All posts by kitch

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Anderson Valley Brewing Company, Beer Reviews, Stout, USA

Anderson Valley Wild Turkey Bourbon Barrel Stout

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Brewery: Anderson Valley Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 6.9%
Style: American Stout
Other Notes: Aged to perfection in bourbon barrels

Brewer Description: (from website) Aged for three months in Wild Turkey® Bourbon barrels, this luxurious stout has a deep ebony hue and a beautiful mahogany head. The woody, vanilla-like notes imparted by the barrels mingle with aromas of fresh baked bread, toffee, and espresso and envelop the rich chocolate and roasted barley flavors with a fine bourbon character.

Our exclusive partnership with Wild Turkey® gives us a world class, consistent source of barrelage, allowing our brewers to explore new frontiers in barrel-aged craft beer. Since its introduction, Wild Turkey® has maintained a distinctive distillation and aging process that gives it a smooth taste and a lingering flavor. They also use differentiated process whereby the bourbon is distilled at a low proof to seal in its flavors. Very little water is added to the bourbon, resulting in a full-flavored authentic taste similar to what one would get straight out of the barrel. Wild Turkey is a genuine drink with a sought after “burn” that comes from its high proof, an attribute fundamental to the brand and critical in maintaining its authentic bourbon characteristics.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.59
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.5

Intro: A 650ml bottle with no clear bottled on or best before date. Poured into an Anderson Valley ‘can’ glass.
Appearance: Dark brown to black in colour with a big almost four finger tanned head that had pretty good retention and left some lacing.
Aroma: Roasty, chocolate, bourbon, vanilla with hints of coffee and oak.
Taste: Bourbon sweetness and oak with only hints of any roast, chocolate or stout in the background. The roastiness comes out more as it warms, but in the end still not enough for me.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Too much bourbon and a lack of stout identity for me. For the amount of bourbon, body was also lower than I prefer.

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Farmhouse Saison, VBDCK Brewery

VBDCK Kerel Saison

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Brewery: VBDCK Brewery
Country: Belgium
ABV: 5.5%
Style: Belgian Saison
Other Notes: 22 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from website) Everybody knows that if you want a great Summer body, you need to work on it during Winter. The same goes for this beer’s complex body of flavours. It is traditionally brewed during Winter and savoured during Spring/Summer. It’s usually very fruity with deep earthy yeast tones and a mild tartness. The VBDCK version has all of that, plus a dry character and medium bitterness perfectly suited to bathing-suit-season and beyond.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.21
My ratebeer.com rating: 3

Intro: A 330ml bottle, brew 1823, with a best before date of 27th March 2021. Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.
Appearance: A hazy dark golden colour with a just over one finger white head that had good retention and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Sweet malt, yeast, coriander, banana, bread and slight pepper.
Taste: Flavours were a little weak. Sweet malt, yeast, banana, light herbal, watery.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with soft to moderate carbonation.
Overall: Flavours were quite light and watery while carbonation and pepper spice was not strong enough. But I did like the unique bottle shape.

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Fruit Beer, Vliegende Paard Brouwers

Préaris Pomegranates of Love

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Brewery: Vliegende Paard Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 3.5%
Style: Fruit Beer

Brewer Description: (from website in Dutch) Tarwebier gebrouwen met granaatappel 4% abv. Eenmalig gebrouwen in maart 2018.

(translated to English) Wheat beer brewed with pomegranate 4% abv. Brewed once in March 2018.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 2.97
My ratebeer.com rating: 2.7

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a notched best before date of March 2020. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden straw yellow colour with a huge four finger white head that had excellent retention but left only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Dusty, wheat, citrusy lemon zest, slight sweet malt, caramel and apple juice.
Taste: Light flavours, wheat, sweet malt, lemon zest, citrus peel and hints of pomegranate.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Considering pomegranate was in the name, it’s a pity that it wasn’t more prominent. I also wasn’t too fond of the ‘dustiness’ in the aroma. Just didn’t really work out for me.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Omnipollo, Sour Ale, Sweden

Omnipollo Bruno

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Brewery: Omnipollo
Country: Sweden
ABV: 3.5%
Style: Sour Ale
Other Notes: Brewed by Omnipollo at De Proef Brouwerij (Belgium)

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Raspberry lime crush sour.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.78
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 20th December 2019. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A murky light beetroot reddish purple colour with an almost two finger pinkish head that had pretty good retention while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Crushed raspberry juice, lime, tequila, mint, herbal.
Taste: Sour, tart, raspberry, lime, mint.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium bodied with soft to moderate carbonation.
Overall: The idea is right, and based on my taste descriptors, everything sounds like it should work. But for some reason, it just didn’t quite pull together as well as it could have.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Czech Pilsner, En Stoemelings x Blind Enthusiasm Brewing Company

En Stoemelings x Blind Enthusiasm Papy Vandepils

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Brewery: En Stoemelings x Blind Enthusiasm Brewing Company
Country: Belgium
ABV: 5%
Style: Czech Pilsner

Brewer Description: (from Belgian Beer and Food facebook post) Papy Vandepils is a collaboration between Brussels brewery En Stoemelings, and Blind Enthusiasm from Edmonton Canada. It’s a simple and delicately balanced beer, with a grainy, cereal like flavor, followed by a long satisfying dryness. As you may have noticed from our editorial, some members of the Belgian Beer and Food team have an emotional attachment to it, since it represents a coming of age for our friends at En Stoemelings, and ranks as the best thing they’ve made so far. But, it’s a worthy choice in and of itself. According to Denys one of the brewers who made it, the trick is to have the right mix between Heidelberg and Pils malt, two weeks of lagering, and three weeks of maturation, plus clinically clean stainless-steel equipment and lots of love. As to what inspires this beer, the brewers mention Tipo Pils and Rulles Pils, but emphasise that the real reference is a classic Czech Pilsner.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.44
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.3

Intro: A 330ml bottle, with a best before date of July 2019. Poured into a De Struise glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden colour with a big three finger white head that had excellent retention and left lots of nice sticky lacing.
Aroma: Sweet, lemon zest, bready, yeast, grass, tea and light floral notes.
Taste: Light bitterness, lemon zest, citrus rind, grass, grains, pepper spice and hints of bread.
Mouthfeel: Dry, light bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: Easy drinking Pilsner but at the same time not as crisp as others that I prefer.