Monthly Archives: April 2023

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Germany, Kemker Kultuur, Wild Ale

Kemker Aoltbeer Blend 2021-04 (Blackberries)

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Brewery: Kemker Kultuur
Country: Germany
ABV: 6%
Style: Wild Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Aoltbeer is the historic beer of Münster. The beer matured for 10 months in a red wine barrel. In this time the beer developed its fruity and wine-like character. For this small batch no. 04-2021 we have used blackberries that we foraged ourselves in the outskirts of Münster. It shows a bright acidity, floral notes like roses and violets and some black pepper spice.

My rating: 4-
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.92
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 750ml bottle, with a best before date of 15th February 2031. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy orange colour with a slight pinkish tint, and a one finger white head that had decent retention, but left only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Tart, blackberries, oak, funk, dusty, and slight vinous notes.
Taste: As you’d expect from the aroma, sour, tart, blackberries, red wine vinous, oak, funk, dust, with a light spicy note on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: The blackberries are definitely there, if only slightly subtle, especially in the aroma. But the flavours are still good and easy to drink.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Germany, Kemker Kultuur, Wild Ale

Kemker Aoltbeer Blend 2021-01 (Cherries and Sloeberries)

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Brewery: Kemker Kultuur
Country: Germany
ABV: 6%
Style: Wild Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Aoltbeer is the historic beer of Münster. The beers in this blend matured on average for 10 months in red wine barrels. In this time the beer developed its fruity and wine-like character. For this small blend no. 01-2021 we have used cherries and sloeberries picked by ourselves, as well as black currants from local organic farmer Maria Plage.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.21
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml bottle, with a best before date of 15th February 2031. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy pinkish orange colour with a nice two finger white head that had good retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Tart, cherries, red berries, mixed berries, oak, with notes of green vines.
Taste: Tart, lightly sour, red berries, cherries, mixed berries, oak, lemon zest, with subtle red wine vinous notes.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: It might not seem too complex, but it’s light, with great flavours, and just really easy to drink.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Germany, Gruit, Kemker Kultuur

Kemker Winter

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Brewery: Kemker Kultuur
Country: Germany
ABV: 7%
Style: Gruit
Other Notes: Gruit Seasons

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This series of four herbal beers is dedicated to the seasons. Each beer stands for a particular season, so you can drink your way through the year. We used rosemary from our family garden, which lend the beer its herbaceous and woody aroma. This blend matured on average 10 month in red wine barrels.

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

Intro: A 750ml bottle, with a best before date of 15th February 2024. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy copper red colour with a nice one finger beige head that had good retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Vinous, grape skin, herbal, rosemary, pine, oak, citrus peel, and a touch spicy.
Taste: Tart, notes of sweet and sour, herbal, rosemary, red wine vinous, grape skin, red berry fruits, orange peel and oak.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Not my first herbal beer, but I think this is my first Gruit, and it’s definitely given me a good first impression. Nice aroma and flavours with lots of herbs and fruitiness from the red wine barrels. Worth a try especially if you enjoy herbs.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij De Ranke, Lambic - non-Lambic Blends

De Ranke Cuvée BXL

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Brewery: Brouwerij De Ranke
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7%
Style: Lambic – non-Lambic Blends
Other Notes: 2022 BXL BeerFest beer pack

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Old Stock Ale & Lambic.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.22
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml bottle, bottled in January 2022, with a best before date of 14th January 2027. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass. Brewed for BXL BeerFest 2022.
Appearance: A hazy dark golden orange colour with a one finger white head that had good retention and left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Orange zest, citrus rind, grape skin, peach, wet wood, and a touch dusty.
Taste: Lightly tart, grapefruit, orange rind, grape skin, peach, lime, with woody and funky notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: ‘Old Stock Ale & Lambic’, not really given a lot of information based off of this, but with this blend, the flavours do work well together, and it was enjoyable.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Lambic - Gueuze, Lambiek Fabriek

Lambiek Fabriek Organic Geuze Natur-Elle

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Brewery: Lambiek Fabriek
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.2%
Style: Lambic – Gueuze

Brewer Description: (from bottle in Dutch) Bio geuze van zelf gebrouwen bio lambieken met hergisting op de fles. Deze unieke blend van verschillende jaargangen is geheel biologisch, puur, ongefilterd en niet gepasteuriseerd.

(translated to English) Bio gueuze from self-brewed organic lambics with refermentation in the bottle. This unique blend of different vintages is completely organic, pure, unfiltered and unpasteurized.

My rating: 4-
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.01
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, bottled in March 2020. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen gueuze glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden orange colour with a two finger white head that had pretty good retention and eventually settled to a very thin cap, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Funky, brett, damp wood, musty, dusty, fruity, green apple, grape skin, dried lemon peel.
Taste: Tart, green apple, orange, lemon juice, lemon zest, wood, with some light to moderate funkiness.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: Thirst quenching, enjoyable and drinks easy.