Hill Farmstead Charlie

Brewery: Hill Farmstead Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 2%
Style: Farmhouse Saison
Other Notes: A low-alcohol Farmstead ale. Hops – Mosaic and Simcoe. Yeast – Farmstead ale yeast

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Charlie: Our faithful, loving, and steadfast companion. A golden retriever of renown, he effortlessly adopted everyone on Hill Road and beyond. Tail wagging and tongue lolling, Charlie never failed to charm. He was a cheerful rogue who approached without prejudice or judgment – a furry four-legged foreman who monitored all construction, managed events, and kept dutiful watch over his roads and wayward tacos. In his honor, we have created a beer to suit his spirit: a lively, cheerful, low-alcohol Farmstead ale with a touch of playfulness. Share. Consider. Enjoy…

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.35
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 750ml bottle, bottle conditioned since 2nd March 2022. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden straw yellow colour, with an almost two finger white head that had good retention and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Tropical, mango, citrusy, lemon zest, with light floral, funky, and grainy notes.
Taste: Tart, citrusy, grapefruit, lemon zest, tropical, mango, with a touch of grains and funk.
Mouthfeel: Crisp, light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Enjoyable, refreshing and easy to drink.

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Mills Table Beer

Brewery: Mills Brewing
Country: England
ABV: 3%
Style: Wild Ale
Other Notes: Mills Brewing make beer with minimal modern intervention, relying on local wild yeast cultures and the influence of nature to ferment.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Table Beer is a blend of two different worts produced in February 2020 using traditional turbid mashing. Rye, oat and barley malts were mashed and seven year old Hallertau Hersbrucker hops were used in the boil. The worts were fermented together with our house culture of yeast and bacteria in a stainless steel vessel (a first for us) to keep the delicate aromatics as fresh as possible. After 18 months the beer was dry-hopped with whole-cone Polish Magnum.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.29
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, bottled in August 2021, with a best before date of August 2026. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A nice slightly hazy golden straw yellow colour with a two finger white head that had good retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Tropical fruity, mango, lychee, citrus, lemon zest, with some light funk in the background.
Taste: Sour, citrusy, lemon, lemon zest, with grainy wheat notes on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate spritzy carbonation.
Overall: Super refreshing and just drinks really easy. An enjoyable palate cleanser.

Mills Still

Brewery: Mills Brewing
Country: England
ABV: 4.2%
Style: Wild Ale
Other Notes: Mills Brewing make beer with minimal modern intervention, relying on local wild yeast cultures and the influence of nature to ferment.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Still is a single barrel bottling of four year old beer, brewed in March 2018. The wort was made using a turbid mash and underwent an extended boil with large quantities of aged hops. After two nights in our coolship, the wort was transferred to a single 500 litre barrel for four years fermentation and maturation. The resulting beer was bottled still without carbonation.

My rating: 3-
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.43
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.3

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, bottled in March 2022, with a best before date of March 2032. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A clear copper orange colour with pretty much no head and no lacing.
Aroma: Funky, oak, orange zest, and green apple.
Taste: Funky, tart, sour, cheesy, leather, light apricot, with a citrus zesty bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with no carbonation.
Overall: Aroma was nice, but I definitely missed the carbonation, which I feel affected the taste and the overall experience for me, but as per the name, I knew what I was getting into.

Oud Beersel Winter Lambiek Sparkling Infused

Brewery: Brouwerij Oud Beersel
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7.2%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Bottled 5 years before best before date

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Lambic infused with pine bud.

My rating: 4+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.49
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, with a best before date of 8th May 2026. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen gueuze glass.
Appearance: A clear golden orange colour with a one finger white head that had good retention, and eventually settled to a thin cap while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Sweet tea, woody, oak, pine, lemon zest, light funk.
Taste: Sweet, sour, bitter, lemon tea, pine, wood, oak, citrus zest, with some light funk.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Wow, this one surprised me. I really enjoyed this. Sweet, sour, and bitter, this tea, citrus and piney flavours just work for me.

8 Wired Oude Imperiale

Brewery: 8 Wired Brewing Co.
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 8%
Style: Lambic – Gueuze
Other Notes: Spontaneous fermented sour ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A very special “Imperial Geuze” inspired blend of selected barrels from our library. One third each of spontaneously fermented 8, 6 and, 4 year old barrels create a perfect marriage of funk, fruit, acidity and Sherry-like aged flavours.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.17
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 500ml bottle with no clear bottled on or best before date. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen gueuze glass.
Appearance: A clear golden orange colour with a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly to a nice fluffy cap while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Funky, musty, damp wood, oak, vanilla, with notes of orange, and citrus zest.
Taste: Light sour, tart, apricot, orange, funky, musty, damp wood, oak, with light citrus zesty sweetness.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: It was enjoyable while being oak and funk forward.