Monthly Archives: September 2020

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij Boon, Lambic - Fruit

Boon Oude Schaarbeekse Kriek

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Brewery: Brouwerij Boon
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6%
Style: Belgian Lambic (Fruit)

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Oude Kriek Boon with 250g/l “Schaarbeekse cherries” is a unique taste experience. These powerful cherries of Belgian origin, harvested in 2018, support the mellow and soft sourish flavour of the lambic with a very powerful, but balanced cherry expression.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.31
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 375ml corked and caged bottle, 2018 vintage, with a best before date of 3rd April 2039. Poured into a Boon stemmed glass.
Appearance: A nice hazy ruby red colour with a slightly more than two fingered pink head that had decent retention and eventually settled to a thin cap, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Sweet and sour, cherry, lightly tart and some floral notes.
Taste: Good balance of sweet and sour cherry, tart, oak, and light funk.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: While the amount of funk is low, there is a good amount of cherry and a nice balance between sweet and sour flavours. Enjoyable, worth trying again.

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4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij Boon, Lambic - Fruit

Boon Kriek Mariage Parfait

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Brewery: Brouwerij Boon
Country: Belgium
ABV: 8%
Style: Belgian Lambic (Fruit)
Other Notes: Oude Kriek – Kriek à l’Ancienne

Brewer Description: (from website) Kriek Mariage Parfait is an “Old Style Kriek” of exceptional excellence, brewed in Lembeek, the village that gave Lambic its name. It is unsweetened, unfiltered, unpasteurised and has no artificial flavours, preservatives or colourings added. “Old Style Kriek” or “Oude Kriek” is a protected E.U. appellation. 400 g of wild cherries per litre are fermented together with a strong Lambic of spontaneous fermentation and aged on 6,200 litre oak foeders (large wooden casks) for 6 to 8 months. Kriek Mariage Parfait is naturally clarified and referments in the bottle. After a maturation of 6 months in the bottle it is ready for tasting. The alcohol content of this Lambic beer is 8% by vol. Kriek Mariage Parfait has a high ageing potential, keep it by preference for more than two years in a cool and dark place. Pour slowly in 2 dry flute glasses without disturbing the yeast sediment in the bottle and enjoy this epitome of traditional Lambic brewing. Kriek Mariage Parfait has a clear deep reddish color lambic with a nice large pink head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma: tart cherry notes with some mild lambic funk, winy, well supported by its alcohol content. Taste: dominated by loads of fresh tart cherry notes with some mild barnyard and some vanilla notes, balanced against a backdrop of musky roasted oak. Body is full with good carbonation. Serve this beer with magret of duck, roast goose, seared foie gras, foie gras terrine, gamy pâtés, aged goat cheeses.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.04
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 375ml corked and caged bottle, 2018 vintage, with a best before date of 24th June 2039. Poured into a Boon stemmed glass.
Appearance: A cloudy cherry red colour, with a two fingered pinkish head that dissipated fairly quickly but settled to a thin cap, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Cherry, oak, apple, and a touch vinous and funky.
Taste: Light sour, tart, cherry, dried cherry, vanilla, oak, funk, with some vinous notes.
Mouthfeel: Dry, light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Good cherry aroma and flavours with an interesting mix of oak, vanilla and funk.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Jester King Brewery, USA, Wild Ale

Jester King Nocturn Chrysalis

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Brewery: Jester King Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 5.1%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Barrel-aged sour beer refermented with blackberries

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Marion blackberries were added to mature barrel-aged sour beer and refermented to dryness. Unfiltered, unpasteurized, and 100% naturally conditioned.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.35
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 1 pint 0.9 fl. oz. bottle, blend five, bottled in August 2017. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen Zenne stemmed glass.
Appearance: A clear ruby red with a purple tinge colour, and a one finger pinkish head that had decent retention, while leaving some spotty lacing.
Aroma: Jammy, blackberry, woody oak, light musty funk, grapes.
Taste: Tart, lightly sour, blackberry, lemonade, oak.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Very nice blackberry aroma and flavours are front and centre with good lemonade notes to complement it. A very enjoyable wild ale.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Farmhouse Saison, Holy Mountain Brewing Company, USA

Holy Mountain Choir of the Sun

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Brewery: Holy Mountain Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 5.2%
Style: Belgian Saison
Other Notes: Ale aged in oak barrels

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A Saison fermented and aged in oak puncheons for 5 months. Choir of the Sun was hopped with Styrian Goldings, fermented with a blend of Saison strains, and aged with brettanomyces. Refermented in the bottle with brettanomyces.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.34
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 750ml bottle with no bottled on or best before date, but I think this has been cellared from the summer of 2017. Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.
Appearance: It was a slightly hazy orange golden colour with a two finger white head that had decent retention while leaving only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Funky, musty, brett, strong barrel, oak, lemon, citrusy, and cream soda.
Taste: Light sour, tart, oak, funky, musty, brett, with fruity apricot and citrus flavours.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Cellared for longer than intended, but still very enjoyable. Good mix of funk, brett, barrel and fruit, plus the lightness, just makes it very easy to drink.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgian Strong Dark Ale, Belgium, S.A. Bières de Chimay

Chimay Grande Réserve Vieillie en Barriques 2017 Rum Edition

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Brewery: S.A. Bières de Chimay
Country: Belgium
ABV: 10.5%
Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale
Other Notes: 36% French oak, 42% American oak & 22% Rum

Brewer Description: (from bottle) The “Grande Réserve” barrel aged is an exceptional beer that benefits from triple fermentation and extended maturing in barrels. Unfiltered, unpasteurised, this beer has an incomparable rounded, wooden flavour.

(from website) On the eye, the beer boasts a deep brown robe with a bright glint. Its extremely fine and smooth foam also possesses a slight shade of cream. On the nose, notes of vanilla, marzipan and wood are equally predominant. On the palate, the woodiness cloaks the bread crust, roasting, rum aromas and empyreumatical notes. This edition boasts an excellent blend of the characters of Chimay Blue and Rum. A balance between roundness and power that will be appreciated at best between 6 months and 1 year after its bottling.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.18
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 375ml corked and caged bottle, bottled on 10th August 2017, with a best before date of end of 2022. Poured into a Chimay goblet glass. I always thought of the Chimay Grande Réserve and thus also it’s barrel variants to be a Belgian Quad, but it appears most sites list it as a Belgian Strong Dark Ale, so that’s what I’m going to do. Not going to debate this or differentiate the styles as a simple search will show many threads.
Appearance: A slightly hazy dark amber brown colour with a half finger beige head that dissipated quickly to a replenishing ring around the glass, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Light to moderately sweet, dark fruit, plum, prunes, oak, coconut, vanilla, with notes of rum.
Taste: Sweet malt, dark fruit, plum, prunes, grapes, fig, raisin, toasted oak, toasted bread, brown sugar, clove, vanilla, rum, light booziness.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied, with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Nice, complex and enjoyable, but not as good as the base beer in my opinion. I think it’s partly because rum is not one of my favoured liquors.