Monthly Archives: January 2024

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, IPA - New England / Hazy Double, Japan, West Coast Brewing

West Coast The Alchemist’s Shadow: Boss 04

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Brewery: West Coast Brewing
Country: Japan
ABV: 8.5%
Style: IPA – New England / Hazy Double
Other Notes: Hazy Double IPA. Hops – Wai-iti, Cashmere & Moutere

Brewer Description: (from website) Everyone has a Dark Side? The Alchemist’s Shadow is the Dark Soul of our Full Hop Alchemist, bound to serve the Nemesis and The Darkness. Our band of heroes must defeat and free the Shadow from the Nemesis’ grasp to weaken him and more importantly to obtain the final sigil (enough gatekeeping already?). In phase 1 The Shadow has potent peach/grape/lemongrass abilities and should be tanked by a Hop Dude with high Hop Burn Resistance. At 75% he becomes Full Bodied (resistant to physical attacks), and equips a more yeast-derived (maybe reduce pitch?) magic attack, with watermelon and lychee tank debuffs and far more heat than any of the previous bosses. It’s a race to the finish after 15%–if you’re feeling the chalkiness/sweetness you might need MORE DOTS (or drop a healer for more DPS) to push through the enrage and get him down. Epix and sigils on the other end, in addition to yet another WCB hazy trip that we hope you love as much as we had fun cooking it up!

My rating: 4-
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.98
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 500ml can, canned on 31st October 2023. Poured into a winebar glass.
Appearance: A hazy orange colour with an almost two finger beige white head that good retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Juicy, orange juice, citrus rind, tropical mango notes, and a splash of toasted coconut.
Taste: Melon, sweet mandarin, orange zest, citrus rind, a touch of mango, and a slight booze throughout.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: Good aroma, while the flavours were balanced albeit a touch boozy at times.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, IPA - New England / Hazy Double, Japan, West Coast Brewing

West Coast Full Hop Alchemist v.32

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Brewery: West Coast Brewing
Country: Japan
ABV: 8.5%
Style: IPA – New England / Hazy Double
Other Notes: Hazy Double IPA. Hops – Enigma, Sultana & Sultana Lupulin

Brewer Description: (from website) Word on the street is that our Alchemist just sits in his hop closet juggling massive bags of Big Boi IPA hops all day—not (entirely) accurate. The combos gon’ get real Hop Dudes. V32 is about to hit taps and shelves (and your squeaky clean glass… fingers crossed) and is a bold blend of two hops that are not as familiar to modern IPA savants—Enigma and Sultana. Full disclosure: it’s a little sweeter than most of our FHA offerings, and a touch out of balance (missed the mark just a touch?), likely due to a lighter body and slightly warmer mash temp (the jury is out, but adjustments are in order). It is however also absolutely delicious, loaded with fantastic FLAVORS of the lychee / white grape and overripe mango persuasions, with a subtle yet solid strawberry candy-like component. In a word V32 is very tropical, but brings all kinds of fascinating sensory in a hazy quite unlike anything we have cooked up to date.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.94
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 500ml can, canned on 6th November 2023. Poured into a winebar glass.
Appearance: A hazy darkish orange colour with a two finger white head that had good retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Grassy, orange rind, citrus zest, mango, and a touch dank.
Taste: Sweet, maybe on the verge of being too much for me. Mango, mandarin, candied grapefruit zest, and notes of citrus bitterness that helps with the sweetness a bit.
Mouthfeel: Sticky, medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Generally, it was on the overly sweet side for me, but luckily there was some citrus rind and zesty bits that helped balance the sweetness.

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

3 Fonteinen Vlierbloesem

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.2%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°79, Season 21/22

Brewer Description: (from bottle) For this Vlier, we macerated freshly picked blossoming elderflowers on two-year old lambik. For this blend, we did not backblend. The weighted average age of this Vlier still amounts to more than 29 months upon the day of bottling. Of the grains that we used during brewing, more than two thirds were sourced in our cereal collective, mostly in Pajottenland. The hops were, on average, 18 years old while brewing. 100% 3 Fonteinen. Bottle count: 528.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.38
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°79, season 21/22, bottled on 3rd June 2022. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy dark orange colour with a two finger white head that had great retention and left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Elderflower, earthy, grass, oak, damp wood, funk, with light notes of grapefruit zest.
Taste: Sour, tart, floral, elderflower, grass, hay, oak, light funk, lemon zest, grapefruit.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Enjoyable with good balance between the floral, citrus and funky elements. The key for me is that it’s not overly floral.