All posts by kitch

4 - Good (buy), American IPA, Beer Reviews, Garage Project, New Zealand

Garage Project Garagista IPA

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Brewery: Garage Project
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 5.8%
Style: American IPA

Brewer Description: (from can) Embrace the Garagista spirit – ignore convention, experiment, test the limits, and look at things a little differently. Brewed and double dry hopped with New Zealand, Australian and US hops. Great things can come from the garage.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.01
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 330ml can with a best before date of 23rd December 2015 and poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: Poured a slightly hazy orangey amber colour with a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly leaving good amounts of lacing.
Aroma: Mainly a fruity tropical and citrus mix. There’s tropical passionfruit and pineapple along with citrus orange and grapefruit. There’s also a hint of grass.
Taste: Light mango and passionfruit followed by some strong grapefruit bitterness, pine, grass and a hint of sweet malts.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with medium carbonation.
Overall: A solid IPA from Garage Project. Although this is my first GP review, I have quite a few other bottles of their beers that I look forward to trying.

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2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), Beer Reviews, Lager - Märzen / Oktoberfest, Sierra Nevada x Brauhaus Riegele, USA

Sierra Nevada x Brauhaus Riegele Oktoberfest

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Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. x Brauhaus Riegele
Country: USA
ABV: 6%
Style: German Oktoberfest/Märzen
Other Notes: Fall seasonal, one time only.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) We partnered with one of Germany’s oldest breweries – Brauhaus Riegele – to create a true festival beer unlike any other brewed in the USA. Using traditional techniques and ingredients, we’re bringing the style back to its authentic roots with a deep golden color, delicate hop note and rich malt complexity.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.15
My ratebeer.com rating: 3

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle packaged on 17th August 2015 and poured into a Duvel tulip glass.
Appearance: It poured a clear golden orange colour with a one and a half finger slightly off white coloured head that had pretty good retention.
Aroma: Toasty bread with honey and apple with a hint of caramel. Generally its the sweet aroma.
Taste: Leans on the sweet side and definitely malty and bready with some grain plus hints of caramel and toffee.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with medium to high carbonation.
Overall: This was decent and easy to drink but nothing exceptional, though it is worth a try. It’s a one time brew, but even if I could buy it again, I’m not sure I would.

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3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), American Double IPA, Beer Reviews, BrewDog, Scotland

BrewDog Born To Die 27.11.15

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Brewery: BrewDog
Country: Scotland
ABV: 8.5%
Style: American Double IPA
Other Notes: 100 IBUs. Malts – Extra Pale, Marris Otter and Pale. Hops – Amarillo, Citra, Mosaic and Simcoe.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Imagine knowing how long you have to live. What would you do? Spend some time alone gathering your thoughts, before bowing out quietly, into the night? Or would you spend every last minute rocking out, burning your way through your last days on earth, then go out with a bang?

This savage IPA was born to die. Its mayfly existence has a solitary purpose – to be a kick-ass celebration of the power of hops. Born To Die is bitter as hell, super dry, and at its best as soon as you pick it up. If our existence truly is but a brief crack of light between two immensities of darkness, you should spend it drinking beer as awesome as this.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.62
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 660ml bottle born to die on 27th November 2015 and hence poured into a Duvel tulip glass and drank on such day.
Appearance: It poured an extremely clear golden colour with a frothy one finger white head. Retention is not so good but there is some minimal stringy and dotty lacing.
Aroma: Strong tropical aromas of pineapple and mango with hints of citrus lemon, orange and pine at the finish.
Taste: Starts out with some lemon, grapefruit and pine bitterness but the finish was sweet honey with hints of bready and caramel malts. It was perhaps a bit too sweet for me at the end.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with medium carbonation.
Overall: Maybe my expectation was too high to begin with? But actually, it poured fantastically clear and the aromas were stunning. But tasting was where it started to go down. It just wasn’t as bitter as I hoped for a DIPA and the finish was just overly sweet for my liking.

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4 - Good (buy), American Double IPA, Beer Reviews, Denmark, Mikkeller ApS

Mikkeller Nuclear Hop Assault

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Brewery: Mikkeller ApS
Country: Denmark
ABV: 8%
Style: American Double IPA
Other Notes: Brewed and bottled by Mikkeller at De Proef Brouwerij

Brewer Description: (from Mikkeller blog) A tribute to the metal band Nuclear Assault, this Double IPA is bright and crisp with a combination of citrus, peach and fresh cut grass on the nose. The flavors combine tons of lemon and grapefruit peel from the hybrid hops and is rounded out by sweet caramel notes.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.17
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 200ml pour on draft at Mikkeller Bangkok into a mini stemmed wine glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy golden orange colour with a two finger white head with good retention that leaves fluffy sticky lacing.
Aroma: Pineapple, grapefruit and piney with hints of breadiness.
Taste: Citrusy and bitter with citrus peel, grapefruit and a hint of lemon and grass. Biscuit like towards the end with lasting bitterness.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with low to medium carbonation.
Overall: A great DIPA with nice bitterness. Another that I would pick up bottles of if I could.

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4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Denmark, Lambic - Fruit, Mikkeller ApS

Mikkeller Spontancassis

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Brewery: Mikkeller ApS
Country: Denmark
ABV: 7.7%
Style: Belgian Lambic (Fruit)
Other Notes: Barrel aged in oak barrels. Brewed and bottled by Mikkeller at De Proef Brouwerij.

Brewer Description: (from Mikkeller webshop) In the spontan series we present Spontancassis – this time, forming an alliance with cassis (black currant) that were generously added underway the brewing process, creating a truly unique and distinct, sour beer.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.22
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 200ml pour on draft at Mikkeller Bangkok into a mini stemmed wine glass.
Appearance: A deep dark-ish purple colour with a reddish hue and a thin half centimetre purplish pink head with minimal lacing.
Aroma: Light funk with leathery brett. Dark fruit, blackcurrant, sour berry, grape and vinegary tartness.
Taste: Tart, sour berries, blackcurrant and grape with barnyard funk. Hints of oak and sweetness.
Mouthfeel: Dry, light to medium bodied with medium to high carbonation.
Overall: A solid fruit lambic that I would revisit again if I can find a bottle version. Very easy to drink.

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