Monthly Archives: May 2024

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, North Coast Brewing Co., Old Ale, USA

North Coast Old Stock Ale

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Brewery: North Coast Brewing Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 11.8%
Style: Old Ale
Other Notes: 2016 vintage

Brewer Description: (from website) Like a fine port, Old Stock Ale is intended to be laid down. With an original gravity of over 1.100 and a generous hopping rate, Old Stock Ale is well-designed to round out and mellow with age. It’s brewed with classic Maris Otter malt and Fuggles and East Kent Goldings hops, all imported from England.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.03
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 12 fl. oz. bottle, 2016 vintage. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: A cloudy medium dark amber brown colour, with a half finger beige head that dissipated quickly to a ring around the glass, while leaving only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Malty, toffee, caramel, dark fruit, prunes, plum, grape, fruit cake.
Taste: Malty, moderately sweet, brown sugar, honeycomb candy, toffee, with light dark fruit notes, plum, prunes, dates, raisin, fig, and light boozy sherry notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Balanced aroma and flavours and a good sipper.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Gueuzerie Tilquin, Lambic - Fruit

Tilquin Oude Pinot Noir À l’ancienne

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Brewery: Gueuzerie Tilquin
Country: Belgium
ABV: 8%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: 2017-2018

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Beer of spontaneous fermentation, the Old Pinot Noir Tilquin is made from the fermentation of 260g of pinot noir grapes by liter of lambic. Unfiltered and unpasteurized, this beer is refermented in the bottle.

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

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, with a neck label of 2017-2018, and a best before date of 9th January 2028. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden colour with a slight pink tint, and a one finger white head that had decent retention, while eventually settling to a ring around the glass, and leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Tart, grape skin, mixed berries, lemon zest, lightly vinous, oak, and funky.
Taste: Tart, sour, grape skin, red wine vinous, redcurrant, oak, funk, and a splash of lemon zest.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Good balanced aroma and flavours. Nice complexity, very enjoyable, and easy to drink.

4 - Good (buy), Barleywine - American, Beer Reviews, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, USA

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot

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Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 9.6%
Style: Barleywine – American
Other Notes: 90 IBUs. Malts – Caramelized & Two-row Pale. Hops – Cascade, Centennial & Chinook

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Extreme in the ‘80s and a force of flavor today. Bigfoot is a timeless beast of a beer, forever tracked for its enormous malt body and sheer hop intensity. Drink it fresh, or cellar each year’s expedition to unleash a world of new flavors over time.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.23
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 12 fl. oz. bottle, 2023 vintage, packaged 10th January 2023. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy copper amber colour with a half finger beige head that dissipated fairly quickly to a ring around the glass, while leaving nice lacing.
Aroma: Fruity, candied mixed berries, sweet grapes (muscat maybe?), piney, orange peel, caramel, toffee, and a touch of tea leaves.
Taste: Sweet beginnings, with a light to moderate bitter finish. The middle is a collection of candied dried fruit, pine, toffee, caramel, and orange peel.
Mouthfeel: Full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Nice balance between sweet and bitter. Now that I don’t think I can find this regularly, I want more…

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Denmark, Insight Cellars, Wild Ale

Insight Cellars Sunstead: White Peach

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Brewery: Insight Cellars
Country: Denmark
ABV: 6.3%
Style: Wild Ale
Other Notes: Danish Wild Ale with fresh white Saturn peaches. 2023 vintage. 2657 btls

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Our Sunstead series captures the essence of perfectly ripe stone fruits, allowing us to savor the warm flavors of summer all year long. The base beer is a blend of one, two and three-year-old Danish Wild Ales aged in white wine barrels. We racked this onto freshly destoned and crushed white Saturn peaches at a rate of over 600 grams of peaches per liter, and left it to macerate with the fruit for over a month before bottling. This complex, soft and juicy beer tastes almost like biting into a fragrant peach, transporting you back to the high days of summer no matter when you drink it.

My rating: 4+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.47
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 750ml caged and corked bottle, 2023 vintage, bottled on 31st August 2023. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden orange colour with a one finger white head that dissipated quickly, while leaving only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Juicy, fresh juicy peach flesh, peach skin, with light wood and a touch of funk.
Taste: Lightly sour, super juicy, ripe peach, peach juice, a splash of lime, and light notes of funk.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Very juicy ripe peaches in both the aroma and flavours. Really enjoyable and easy to drink.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Denmark, Insight Cellars, Wild Ale

Insight Cellars Rhineland Harmonie

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Brewery: Insight Cellars
Country: Denmark
ABV: 8.5%
Style: Wild Ale
Other Notes: Rose-inspired Danish Wild Ale with Riesling and Pinot Noir grapes from Germany. 2021 vintage. 1860 btls

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This beer is a blend of 75% two-year-old Danish Wild Ale macerated with fresh Riesling grapes from the Mosel wine region in Germany and 25% three-year-old Danish Wild Ale macerated with Pinot Noir grapes from Rhodt unter Rietberg, Germany. We carefully crafted this blend to evoke the pink hue, mild tannins and delicate fruit flavors of European rosé wines. The final blend was then aged in stainless steel to achieve a deeper and more harmonious wine character. Like a fine wine, this beer is an excellent candidate for extended aging due to its high proportion of German Riesling grapes.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.03
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 750ml caged and corked bottle, 2021 vintage, bottled on 2nd August 2023. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy pinkish orange colour, with a thin pink head that dissipated quickly while leaving only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Tart berries, redcurrant, gooseberry, grape skin, rose vinous, wet wood, with light funk.
Taste: Sour, tart, mixed berries, redcurrant, gooseberry, green apple with peel, grape skin, rose vinous, a touch green, and notes of wood.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Aroma and flavours were pretty good although a bit green for Riesling.