Monthly Archives: May 2022

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen, Lambic - Fruit

3 Fonteinen Pruim Mirabelle

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7.4%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°11, Season 20/21

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This Pruim features the Mirabelle, sourced at Hoenshof in Limburg. We macerated the entire plums for almost five months with two young lambikken from three different barrels. We blended with some more young lambik right before bottling. The final fruit intensity is 518 grams of Mirabelle plums per litre of Pruim. 100% 3 Fonteinen.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.36
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°11, season 20/21, bottled on 6th January 2021. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy pinkish orange colour with a very thin white head that dissipated quickly to a ring around the glass, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Lightly sweet and tart, plum, plum skin, guava, pineapple, lime peel, lemon, damp wood.
Taste: Sour, tart, juicy, plum, apricot, guava, sour pineapple, lemon, lime zest, with light funky notes and damp wood.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: I haven’t tried the actual Mirabelle plum, but I think I would love it. I’ve now had multiple beers that have used the Mirabelle, and I have fully enjoyed each and every one of them and this was no exception. Just great flavours and so easy to drink. I would prefer a bit more carbonation though.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Ireland, Lambic - Gueuze, Land & Labour

Land & Labour Spon: 2 Year Blend

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Brewery: Land & Labour
Country: Ireland
ABV: 5.8%
Style: Lambic – Gueuze
Other Notes: A blend of 1 & 2 year old spontaneously fermented beers

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Spon: 2 year blend is our lambic-inspired spontaneously fermented beer. Brewed with a traditional turbid mash & boiled for several hours with aged hops before being cooled overnight in our coolship. Each beer has had a spontaneous ferment in wine barrels where it remained as it evolved & matured for up to 2 years. This blend is assembled from barrels brewed on the 8th April 2018 & the 9th March 2019. Bottled on the 23rd November 2019. Released in May 2021.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.8
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, with a best before date of 23rd November 2029. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen gueuze glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden colour with a one finger white head that had decent retention that eventually settled to a nice cap while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Funky, earthy, oak, lemon, with some light vinous notes.
Taste: Sour, tart, white grape, vinous, lemon, apple.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Flavour felt a bit simple, as despite getting interesting funk and oak in the aroma, there was a distinct lack of it in the flavour. This being a 1 and 2 year blend, perhaps adding some 3 year old beers would help and improve it.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, FrauGruber Brewing, Germany, IPA - New England / Hazy Double

FrauGruber Cloak Of Feathers

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Brewery: FrauGruber Brewing
Country: Germany
ABV: 8.6%
Style: New England / Hazy Double IPA
Other Notes: Hops – Mosaic Spectrum, Simcoe, Galazy, Rakau and Citra BBC

Brewer Description: (from can) Imperial India Pale Ale.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.89
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 440ml can, with a fresh before date of 2nd June 2022. Poured into a winebar glass.
Appearance: A hazy, slightly murky orange colour with a two finger white head that had decent retention and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Mango, melon, grapefruit zest, citrus rind, resinous, pine.
Taste: As you’d expect from the aroma, fruity, mango, melon, grapefruit zest, citrus rind, floral, a bit soapy, resinous, piney.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: This was interesting and mostly fine, but it had this soapy, floral, zesty flavour mix that didn’t quite work for me.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, FrauGruber Brewing, Germany, IPA - New England / Hazy Triple

FrauGruber Super Sonic

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Brewery: FrauGruber Brewing
Country: Germany
ABV: 9.8%
Style: New England / Hazy Triple IPA
Other Notes: Hops – Select, Galaxy, Citra BBC and BRU-1

Brewer Description: (from can) Double dry hopped Triple India Pale Ale.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.91
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: A 440ml can, with a fresh before date of 1st June 2022. Poured into a winebar glass.
Appearance: A hazy orange colour with a one finger off white head that dissipated quickly, while leaving only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Tropical, sweaty, mango, papaya, pineapple, with notes of citrus orange zest and maybe pine.
Taste: Light to moderate sweet beginning, tropical, papaya, mango, pineapple, light bitterness, orange, citrus rind and zest, light onion notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: The flavour profile was not my favourite, but it was still quite good, just not ‘wow’. There was a good balance of sweet and bitter, and despite nearly 10% abv, any alcohol was well hidden.

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Equilibrium Brewery, IPA - New England / Hazy Double, USA

Equilibrium dHop 2

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Brewery: Equilibrium Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 8.5%
Style: New England / Hazy Double IPA

Brewer Description: (from Untappd) dHop2 is a DIPA that investigates the interplay between our ale strain and an intensive Mosaic and Citra forward hop bill woven four times into its creative process. It pours a very murky tangerine color, releasing notes of orange juice (with pulp) and earthy grass. The taste is highly resinous, dank-citrus, pine juice, with a chewy mouth feel and a firm and pointed bitterness.

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

Intro: A 1 pint can, canned on 7th April 2022, poured into a winebar glass.
Appearance: A hazy orange colour with a one finger white head that had good retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Orange juice, citrus rind, melon, mango, with notes of grass.
Taste: Juicy, sweet and bitter. Sweet, tropical, mango and pineapple to start, followed by citrus, mandarin, citrus rind, and resinous, dank, piney notes, with a lasting bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Smooth, medium bodied, with soft to moderate carbonation.
Overall: An excellent NEDIPA that’s just delicious and goes down so easy. It has a good sweet and bitter balance with the type of juicy combo that I enjoy.