All posts by kitch

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Against The Grain Brewery, Beer Reviews, Farmhouse Saison, USA

Against The Grain Fruitus The Farmer Beescake

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Brewery: Against The Grain Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 8%
Style: Belgian Saison
Other Notes: All Funked Up Wild Series

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Melon and honey Saison finished with Brettanomyces.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.84
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 750ml bottle with no bottled on or best before date that I could see. A slow gusher when opened. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy golden orange colour with a two finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly to a settled thin layer and sparse lacing.
Aroma: Light peppery spice, hints of mustiness, some tropical peach and orange juice with an interesting melon-y honeydew and cantaloupe in the background.
Taste: Quite sweet honey, cantaloupe, honeydew, blood orange with hints of funk and pepper spice.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate prickly carbonation.
Overall: This was nice and interestingly different with the melon aroma and flavours. It’s actually great for summers, but I would have preferred it in a small bottle as it is quite sweet.

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), Beer Reviews, Beerbliotek, German Berliner Weisse, Sweden

Beerbliotek Nah… Just Had Some Ice Cream

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Brewery: Beerbliotek
Country: Sweden
ABV: 3.5%
Style: German Berliner Weisse
Other Notes: 330ml of 2800L. Blueberry & Lactose Berliner

Brewer Description: (from can) In this Berliner, which is our eighth in this series, we mixed a blend of Blueberries, Lactose and Vanilla to create a wonderfully colourful, semi-sour, low ABV beer. Perfect for winter, as it will remind you of summer.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.25
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.1

Intro: A 330ml can with a best before date of 20th December 2017. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A nice clear ruby red colour with a purplish hue and a one finger pink head that dissipated fairly quickly while leaving only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Berry fruit, vanilla, ice cream and yoghurt.
Taste: It was like watered down mixed berry juice with hints of vanilla, lactose and yoghurt. The taste disappears to nothing quite fast.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Tastes too watered down for me to enjoy it fully and on top of that, the taste disappears really fast from your mouth and just leaves you with nothingness.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Beerbliotek, German Berliner Weisse, Sweden

Beerbliotek What’s Better Than Eating A Mandarin?

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Brewery: Beerbliotek
Country: Sweden
ABV: 3.5%
Style: German Berliner Weisse
Other Notes: 330ml of 2000L. Mandarin, Mango & Ginger Berliner

Brewer Description: (from can) For answers to riddles like this one and more, please have a look at the joke book on your uncle’s bookshelf or maybe just Ask Jeeves.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.55
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.3

Intro: A 330ml can with a best before date of xx October 2017 (xx was rubbed off). Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A hazy straw yellow colour with a one finger white head that dissipated to nothing almost immediately and no lacing.
Aroma: Mango, orange, mandarin with a dash of lemon, lightly tart, but not getting much ginger.
Taste: Sour unripe mango, ginger ale, orange, lemon and wheatiness on the back end.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: Was not great with my first sip, but I must say that it grew on me and got somewhat better. I think it was the ginger that threw me off at first.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), American Double IPA, Beer Reviews, Green Flash Brewing Co., USA

Green Flash Palate Wrecker

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Brewery: Green Flash Brewing Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 9.5%
Style: American Double IPA
Other Notes: 100+ IBUs. 6lbs of hops per barrel. Hops – Centennial, Columbus and Simcoe

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Our heavy hitter. Weighing in at six pounds of hops per barrel, Palate Wrecker stands up to the hoppiest heavyweight in the ring. A complex double-brewing process of mashing and sparging with hopped wort and special hop layering techniques used during a hop crisis define this champion. An abundance of Centennial, Columbus and Simcoe hops challenge and stun hop heads with an aggressive hop-forward attack. Your palate will recover, but you will remember that last round forever.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.82
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle with a best before date of 8th August 2017. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A very nice clear copper amber colour with a two finger off white head that had great retention and left lots of nice sticky lacing.
Aroma: Earthy, piney with citrus mandarin, sweet candied orange and hints of caramel malt.
Taste: Strong bitterness, lots of citrus rind, and whenever they can get through the bitterness, there’s some pine, orange, grapefruit, citrus peel with hints of bready malt and caramel.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: It was nice but this definitely was a palate wrecker. A whole lot of bitterness, which I can certainly enjoy every now and then, but not too often.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), American IPA, Beer Reviews, Boston Beer Company, USA

Samuel Adams Rebel IPA

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Brewery: Boston Beer Company
Country: USA
ABV: 6.5%
Style: American IPA

Brewer Description: Didn’t try too hard to find, but the official description for the Rebel IPA was already replaced by the newer 2017 version, of which this was not.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.47
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.3

Intro: A 355ml bottle with a notched best before date of March 2018. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A nice and clear dark orange copper colour with an almost two finger white head with good retention while leaving lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Sweet caramel and biscuit malt with hints of grapefruit and pine.
Taste: Very malty caramel and biscuit, with light pine and grapefruit and some lasting bitterness on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation and a dry-ish finish.
Overall: Not bad, but too malty an IPA for my liking. Apparently the new version of the Rebel IPA they made in 2017 is more tropical fruity and I feel that may be more my thing.