Monthly Archives: January 2024

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brasserie Cantillon, Lambic - Fruit

Cantillon Drogone Lambic

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Brewery: Brasserie Cantillon
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.5%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Cantina Giardino bottle #2902

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A collaboration between Cantina Giardino & Cantillon. A blend with the pomace of Aglianico grapes and 3-year-old Lambic. Before being blended with the Lambic, the grapes underwent a 3-month pellicular maceration in chestnut barrels.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.68
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.6

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, 2022 vintage, bottled on 19th January 2022. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A very nice clear ruby purplish red colour (getting darker towards the end of the bottle), with a one finger pinkish head that had good retention and eventually settled to a ring around the glass, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Grape and cherry hard candy, grape skin, red wine vinous, light funk, musty, a touch sweaty, and notes of tart blackcurrant.
Taste: Sour, tart, red wine vinous, grape skin, mixed berries hard candy sweetness, funky, musty, oak, and lemon zest.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Loved this. Drinks great, and the aroma and flavours were balanced and just exactly what I enjoy.

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brasserie Cantillon, Lambic - Gueuze

Cantillon Brabantiæ

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Brewery: Brasserie Cantillon
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6%
Style: Lambic – Gueuze

Brewer Description: (from bottle) The Gueuze Brabantiæ is the result of a blend of three year old Lambics aged in Porto barrels. Best enjoyed within 20 years of the bottling date. The flavor of the beer will evolve over time.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.49
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, 2018 vintage, bottled on 25th November 2018. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A very nice clear golden orange colour with a one finger white head that had good retention, and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Apple skin, funk, dusty, musty, sweet grapes, plum, oak, lemon zest.
Taste: Lightly sour, sweet grapes, raisins, port barrel, oak, funky, dusty, lime, lemon zest.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Enjoyable flavours with good barrel and funk complexity.

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

3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze Cuvée Armand & Gaston Langste Kook

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7.4%
Style: Lambic – Gueuze
Other Notes: Blend°42, Season 21/22

Brewer Description: (from bottle) For this Langste Kook / Longest Boil – a special version of the Cuvée Armand & Gaston – we brewed a typical lambik wort, but with an extended boiling time. We usually boil for five hours – the highest in the lambik world and about tenfold of modern beer brewing. Now, we boiled a whopping eighteen hours. 18. Hours. After a full year of barrel fermentation and maturation, we blended with a young portion of lambik to assure continued bottle fermentation. With a weighted average age of the blend of almost twelve months upon bottling, this is a rather young geuze, but all lambikken were brewed with Pajottenland grains from our own Cereal Collective.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.24
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°42, season 21/22, bottled on 23rd February 2022. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy copper amber orange colour with a just over one finger beige head, that had good retention and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Tart, bright, lemon zest, citrus rind, green apple, oak, musty, funk.
Taste: Sour, tart, grapefruit, citrus rind, green apple, oak, funk, with hints of berries and caramel.
Mouthfeel: Smooth, medium bodied with moderate to light carbonation.
Overall: An interesting variant, that’s not quite as good as the original, but it’s young, has a great aroma, and drinks easy.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brasserie Cantillon, Lambic - Fruit

Cantillon Menu Pineau

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Brewery: Brasserie Cantillon
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.5%
Style: Lambic – Fruit

Brewer Description: (from bottle in French) Assemblage de lambic de un et deux ans d’âge avec du raisin Menu Pineau en provenance du Domaine des Vins Contés en Val de Loire.

(translated to English) Blend of one and two year old lambic with Menu Pineau grapes from the Domaine des Vins Contés in Val de Loire.

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

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, 2019 vintage, bottled on 18th November 2019. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden orange colour with a just over one finger white head that slowly dissipated to a ring around the glass while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Tart, grape skin, dusty, musty, funk, leather, oak, lemon zest.
Taste: Sour, tart, grape skin, white wine vinous, lime, oak, damp wood, musty, funk, citrus zest.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium bodied, with soft to moderate carbonation.
Overall: Very enjoyable with great aroma and flavours, and balanced fruit and funk, showing good complexity.

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

Harviestoun Ola Dubh Special Reserve 18

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Brewery: Harviestoun Brewery
Country: Scotland
ABV: 8%
Style: Old Ale
Other Notes: Aged in Highland Park 18 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky casks

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Aged in selected oak casks, formerly used to mature Highland Park’s beautifully balanced 18 Year Old 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 bring back the Ola Dubh, 18 year old. This award winning ale has delicate notes of dark chocolate, tangy oak and dried fruit shining through.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.04
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 330ml black foiled and capped bottle, bottle no. 08466, bottled in October 2021, and a best before end date of November 2024. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark brown to black 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, nutty, dried dark fruit, whisky, with light notes of caramel and peat.
Taste: Roasted malts, dark chocolate, coffee bean, whisky, oak, light nutty, a touch bitter, with notes of smoke.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Aroma and flavours were balanced, but I probably prefer the 16 slightly more with the extra dark fruit and sweetness.