Monthly Archives: March 2023

4 - Good (buy), Almanac Beer Co., Beer Reviews, USA, Wild Ale

Almanac Farmer’s Reserve Grand Cru

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Brewery: Almanac Beer Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 10.2%
Style: Wild Ale
Other Notes: Farm to barrel

Brewer Description: (from bottle) An Imperial Sour Ale aged in white wine barrels with California grown muscat blanc grapes.

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

Intro: An admittedly forgotten in the cellar but still tasting good, 1 pint 9.4 fl. oz. bottle, bottled in Autumn 2015. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A nice lightly hazy golden orange colour with a one finger beige head that had decent retention, but left only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Fuji apple and apple peel sweetness, light tartness, peach sour gummy, lemon peel, white wine grapes, vinous, oak, and vanilla.
Taste: Sweet Fuji apple, tart, peach sour gummy, white wine grapes, lemon, light funk, oak, with light notes of vanilla.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Despite being forgotten in the cellar, this turned out to be still really good, with a good balance of sweet, tart, and funk. It drinks really easy and doesn’t feel ‘Imperial’ at 10.2% ABV.

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

3 Fonteinen Druivenlambik Muscat Bleu

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7.3%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°55, Season 19/20

Brewer Description: (from bottle) For this Druivenlambik, we used Muscat Bleu grapes from Wijndomein Hoenshof in Hoepertingen, Haspengouw region, Flanders. Muscat Bleu is a hybrid wine and table grape and has its origins in Switzerland. We macerated the grape must with two different lambikken from the same barrel. We let it macerate for over five months on a small oak barrel and bottled it straight from the barrel. The final fruit intensity is 42.9% of grape must per litre of Druivenlambik Muscat Bleu. This Druivenlambik is one of three small batch macerations with must from the same grape on the same type and size of barrel but with different maceration ratios. 100% 3 Fonteinen – bottle count 544.

My rating: 4+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.42
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°55, season 19/20, bottled on 2nd March 2020. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A very nice lightly hazy ruby red colour, with a very thin white head that dissipated quickly while leaving only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Grape skin, light funk, leather, peach gummy candy, oak, lemon peel, and a touch vinous.
Taste: Tart, lightly funky, grape skin, lemon peel, oak, lightly vinous.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: I don’t usually like such low carbonation in beers, but this works well, maybe due to it’s vinous nature. The aroma and flavours were also balanced between fruit and funk, and were just what my palate enjoys.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij Boon, Lambic - Gueuze

Boon Oude Geuze Apogee

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Brewery: Brouwerij Boon
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7%
Style: Lambic – Gueuze
Other Notes: Bottle no. 20845

Brewer Description: (from bottle) In 1975 Frank Boon founded Boon Brewery. Now, 44 years later, he passes the torch to his sons Jos and Karel, and can look back with pride at his achievements. The pioneering role he has played is of inestimable value. The passion to create and enjoy a tasty glass of Oude Geuze had brought forth the creation of Boon Brewery, all its beers and now this Oude Geuze Apogee. To create Apogee, Frank made a special blend with lambic from the oldest and the newest foeder at the brewery. This bottle symbolizes the succession by Boon Brewery’s next family generation of brewers.

(from hanging neck label) Though he’s inclined to be modest, we think our dad, Frank Boon, can be very proud. Spurred by a passion for crafting and savouring a nice glass of Oude Geuze, Frank began Boon Brewery in 1975. He has created the original Boon beers, and now also this Oude Geuze Apogee. He was a trailblazer at putting the traditional lambic beers Oude Geuze and Oude Kriek back on the map. His pioneering role has proven invaluable to the Belgium beer landscape. With Apogee, we wanted to symbolise not only the 2nd generation’s succession, but also to create his ultimate ‘indulgence geuze’ – as he sometimes calls it. For this geuze, we’ve blended a two-year aged lambic from a brand-new oak foeder (N°83, third filling) with a three-year aged lambic from the oldest foeder (N°79). Cheers, Jos Boon & Karel Boon, the second generation.

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

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, bottle no. 20845, with a best before date of 2039. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen gueuze glass.
Appearance: A very nice slightly hazy golden colour with a one finger white head that had decent retention, eventually settling to a ring around the glass while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Dusty, hay, light funk, green apple, apricot, dried lemon peel, grass, and damp wood.
Taste: Lightly tart, a touch sour, lemon juice, grapefruit peel, green apple, apple peel, oak, with notes of leather and funk.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: A nice refreshing, balanced and drinkable gueuze.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Browar Stu Mostów x Funky Fluid, Poland, Stout - Pastry Imperial

Stu Mostów x Funky Fluid ART+43 Imperial Pastry Stout Dark Chocolate Carmelized Almonds Nitro

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Brewery: Browar Stu Mostów x Funky Fluid
Country: Poland
ABV: 10.5%
Style: Stout – Pastry Imperial
Other Notes: 35 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from website) To the extractive, Imperial Stout base we added extremely aromatic caramelized almonds, cocoa nibs, and infused it with the nitrogen to obtained the smooth & velvety texture!

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

Intro: A 330ml bottle, with a best before date of 29th March 2024. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark dark brown to black in colour with a thin tanned head, that had pretty good retention while leaving some sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Sweet malt, chocolate, caramel, almonds, with light dark fruit notes, plum, prunes.
Taste: Sweet malt, light roast, dark chocolate, almonds, caramel, dark fruit, plum, prunes, with a lasting nutty finish.
Mouthfeel: Smooth, full bodied, with soft carbonation.
Overall: An enjoyable sipper. It’s sweet, but I think that there’s just enough bitterness from the dark chocolate, roasted almonds, and hops, to balance out that sweetness.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Browar Stu Mostów, Poland, Stout - Pastry Imperial

Stu Mostów WRCLW Imperial Pastry Stout French Toast Maple Syrup Vanilla Cinnamon Nitro

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Brewery: Browar Stu Mostów
Country: Poland
ABV: 10%
Style: Stout – Pastry Imperial
Other Notes: 25 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from website) Brewed to try to emulate the worldwide breakfast treasure – French toast. We recreated all the traditional flavors by adding milk sugar (lactose), maple syrup, Madagascar vanilla beans and a touch of cinnamon. Finally, we saturated it with nitrogen to enhance the dessert feeling and top the beer with fine bubble foam. It is going to be thick, creamy and… extremely (pastry) delicious!

My rating: 3+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.96
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 330ml bottle, with a best before date of 6th May 2023. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a thin tanned head that dissipated fairly quickly while leaving some sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Sweet malt, cinnamon, vanilla, maple syrup, molasses, very light roast, with notes of chocolate.
Taste: Sweet, chocolate, wafer, vanilla, maple syrup, molasses, cinnamon.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, smooth, medium to full bodied, with soft carbonation.
Overall: A nice sipper that’s probably on the edge of being too sweet for me. The cinnamon is also a bit overpowering. But it does have a great aroma, and is very smooth.