Category Archives: Almanac Beer Co.

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

Almanac Farmer’s Reserve Grand Cru

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Brewery: Almanac Beer Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 10.2%
Style: Wild Ale
Other Notes: Farm to barrel

Brewer Description: (from bottle) An Imperial Sour Ale aged in white wine barrels with California grown muscat blanc grapes.

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

Intro: An admittedly forgotten in the cellar but still tasting good, 1 pint 9.4 fl. oz. bottle, bottled in Autumn 2015. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A nice lightly hazy golden orange colour with a one finger beige head that had decent retention, but left only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Fuji apple and apple peel sweetness, light tartness, peach sour gummy, lemon peel, white wine grapes, vinous, oak, and vanilla.
Taste: Sweet Fuji apple, tart, peach sour gummy, white wine grapes, lemon, light funk, oak, with light notes of vanilla.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Despite being forgotten in the cellar, this turned out to be still really good, with a good balance of sweet, tart, and funk. It drinks really easy and doesn’t feel ‘Imperial’ at 10.2% ABV.

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4 - Good (buy), Almanac Beer Co., Beer Reviews, Belgian Flanders Red Ale, USA

Almanac Grand Cru Red Ed. 2

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Brewery: Almanac Beer Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 10.5%
Style: Belgian Flanders Red Ale
Other Notes: 2016 vintage

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Imperial Sour Red Ale, aged in red wine barrels, brewed with grapes, raspberries and vanilla beans.

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

Intro: A 1 pint 9.4 fl. oz. bottle, bottled in Autumn 2016. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy but bright orange red colour with a thin beige head that dissipated quickly while leaving only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Sour, tart, sweet, candy like, raspberry, cherry, grape jelly, vanilla, oak, and a touch vinous.
Taste: Sour, sour candy, raspberry, grape jelly, lemon juice, vinous, vanilla, oak and some light acidity.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium to full bodied, with moderate carbonation.
Overall: A very nice and balanced Sour Red Ale with enjoyable candy like fruity flavours, and alcohol non-existent and well hidden despite being 10.5% abv.

4 - Good (buy), Almanac Beer Co., Beer Reviews, Stout - Imperial, USA

Almanac Coffee Barbary Coast

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Brewery: Almanac Beer Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 10%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Imperial Stout brewed with coffee, cacao nibs, vanilla beans, chili peppers, sea salt and oak. Brewed with coffee roasted by Sightglass and cacao nibs from Dandelion Small Batch Chocolate

Brewer Description: (from can) Every great city has its wild side, and in 19th century boomtown San Francisco, that was The Barbary Coast. All manner of debauchery ran unchecked here for decades. But from this chaotic cauldron emerged San Francisco’s vibrant jazz culture and a rich legacy of poets, artists, writers and entertainers. Inspired by this creative tradition, this decadent imperial stout was brewed with oak staves, sea salt, a hint of spicy chili, Dandelion Chocolate’s cacao nibs and Sightglass Coffee. Pair with rich chocolate cake and a flair for the adventure!

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.35
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 16 fl oz can, canned on 13th December 2016. Poured into a snifter.
Appearance: Black in colour with a very thin brown head that dissipated quickly and left sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Light dark fruit followed by milk chocolate, roasty coffee and vanilla with perhaps some light spice.
Taste: Milk chocolate, cacao and coffee with a hint of chili pepper spiciness and salt.
Mouthfeel: Smooth, creamy, medium bodied with moderate to low carbonation.
Overall: Very nice flavours of chocolate and coffee which was well balanced with chili and salt.

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), Almanac Beer Co., Beer Reviews, USA, Wild Ale

Almanac Valley Of The Heart’s Delight

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Brewery: Almanac Beer Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 7%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Farm to barrel

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Sour blonde ale aged in wine barrels with apricots & strawberries

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.28
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 375ml bottle, released in February 2017. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden yellow orange colour with a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly to a ring around the glass that lingers and left some sparse lacing.
Aroma: Oak, strawberry, apricot, peach, tart mixed berries, with some funk, leather, straw and white wine.
Taste: Tart and tangy lemon, apricot and strawberry, followed by a touch of oak, vanilla, funk and leather.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate prickly carbonation.
Overall: It was very tasty and complex. I’m not usually too fond of wine barrel aging, but the addition of apricots and strawberries matched it well, and probably took it up a notch. Very enjoyable.