All posts by kitch

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, England, Euro Sour Ale, The Wild Beer Co.

Wild Beer Sourbeest

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Brewery: The Wild Beer Co.
Country: England
ABV: 5.9%
Style: Euro Sour Ale
Other Notes: Stout + Sour + Chocolate + Barrel-aging

Brewer Description: (from bottle) We believe exceptional brewing stems from imagination and passion. It’s not just a process. By embracing our environment and being free of rules and tradition, we can add a Wild 5th element to our beers – in this case a locally harvested culture of yeasts and bacteria from the famous Somerset orchards. We want to give you a truly memorable drinking experience. We want to alter your perceptions and thrill your taste buds. We want you to Drink Wildly Different. Sourbeest is a sour stout made by the magic of spontaneous fermentation and aged in oak barrels for over 9 months. We use the second running’s from our Imperial Stout, Wildebeest, as the base for this beer and let the yeast and bacteria in the air inoculate the cooling wort and start their own magical fermentation. The beer then goes straight into oak barrels to ferment and mature over many months until we deem it ready for your drinking pleasure. A taste of chocolate coated sour cherries fills the mouth. A proper treat!

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.36
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.2

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 14th January 2018. Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.
Appearance: A moderately dark brownish red colour with pretty much no head, with any head that was there, dissipating almost immediately, while leaving only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Tart and sour mixed berries, vinous red wine, cherry, oak with hints of chocolate in the background.
Taste: Milk chocolate, lightly tart, cherry, mixed berries, vinous, grape with perhaps some light oak.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with low carbonation.
Overall: The tart and sour part was actually pretty good. However, the chocolate came through in the taste every now and then, and while it wasn’t overpowering, I didn’t think it combined too well with the sour parts. I also felt that the carbonation was too light.

4 - Good (buy), Almanac Beer Co., Beer Reviews, USA, Wild Ale

Almanac Vanilla Cherry Dogpatch

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Brewery: Almanac Beer Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 7.6%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Farm to barrel. Barrel aged in oak

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Sour red ale aged in wine barrels with cherries and whole vanilla beans.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.46
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 375ml bottle, released in May 2017. Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy pinkish orange colour with a one finger white head that dissipated quickly and left sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Sweet and tart cherry, vanilla, oak and red gummy candy.
Taste: Very similar to the aroma with sweet and tart cherry, vanilla, oak and a light citrus tang.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: This was really nice and enjoyable. The vanilla and oak mixed really well with the cherries.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Denmark, Porter - Baltic, Thisted Bryghus x Mikkeller ApS

Thisted x Mikkeller Beer Geek Limfjords Porter

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Brewery: Thisted Bryghus x Mikkeller ApS
Country: Denmark
ABV: 7.7%
Style: Baltic Porter

Brewer Description: (from ratebeer description) Beer Geek Limfjordsporter is a double stout with coffee and licorice. A collaboration between Mikkeller and Thisted Bryghus, based on the world’s best stout “Beer Geek Breakfast Stout” and “Limfjordsporter”.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.15
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 17th May 2018. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a one finger dark tanned head that dissipated fairly quickly while leaving some sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Roasted malts and coffee with a light smokiness. There is also some chocolate and liquorice in the background.
Taste: Rich bittersweet chocolate, coffee powder, light burnt smokiness with hints of liquorice and prunes. Nice balance of sweet and bitter.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to low carbonation.
Overall: I think I was surprised about how good this was, in particular that rich bittersweet chocolate flavour. Very enjoyable.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, England, Siren Craft Brew, Stout

Siren Broken Dream Bourbon Coffee

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Brewery: Siren Craft Brew
Country: England
ABV: 6.5%
Style: American Stout

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This special edition of Broken Dream is brewed with our very own bourbon barrel-aged coffee. We source the finest green beans, age them in wet barrels for at least 12 months before roasting in small batches when required.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.76
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 4th January 2018. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: It poured black in colour with a less than one finger brown head that dissipated quickly and left only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Roasted malt, coffee, chocolate and brown sugar.
Taste: Roasty malt and milk coffee with only hints of chocolate, vanilla and oak.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: This was ok, but given the name, even if its just the coffee beans aged in bourbon barrels, I was expecting some bourbon flavours, but unfortunately, I got nothing at all.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, England, Stout - Milk / Sweet, Weird Beard Brew Co.

Weird Beard Double Perle

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Brewery: Weird Beard Brew Co.
Country: England
ABV: 8.6%
Style: Milk / Sweet Stout
Other Notes: A coffee milk stout. Brewed in partnership with Has Bean Coffee with Nicaragua Finca Limoncillo Pacamara Natural ‘Funky’ beans

Brewer Description: (from bottle) When it came time to brew our 100th brew at Weird Beard we knew we had to do something special to celebrate. We decided there was no need to venture too far from our roots, and would brew a bigger version of a classic. Black Perle was an obvious choice. Back in the days when Gregg Irwin & I were just two home brewers giving our prototypes at bars and festivals, it was a firm favourite. A firkin of Black Perle was the first beer we ever sold from the brewery, and was the first beer I ever bought in a bar that I had made. Double Perle is essentially the same recipe as Black Perle with a few small tweaks and a lot less water. This concentrates all the flavours we love, but makes it a bigger, more luxurious experience. This beer proved so popular, we have decided to add this to our occasional brews, so expect to see this around all year round, but in limited quantities. So here it is, our thank you to you for keeping our brewing aspirations alive.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.68
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 330ml bottle, batch no. 0360, bottled on September 2016, with a best before date of September 2020. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a one finger brown head that dissipated over the course of about a minute while leaving some nice curtain lacing.
Aroma: Coffee bean, coffee, light roast, chocolate, chocolate milk with hints of oak.
Taste: Dark chocolate, cocoa and coffee. Light sweetness to begin, while there was a hint of booze and a lengthy but moderately bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Full to medium bodied with light carbonation.
Overall: Nice coffee and chocolate flavours and bittersweet finish. Would have preferred if the booze could have been hidden in a Milk Stout though, and this was only 8.6% ABV.