Mikkeller Baghaven Kriek Vanilje

Brewery: Mikkeller Baghaven
Country: Denmark
ABV: 7%
Style: Wild Ale
Other Notes: Blend 1, aged 18 months

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Oak fermented Danish Wild Ale with cherries, vanilla, and a hint of cinnamon.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.83
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.7

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend 1, with a best before date of July 2024. Poured into a Mikkeller Baghaven Zalto Bordeaux stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy deep reddish purple colour with a one finger purple head that had decent retention but eventually settled to a thin cap, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Tart, cherry, cinnamon, vanilla, and oak.
Taste: Lightly sour, tart, cherry, cinnamon, cherry pit, almond, oak, with hints of vanilla.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: Wow, excellent and really enjoyable aroma and flavours that align to my palate. Must buy in my opinion.

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Vault City Pear & Vanilla Sour

Brewery: Vault City Brewing
Country: Scotland
ABV: 6.8%
Style: Sour Ale
Other Notes: Modern sour beer

Brewer Description: (from bottle) After some heavy hitters we wanted to take a more delicate approach to our next release. Delicate, in season Williams pears piqued our interest as a very different flavour profile to pair with our Modern Sour Beer. Slowing down our mixed-culture for a gentler fermentation and lighter base sour allows you to take notice of the succulent floral pear character. The addition of Madagascan Vanilla rounds this beer out for a creamy, almost sorbet-like mouth-feel and finish. A perfect beer to enjoy in the warmer Autumn evenings whilst you spot signs of the seasons changing.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.41
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 375ml bottle with a best before date of 25th September 2022. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy pale orange colour with a one finger white head that dissipated quickly, but settled to a thin cap while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Lots of pear, cooked pear, and vanilla.
Taste: Sour, tart, sweet, pear, baked/poached pear, with notes of vanilla.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: I wasn’t sure if pear would work in beer, but Vault City did a great job, and this was just so enjoyable and easy to drink.

3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze Cuvée Armand & Gaston Honing

Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7%
Style: Lambic – Gueuze

Brewer Description: (from bottle in French) 3 Fonteinen Cuvée Armand & Gaston est un assemblage de jeunes, mi-vieux et vieux lambic traditionnels, brassés par Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen. Cent pour cent naturel, authentique, spontané, un peu têtu, tout en restant élégant et plein de caractère. De la pure passion, comme Armand & Gaston Debelder l’ont toujours fait. Fermentation et maturation en bouteille continue et avec un potentiel de longue conservation. Non-filtré et non-pasteurisé. Une gueuze de caractère avec une belle évolution d’arômes et de goûts.

(blend description in Dutch) Deze specifieke Cuvée Armand & Gaston werd geassembleerd met lambikken van 8 verschillende vaten en maar liefst 10 verschillende brouwsels. In de assemblage werd wat eigen geïmkerde zomerhoning toegevoegd. De oudste lambik werd gebrouwen aan het begin van seizoen 16/17, dus eind 2016. Eén van de lambikken werd trouwens gebrouwen met verse Coigneau hop, een lokaal “lambik” ras.

(Translated to English) 3 Fonteinen Cuvée Armand & Gaston is a blend of young, half-old and old traditional lambics, brewed by Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen. One hundred percent natural, authentic, spontaneous, a little stubborn, while remaining elegant and full of character. Pure passion, as Armand & Gaston Debelder have always done. Continuous fermentation and maturation in the bottle with potential for long storage. Unfiltered and unpasteurized. A gueuze of character with a beautiful evolution of aromas and tastes.

This specific Cuvée Armand & Gaston was assembled with lambics from 8 different barrels and no less than 10 different brews. Some of our own harvested summer honey was added to this blend. The oldest lambic was brewed at the beginning of the 16/17 season, i.e. at the end of 2016. One of the lambics was brewed with fresh Coigneau hops, a local “lambic” variety.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.55
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.5

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend n°4, season 19/20, bottled on 18th November 2019, with a best before date of 26th October 2039. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen gueuze glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy golden orange colour with a two finger white head that had good retention, but eventually settled to a nice fluffy cap, while leaving lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Tart, funky, hay, damp wood, oak, green apple, light citrus, lemon zest, with notes of leather and honey.
Taste: Sour, tart, green apple, grapefruit, funky, oak, lemon zest, white grape, slightly herbal, with notes of honey sweetness and peppery spice on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: Another excellent 3F gueuze that’s just so enjoyable and easy to drink.

Vault City Cheeky Vimto

Brewery: Vault City Brewing
Country: Scotland
ABV: 8%
Style: Sour Ale
Other Notes: Modern sour beer

Brewer Description: (from bottle) To add to our recent string of cocktail inspired beers we’ve let loose and devised a fruity concoction. Enter a high octane, high intensity Modern Sour Beer that’s so nice, it’s naughty… Equal parts silly and serious, our base sour beer has been ramped up to deliver a juice blackcurrant bomb. Bubblegum sweetness, berry tartness and touch of spice for a port-like finish; this is pure unadulterated fun in a glass.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.95
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 375ml bottle with a best before date of 18th March 2022. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy reddish purple colour with a big three finger pinkish head that dissipated quickly but settled to a thin cap, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Lightly tart, fruity, blackberry, strawberry, and guava, with blackcurrant notes.
Taste: Tart, lightly sour, mixed red and dark berries, blackcurrant, with a hint of berry flavoured yoghurt.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: A fun and enjoyable modern sour beer with lots of nice berry fruitiness.

Tilquin Gueuzérable

Brewery: Gueuzerie Tilquin
Country: Belgium
ABV: 10%
Style: Lambic – Gueuze
Other Notes: 2017-2018

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Beer of spontaneous fermentation, the Gueuzérable Tilquin is made from the fermentation of organic maple syrup in a blend of 1, 2 and 3 years old lambic aged on oak barrels. Unfiltered and unpasteurized, this beer is refermented in the bottle.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.03
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, with a neck label of 2017-2018, and a best before date of 9th October 2028. Poured into a Tilquin gueuze glass.
Appearance: A very slightly hazy copper amber colour with a slightly less than two finger beige head that dissipated quickly and left only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Tart, green apple, lemon zest, lime, hay, oak, funk, grape, with a slight hint of caramel and maybe maple.
Taste: Sour, tart, green apple, grape, lemon zest, lime, funky, oak, with a very subtle hint of unsweet maple syrup.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: The maple aroma and flavours were very subtle and not as obvious as I hoped it would be. The base Tilquin lambic is great though, so this was still good, and the alcohol is well hidden as you wouldn’t know that this was 10% ABV.