Monthly Archives: September 2023

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Harviestoun Brewery, Old Ale, Scotland

Harviestoun Ola Dubh Special Reserve 14

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Brewery: Harviestoun Brewery
Country: Scotland
ABV: 8%
Style: Old Ale
Other Notes: Aged in Highland Park Loyalty of the Wolf Single Malt casks

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Aged in selected oak casks, formerly used to mature Highland Park’s beautifully balanced Loyalty of the Wolf Single Malt Scotch Whisky.

(from tag) Ola Dubh (meaning ‘Black Oil’ in gaelic) is a real labour of love for our brew team. We take our Old Engine Oil and mature it in whisky casks from the award winning Orkney distillery & our good friends, Highland Park. The process is far from simple but the end result is a beautiful brew with complementary whisky notes and a chocolate, roasty and bittersweet aftertaste.

We are delighted to add the 14 year old into the Ola Dubh Range. The loyalty of the wolf barrels provide a smooth approachable ale which perfectly balances sweet flavours of vanilla, baked apples and cinnamon with a subtle spice of whisky and charred oak.

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

Intro: A 330ml black foiled and capped bottle, bottle no. 07501, bottled in February 2021, and a best before end date of March 2024. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark brown in colour with a half finger beige head that dissipated fairly quickly to a ring around the glass, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Roasted malts, chocolate, sweet dark fruit, whisky, caramel, with fruity candy notes.
Taste: Lightly sweet, dark fruit, roasted malts, roasty, toasty, chocolate, whisky, caramel, light vanilla, and a bittersweet finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Interesting aroma and flavours, although perhaps a touch thin.

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

3 Fonteinen Cassis

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.7%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°26, Season 21/22

Brewer Description: (from bottle) For this first ever Cassis, we macerated freshly harvested cassis berries on an ex-Bordeaux barrel for a good four months. The lambics used for macerating and blending were all two years old, and originating from two different barrels and eight different brews. The weighted average age of this blend clocks at 26 months. The final fruit proportion is 313 grams of cassis berries used per litre of finished fruit lambik. The berries were manually picked at Purfruit, a small community supported orchard in West-Flanders, Belgium.

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

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°26, season 21/22, bottled on 3rd February 2022. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A deep purple red colour, with a one finger pinkish head that had decent retention, and eventually settled to a thin cap, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Blackcurrant, damp wood, lemon zest, green vines, a touch funky.
Taste: Lightly sour, tart, blackcurrant, lemon juice, citrus zest, rhubarb, oak, green vines (“raw”), with some light funky notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: The blackcurrant aroma and flavours works for me, but there is some rhubarb-y, “green” and “raw” notes that detract from it a bit in this blend.