Category Archives: Brewer

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., German Berliner Weisse, USA

Firestone Walker Bretta Tangerine

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Brewery: Firestone Walker Brewing Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 6.2%
Style: German Berliner Weisse
Other Notes: Berliner Weisse style fermented with tangerines. Barrel ratio: 100% French Oak

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Our region is blessed with an abundance and variety of fresh fruit. South of Barrelworks in the hills surrounding the hamlet of Ojai, there are groves of citrus-oranges, lemons, grapefruit and tangerines. We’ve been lucky to work with the Ojai native Friend’s Ranches who specialize in tangerines. Friend’s offered the W. Murcott tangerine which we zested for aroma, juiced for flavor, and then fermented with our base beer of Bretta Weisse to create a metamorphosis. Brought to life was Bretta Tangerine! A bountiful bouquet of citrus mingles with pronounced herbal notes, leading to funky, yeasty, citrus flavors. Soft cereal and oak aromas are enveloped by a firm acidity and tartness and punctuated by zesty tangerine. The finish is dry and crisp; a thoroughly enjoyable beverage. Santé!

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.88
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: A 375ml corked and caged bottle. Batch No. 001, bottled on 1st May 2018. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden orange colour with a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly to a thin replenishing layer, while leaving only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Funky, orange juice, mandarin, unripe mango, unripe apricot, and a touch of oak.
Taste: Light sourness, tangerine, mandarin, orange candy, oak, with a light funkiness.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: Not up to the standard of Bretta Rose, but still nice and easy drinking with good citrus, funk and barrel notes. Carbonation could be higher for a Berliner Weisse, but the lack of, doesn’t take too much away from it.

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), Beer Reviews, Brouwerij De Molen, German Berliner Weisse, Netherlands

De Molen Pina & PocoCoco

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Brewery: Brouwerij De Molen
Country: Netherlands
ABV: 4.3%
Style: German Berliner Weisse
Other Notes: Pina Coco Berliner Weisse-ish

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Pineapple & a wee bit of cocos.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 2.93
My ratebeer.com rating: 2.7

Intro: A 330ml bottle, bottled on 8th August 2018, and with a best before date of 8th August 2020. Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.
Appearance: A hazy orange colour with a huge uncontrollable white head even with a slow careful pour, that left lots of nice fluffy lacing.
Aroma: Wheaty, sweet, light clove and banana, with a touch of coconut candy.
Taste: Grainy, wheat, sweet, light clove, light banana, milk candy, and a hint of pineapple juice.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with high carbonation.
Overall: I guess not what I expected given the name and bottle description. Too sweet, lack of sourness, lack of pineapple and/or coconut, and the carbonation was so high that it was uncomfortable to drink at times.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, BFM (Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes), Italian Grape Ale, Switzerland

BFM Degustator Edizione Vin Santo

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Brewery: BFM (Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes)
Country: Switzerland
ABV: 6.5%
Style: Italian Grape Ale
Other Notes: Barrel Aged IGA Italian Grape Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) (translated from French as best as I could) Intense nose, roasted note, subtle, vinous, woody and honey. Velvety and ‘friante?’ beautiful texture, nervous acidity on the palate, long finish with aromas of bread and marzipan.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.02
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 375ml bottle, 2016 vintage, bottled in February 2017, and with a notched best before date of February 2019. Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden orange colour with small bits of sediment and a very thin white head that disappeared almost immediately and left no lacing.
Aroma: Lightly funky, vinous, white grape, honey, oak barrel, acetone and a touch of vinegar.
Taste: Sour, acidic, vinous, grapes, white wine, oak, vinegar and every now and then I was getting a herbal element near the finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: I haven’t had much opportunity to try Italian Grape Ales, but this was quite nice. Aroma was good, but the taste and mouthfeel had a slight harshness that would have been better without. However, the more I drank it, I grew to like it, and it was definitely interesting to drink.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Harviestoun Brewery, Old Ale, Scotland

Harviestoun Ola Dubh 10th Anniversary

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Brewery: Harviestoun Brewery
Country: Scotland
ABV: 8%
Style: English Old Ale
Other Notes: Ale matured in whisky casks for a full two years. Special twelve year old reserve barrels – Highland Park

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This unique, tenth anniversary edition is aged for a full two years (three times longer than normal) in casks formerly used to mature Highland Park’s legendary 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky, allowing even more whisky flavours to imbue the ale. Let’s toast a decade of barrel-aged brewing – Slainte!

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.61
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.5

Intro: A 330ml foiled and capped bottle, bottle no. 09925, bottled in October 2017, and best before end of February 2021. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: A clear dark brown colour with pretty much no head and only very sparse spotted lacing.
Aroma: Chocolate, whisky, raisin, fig, wood, caramel, with light peat and smoke.
Taste: Watery, whisky, roasted malts, chocolate, raisin, caramel, fig, dried fruit, with light roast and smoke.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: My first impression was that the body was so light that it drank like watered down whisky. It was better after it warmed as the complexity and roastiness came out and balanced the wateriness to the point that it was ok and drinkable. I easily preferred the Special Reserve 21 version though, but I am looking forward to trying the other varieties. A heavier body would have improved this.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Belgian Quadrupel, Stone Brewing Co., USA

Stone Stochasticity Project Quadrotriticale

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Brewery: Stone Brewing Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 9.3%
Style: Belgian Quadrupel
Other Notes: Malts – Pilsner and Flaked Triticale. Belgian Yeast – Ardennes Strain. Special Ingredients – Dark Candi Sugar

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Trappist ales as we know them have a proud lineage dating back nearly a century. Rather than follow the footsteps of the monks who forged the quadruple – the warmest and darkest of monastery offerings – we aimed to test its inherent makeup. In doing so, we added triticale, a hybrid grain combining the pleasant flavor of wheat with the elemental durability and spice of rye, to breathe new life into the malt bill. Because of this, this reimagined brew comes across differently than its classic Belgian predecessors, and beautifully so. Lower in sweetness, but rich with flavors mirroring dried fruit, it’s a modern interpretation of one of the most historically sacred styles on Earth.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.68
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.5

Intro: A 22 fl. oz. bomber, bottled on 9th June 2014. Poured into a Chimay goblet glass.
Appearance: A clear brown orangey colour (almost rusty) with a thin beige head that settled to a very thin layer over the top with nice curtain like lacing.
Aroma: Plum, prune skin, grape juice, caramel, toasted toffee with hints of clove and banana.
Taste: Sweet, toasted caramel, plum skin, prunes, grape juice and hints of booze.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Aroma was great, and while the taste wasn’t bad, it was perhaps too sweet for my taste.