Monthly Archives: May 2021

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Browar Stu Mostów, Poland, Porter - Baltic

Stu Mostów WRCLW Baltic Porter Coffee Vanilla Hazelnuts NITRO

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Brewery: Browar Stu Mostów
Country: Poland
ABV: 9.1%
Style: Baltic Porter
Other Notes: 40 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from website) To the extractive base of the Baltic Porter we added extremely aromatic Madagascar vanilla sticks, roasted hazelnuts and BRAZYLIA PATROCINIO coffee beans from from our local roastery – Czarny Deszcz! In this way, we have created an incredibly delicious combination, which is bound in a dessert whole by a velvety texture obtained thanks to nitrogen saturation!

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.39
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 330ml bottle, with a best before date of 23rd December 2023. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark dark brown to black in colour, with a thin brown head that disappeared quickly, while leaving nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Roasty, dark malt, coffee, chocolate, wafer biscuit, with light nutty, raisin and vanilla notes.
Taste: Roasty, bitter, dark chocolate, coffee, biscuit, nutty, hazelnut, light caramel sweetness, and notes of vanilla. Finish is an enjoyable lasting bitterness.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, velvety, smooth, medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Unfortunately I did not know that this was a nitro beer until after it was poured as the word ‘nitro’ was not so obvious on the bottle to me. Therefore I didn’t do the aggressive vertical pour and didn’t get as much of the nice tiny bubbles and cascading effect as I could have. Having said that, this was a great beer, with wonderful bitterness and strong coffee and chocolate flavours.

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4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Geuzestekerij De Cam, Lambic - Fruit

De Cam Mirabel Lambiek

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Brewery: Geuzestekerij De Cam
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: 2020 vintage. Spontaneous fermentation purely natural. Artisan family, consciously small company (1 man only: Karel)

Brewer Description: (from bottle in Dutch) Deze lambiek schuimt niet om de fruitaroma’s 100% te kunnen proeven. 1000 kilogram Mirabellen worden in z’n geheel gedurende een jaar vergist met 1500 liter jonge lambiek. Met verdere maturatie op de eiken vaten.

(Translated to English) This lambic does not foam in order to taste the fruit aromas 100%. 1000 kilograms of Mirabelle are fermented whole over a year with 1500 liters of young lambic. With further maturation in the oak barrels.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.39
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 375ml corked and caged bottle, 2020 vintage, with a best before date of November 2040. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden orange colour with an almost two finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly to a nice thin cap, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Sweet plum, funky, dusty, yellow stone fruit, apricot, floral, perfumy, lemon.
Taste: Lightly sour, tart, perfumy, floral, lemon peel, stone fruit, apricot, plum, and a touch of oak.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: I don’t know what a Mirabelle plum is supposed to smell or taste like. But after researching it a bit, it seems that the perfumy and floral character that I’m getting quite strongly could be from these Mirabelle plums. I’m usually not a fan of these characteristics, but it actually works well in this case, complementing the stone fruit apricot and plum flavours. I’m getting nice funk in the aroma, but not much in the flavour, which might have made it more interesting with the perfumy notes if there was. But still, it drinks easy and I enjoyed it.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Geuzestekerij De Cam, Lambic - Fruit

De Cam Oude Kriek

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Brewery: Geuzestekerij De Cam
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: 2019 vintage. Newer vintages are just “Kriek” without “Oude” in the name

Brewer Description: (from bottle in Dutch) Kriek schuimt niet, doordat hergisting op fles minimaal is om de fruit aroma’s maximaal te proeven. Kriek ontstaat door het samen vergisten van jonge lambiek met een hoeveelheid zure aromatische kersen. De zure kersen, Prunus Cerasus L., worden in hun geheel (geen sap) met pit in bewerking gebracht. Het gehalte aan zure kersen bedraagt ongeveer 40kg per 100 liter kriek.

(translated to English) Kriek does not foam, because refermentation in the bottle is minimal to get the maximum taste of the fruit aromas. Kriek is created by fermenting young lambic together with a quantity of sour aromatic cherries. The sour cherries, Prunus Cerasus L., are processed whole (no juice) with stone. The content of sour cherries is approximately 40 kg per 100 liters of cherries.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.16
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 375ml corked and caged bottle, 2019 vintage, with a best before date of July 2040. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A mostly clear ruby red with a very thin slightly pinkish head that disappeared almost immediately, while leaving only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Lightly tart, cherry, cherry skin, oak, with light funky notes.
Taste: Sour, tart, cherry, oak, citrusy lemon, lightly funky.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: It’s a good kriek with lots of cherry and a nice citrusy bite. The funky notes could have been more pronounced.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Lervig Aktiebryggeri x Hoppin’ Frog Brewing Company, Norway, Stout - Imperial

Lervig x Hoppin’ Frog Sippin’ Into Darkness Bourbon Barrel Aged

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Brewery: Lervig Aktiebryggeri x Hoppin’ Frog Brewing Company
Country: Norway
ABV: 12%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Aged in bourbon barrels

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Chocolate martini Imperial Stout, collaboration w. Hoppin’ Frog Brewery (US), aged in bourbon barrels.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.38
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 330ml bottle with no bottled on or best before date. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark dark brown to black in colour with a very thin brown head that disappeared almost immediately while leaving only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Roasty, chocolate, cocoa, Horlicks malt wheat, coffee bean, vanilla, oak, bourbon.
Taste: Sweet, chocolate, bourbon, light roasted malt, cocoa, oak, candi sugar, molasses, lightly boozy, with notes of vanilla.
Mouthfeel: Smooth, creamy, medium to full bodied, with soft carbonation.
Overall: Loved the aroma, and while taste may be on the verge of being too sweet for me, it was still a wonderful sipper.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Netherlands, Nevel x Tommie Sjef Wild Ales, Wild Ale

Nevel x Tommie Sjef Twee

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Brewery: Nevel x Tommie Sjef Wild Ales
Country: Netherlands
ABV: 5.8%
Style: Wild Ale
Other Notes: Batch #1. Wild blonde ale aged on oak barrels, collab with Tommie Sjef Wild Ales. Fruity, funky and mineral

Brewer Description: (from website) Man can only see himself when he mirrors himself in another person. When oneness divides itself in two, it results in a meeting of souls, the creation of something new, the incarnation of a child. Without the concept of two there is no together, without being together there is no Twee.

This collab with Tommie Sjef Wild Ales is a blend of a two-year-old beer from his barrelhouse blended with a young saison from our brewery. This blend was put back in barrels for a year until it was rich enough to be harvested. To finetune its balance we blended it for a second time with a young barrel-aged beer. Twee can therefore be seen as a double bière de coupage. It is a wonderfully rustic beer with outspoken fruity notes of orange, peach and apricot. Its taste profile is defined by aged hops and our wild house culture, offering a good dose of dried hay, damp cellar and mineral stone. There is a good balance between sour and bitter notes in the rich structure of this beer.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.77
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: A 375ml bottle, batch #1, bottled on 2nd October 2019, drink within 3 years. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden orange colour with a two finger white head that had pretty good retention, and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Tart, funky, hay, straw, oak, apricot, orange, with a light but lasting leather and herbal notes.
Taste: Lightly sour, tart, funky, orange, grapefruit, apricot, hay, straw, oak.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: Aroma wasn’t as good as the taste, but overall it was enjoyable and easy to drink.