on rare barrels from a cult winery in California.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.5
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 22 fl. oz. bomber with no bottled on or best before date. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a thin brown head that dissipated fairly quickly, but left some nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Roasty, ashy, chocolate, cocoa, coffee, dried dark fruit, vinous red wine, and cherry notes.
Taste: Roasty, ashy, burnt sugar, vinous red wine, chocolate, cocoa, caramel, dark fruit, with a lightly bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Smooth, creamy, warming, full bodied, with soft carbonation.
Overall: Wow, this is easily my favourite Even More Jesus variant. The sweetness is very nicely balanced with the bitter smoky ash, roast and chocolate. So smooth and a very nice sipper that hides the ABV well.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij ‘t Verzet, Flanders Oud Bruin

Verzet Oud Bruin Vineyard

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Brewery: Brouwerij ‘t Verzet
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6%
Style: Belgian Flanders Oud Bruin
Other Notes: Harvest 2015

Brewer Description: (from neck tag in Dutch) Oud Bruin Vineyard ontstaat door zoete, witte wijndruiven toe te voegen aan bier dat reeds één jaar rijpte op eiken vaten. Op een zonnige bergflank in Turkije laten geduldige landbouwers de kleine druifjes rijpen tot ze bol staan van de suiker. De vruchten worden geplukt, via een karavaan nomaden te Anzegem afgeleverd en aan het bier toegevoegd. De wilde gisten uit het bier transformeren de suikers uit de druiven naar fruitige aroma’s zoals mirabel, groene appel en kruisbes. Hints van witte wijn schemeren door in het aroma. Misschien kan deze fles sommige wijnsnobs overtuigen dat ook bier complex kan zijn en een plaats verdiend in de gastronomie.

(translated from Dutch to English) Oud Bruin Vineyard is created by adding sweet, white wine grapes to beer that has matured in oak barrels for one year. On a sunny mountain side in Turkey, patient farmers let the small grapes ripen until they are full of sugar. The fruits are picked, delivered via a caravan of nomads to Anzegem and added to the beer. The wild yeasts from the beer transform the sugars from the grapes into fruity aromas such as mirabelle, green apple and gooseberry. Hints of white wine shine through in the aroma. Perhaps this bottle can convince some wine snobs that beer can also be complex and deserve a place in gastronomy.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.83
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: A near impossible to pull out cork (like all Verzet corks) and caged 750ml bottle, harvest 2015, and with a best before date of April 2026. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A clear amber colour with a one finger off white head that had decent retention and left some sparse lacing.
Aroma: Sour, vinous, grapes, apple juice, light funk and vinegar.
Taste: Sour, tart, vinous, oak, funk, grape skin, white wine vinegar.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Nice easy drinking with a good amount of vinous notes to balance the funk and vinegar.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij ‘t Verzet, Flanders Oud Bruin

Verzet Oud Bruin Raspberry

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Brewery: Brouwerij ‘t Verzet
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6%
Style: Belgian Flanders Oud Bruin
Other Notes: Harvest 2016

Brewer Description: (from neck tag) Oud Bruin Raspberry is created by adding raspberries to beer that has already aged on oak barrels for at least one year. At the end of July last year, we met a bunch of little raspberries. They were looking at a sad future because they were already too ripe for the market! The 300kg of dark red fruits would have been left on the bush and would have died a lonesome death. We refused to let that happen, so we decided to adopt the little guys. We baptized the boys from Ternat with our West-Flemish holy water. The little fruits give a pleasant fruitiness to the Oud Bruin. This is a nice counterweight for the sour base beer. The ideal thirst quencher for a beautiful summer evening.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.11
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A corked and caged 750ml bottle, harvest 2016, and with a best before date of February 2027. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A clear amber red colour with a thin beige head that dissipated quickly and left only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Lightly tart, raspberry, sweet jammy, notes of mixed berries.
Taste: Sour, tart, raspberry, acidic, lemon juice, and vinegar.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Like other versions of this Oud Bruin, the sweet jammy fruity aroma was great, while taste is the opposite with strong sourness and acidity. Despite this, the raspberry does come through nicely and still makes this enjoyable.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij ‘t Verzet, Flanders Oud Bruin

Verzet Oud Bruin Strawberry

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Brewery: Brouwerij ‘t Verzet
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6%
Style: Belgian Flanders Oud Bruin
Other Notes: Harvest 2018

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Oud Bruin Strawberry is created by adding whole strawberries to beer, aged on oak barrels for at least one year. This Elsanta variety is carefully grown by a family business in Olsene, Zulte. Due to the extreme sunny weather the little fruits were ripe very fast this year. To avoid an oversupply, Verzet came to the rescue. We used 300kg to put on the beer. The result is a fruity and sour beer, missing the stickiness you experience when eating the fruits. The mellow sourness makes it an ideal summer beer. Strawberry daiquiri is so passé, t’ Verzet Strawberry is here to stay!

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.61
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.4

Intro: A 330ml bottle with an expiry date that was mostly rubbed off, but from the 2018 harvest. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A clear amber orange copper colour with a thin off white head that dissipated quickly while leaving sparse lacing.
Aroma: Lightly tart, strawberry, sweet jammy, and a touch of oak.
Taste: Sour, tart, acidic, strawberry, oak, and vinegar.
Mouthfeel: Acidic, dry, light bodied, with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Aroma and taste seem like opposites as the aroma was nice with lots of sweet jammy strawberry, while on the other hand, taste was acidic with a sharp sourness mixed with vinegar that overpowered much of the strawberry. As it warmed, the sharpness mellowed a bit and the strawberry made a better showing.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij ‘t Verzet, Flanders Oud Bruin

Verzet Oud Bruin

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Brewery: Brouwerij ‘t Verzet
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6%
Style: Belgian Flanders Oud Bruin
Other Notes: Editie 2014

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Flemish Red Brown Ale.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.43
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.3

Intro: A 12.7 fl. oz. bottle with an expiry date of 19th December 2025. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A clear amber orange copper colour with a nice two finger beige head, that had good retention and eventually settled to a thin replenishing cap, while leaving nice lacing.
Aroma: Sour, strawberry, balsamic vinegar, cherry, and light oak.
Taste: Tart, sour, balsamic vinegar, oak, with fruity notes of strawberry, cherry and blackberry.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium to light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: The balsamic notes were strong, and along with wood notes, overpowered the berry fruitiness that I prefer.