Monthly Archives: July 2021

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Burning Sky Brewery, England, Farmhouse Saison

Burning Sky Saison Anniversaire 2020

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Brewery: Burning Sky Brewery
Country: England
ABV: 6.5%
Style: Farmhouse Saison
Other Notes: Adjunct – Pink peppercorn, grains of paradise and caraway seeds

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Brewed just once a year, Anniversaire is a celebration of everything we at Burning Sky love about saisons. Lightly spiced in the boil, this special edition beer was fermented and aged entirely in French Chardonnay barriques using our house saison and a blend of wild yeast strains.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.1
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, bottled on 21st September 2020, and with a best before date of 21st September 2030. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A very nice slightly hazy golden colour with a two finger white head that had pretty good retention while leaving lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Funky, vinous, grape, white wine, lemon zest, straw, with light floral notes.
Taste: Lightly sour, tart, funky, floral, lemon zest, white wine vinous, woody, lightly floral, and a slightly spicy peppery finish.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Good balance of sour, funk and citrus fruit. The Chardonnay barrel was a little light overall, and I think if it was stronger, it would have been very interesting. Still a very easy drinking beer, that was especially good on a hot summer, but rainy day.

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4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Burning Sky Brewery, England, Wild Ale

Burning Sky Elderberry Monolith

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Brewery: Burning Sky Brewery
Country: England
ABV: 9.7%
Style: American Wild Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Our wild black beer spent 18 months in oak before being aged for a further 6 months on local elderberries. The result is reminiscent of a deep, earthy Burgundy.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.27
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, bottled on 15th February 2021, and with a best before date of 15th February 2031. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A nice deep dark purple colour with a two finger purple head that had good retention and left some lacing.
Aroma: Lightly tart, dark berries, raisin, earthy, oak, woody.
Taste: Lightly sour and tart, dark berries, blackberry, blackcurrant, raisin, earthy, woody, oak, a touch of chocolate, with red wine vinous notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: I’m not sure what elderberries tastes like, but there’s lots of good dark berry flavours here. There’s a good balance of fruit, dark malt, earthy, woody and vinous that gives it good complexity, and the ABV is also well hidden, such that you don’t notice it at all.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Hong Kong, Wild Ale, Yardley Brothers Brewing

Yardley Brothers Frederiksdal Cherry Sour Ale

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Brewery: Yardley Brothers Brewing
Country: Hong Kong
ABV: 7%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: 2020 Limited release. Aged in French oak Beaujolais barrels. Collaboration with Frederiksdal Kirsebærvin and Good Beer Project

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A collaboration with world-renowned cherry wine producer Frederiksdal, this sour ale was aged in a French oak Beaujolais barrel for 12 months and blended with Stevnsbær cherries.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.16
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 375ml bottle, 2020 vintage, bottle 454 of 500. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A very nice ruby red colour with a two finger pink head that had good retention and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Slightly tart, cherry, oak, with notes of vanilla, almond and maybe red wine.
Taste: Moderately sour, cherry, red berries, red wine, oak, with light notes of cinnamon.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: Looks great with some nice flavours. Don’t know much about Beaujolais, so not sure if it’s just the way Beaujolais barrels are, but more and stronger barrel character with some funk would have added some interesting complexities to the beer.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, England, Siren Craft Brew, Stout - Milk / Sweet

Siren Shattered Dream: Nitro

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Brewery: Siren Craft Brew
Country: England
ABV: 9.6%
Style: Milk / Sweet Stout
Other Notes: Nitro version. Imperial Breakfast Stout

Brewer Description: (from can) Shattered Dream is the scaled up version of our award-winning flagship stout – Broken Dream. In addition to its imperial strength and generous espresso hit, we’ve also added cacao nibs and vanilla to make this beer even more luxurious than the much-loved original. This version is nitrogenated, meaning it pours thick and drinks smooth. An intensely indulgent and unctuous treat.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.08
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 440ml can, with a best before date of 12th February 2022. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: As per the can, poured hard and fast, and it poured black in colour, with a decent cascading effect, and a big two finger beige head that had excellent retention and left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Dark malt, light roast, coffee, cocoa, sweet milk chocolate, brown sugar, and vanilla.
Taste: Light to moderately sweet, milk coffee, cocoa, milk chocolate, vanilla, light roasty bitterness, with notes of dark berries.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, smooth, full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: An enjoyable creamy smooth sipper with lots of coffee. It was almost too milky sweet for me, but there was just enough roasty bitterness to balance it out.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Garage Beer Co., New England / Hazy Triple IPA, Spain

Garage Jelly Beans

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Brewery: Garage Beer Co.
Country: Spain
ABV: 10%
Style: New England / Hazy Triple IPA
Other Notes: Hops – Cryo Pop hop blend, Citra and Simcoe

Brewer Description: (from can) TIPA displaying Cryo Pop hop blend, Citra and Simcoe hops.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.27
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 440ml can, canned on 21st June 2021, and a best before date of 21st December 2021. Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.
Appearance: A very nice hazy golden orange colour with a two finger white head that had good retention and left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Tropical mango, onion, citrus zest and rind, orange, mandarin, peach.
Taste: Moderately sweet, tropical fruit, peach, mango, citrus, mandarin, orange rind, with a light to moderate bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, full bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: I’m usually not a fan of TIPA’s, but this was very enjoyable with good sweet and bitter balance, and lots of fruit aroma and flavours, while hiding any booziness well.