Tilquin Oude Mûre À l’ancienne

Brewery: Gueuzerie Tilquin
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: 2019-2020

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Beer of spontaneous fermentation, the Oude Mûre Tilquin is made from the fermentation of 280g of blackberries by liter of lambic. Unfiltered and unpasteurized, this beer is refermented in the bottle.

My rating: 4+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.5
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, with a neck label of 2019-2020, and a best before date of 28th January 2030. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A very nice orangey pink colour with a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly to a ring around the glass, while leaving only some sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Blackberries, oak, light funk and tangy spritzy lemon zest.
Taste: Lightly sour, blackberries, blackcurrant, oak, vanilla, lemon yoghurt, light funk, lemon zest.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with soft to moderate carbonation.
Overall: Really easy and enjoyable to drink. Aroma and flavours were smooth and light but extremely balanced, with good fruit, strong oak and light funk.

3 Fonteinen Speling van het Lot XVI.iii: Oude Kirsebær

Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 8.2%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°63, Season 19/20. Number of bottles – 1530

Brewer Description: (from bottle) … so it was in the summer of 2018, we had the honour of visiting Frederiksdal, the renowned Danish kirsebær orchard and cherry wine maker. Not long after, September 13th 2019, we received a few hundred kilos of their sour cherries and macerated them on a charred oak barrel. We used a gentle 3 Fonteinen lambik from one barrel and two different brew days and macerated the lot for almost seven and a half months. While blending, we added one- and two-year old lambikken from three different barrels and three different brews, and some lambikwort from three different brews. We bottled this on Thursday April 16th 2020. The final fruit intensity is 400 grams of kirsebær per litre of this special version of Kriek. Tak til de venlige mennesker i Frederiksdal! 100% 3 Fonteinen.

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

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°63, season 19/20, bottle 1253/1530, bottled on 16th April 2020. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: It was a clear ruby red colour with a slight purple hue, and a thin pinkish head that dissipated fairly quickly to a ring around the glass while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Cherry, oak, funk, bandaid, almond notes, with a splash of lemon zest.
Taste: Sour, tart, cherry, funk, oak, vinegar, and lemon.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Great aroma, and a fruit lambic that is enjoyable and easy to drink.

Omnipollo Noa Pecan Mud Willett Vanilla Barrel Aged

Brewery: Omnipollo
Country: Sweden
ABV: 13.5%
Style: Stout – Imperial
Other Notes: Brewed at Dugges Bryggeri in Sweden

Brewer Description: (from website) We let the base for our barrel aged Noa Pecan Mud Cake Imperial Stout rest on select Willett bourbon barrels for more than 20 months before balancing the elegant barrel notes with an extra dose of Madagascan vanilla. Super limited amount of bottles.

My rating: 4+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.45
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 330ml bottle, with a best before date (as best as I can make it out to be) of 15th October 2023. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with pretty much no head, although there is some sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Roasted malts, vanilla, chocolate milk, caramel, bourbon, and a touch nutty.
Taste: As you’d expect from the aroma, light to moderately sweet, roasted malts, vanilla, coconut, milk chocolate, caramel, and bourbon.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: This works for me as it’s not overly sweet and pastry like. Almost like old school flavours of roast, vanilla, chocolate, and bourbon. Just smooth and balanced. A wonderful enjoyable sipper.

Omnipollo x Dugges Anagram Blueberry Hazelnut Coffee Cheesecake Stout

Brewery: Omnipollo x Dugges Bryggeri
Country: Sweden
ABV: 12%
Style: Stout – Imperial
Other Notes: Brewed at Dugges Bryggeri in Sweden

Brewer Description: (from website) The 2022 version of our annual blueberry cheesecake inspired Imperial Stouts is a celebration of friendship. Together with Dugges we began the journey in Anagram, made sure the blueberries were really expressive and then added a new flavor component by adding hazelnut coffee. The coffee adds an incredible nuttiness that leads on to memories of blueberry hazelnut pies with freshly toasted hazelnuts and fragrant blueberry jam. Does not contain nuts.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.99
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date (as best as I can make it out to be) of 19th January 2024. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark brown to black in colour with a very thin brown head that dissipated quickly, while leaving only some spotty lacing.
Aroma: Roasted malts, black coffee, chocolate, tart, blueberry, wafer, hazelnut.
Taste: Bitter, roasty, chocolate, coffee, blueberry jam, granola, wafer, nutty.
Mouthfeel: Rich, full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: The coffee was strong and it was quite bitter, whereas the blueberry was mostly hidden in the background. While it wasn’t bad, I preferred the Anagram Blueberry Cheesecake Stout more.

Garage Project Oh What a Lovely Day Let’s Go Out and Pick Some… Blackberry

Brewery: Garage Project
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 7.4%
Style: Wild Ale
Other Notes: Foraged flowers, spontaneous ferment 2020 release

Brewer Description: (from bottle) The concept is simple. Freshly foraged blackberry flowers are plunged into a light golden wort creating a spontaneous fermentation using only the wild yeast present on flowers. Aged in oak and refermented on blackberry fruit, the result is a delightfully tart, vibrant red sparkling beer bursting with wild berry flavour.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.25
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 375ml bottle, bottled on 16th September 2020. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A nice clear red colour with a slight purple hue, and a one finger white head that had decent retention and settled to a ring around the glass, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Funky, tart, blackberry, oak, with notes of lemon zest.
Taste: Much like the aroma, funky, tart, blackberry, apricot, oak, and lemon juice.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: This was good. I’m not sure how much the blackberry flowers actually contributed, but the blackberry fruit came through nicely, and there was balance between the funk, sourness and acidity.