Category Archives: Country

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Denmark, German Berliner Weisse, Mikkeller ApS

Mikkeller Spontanberliner Frederiksdal Cherry

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Brewery: Mikkeller ApS
Country: Denmark
ABV: 4.4%
Style: German Berliner Weisse
Other Notes: Brewed by Mikkeller at De Proef Brouwerij, Belgium

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Blended ale with Frederiksdal cherries added.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.41
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 375ml bottle, with a best before date of 15th February 2023. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A dark ruby reddish purple colour with a big four finger light purple head that had decent retention and left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Tart, sour and sweet cherry, raspberry and a touch of raisin. Lightly jammy.
Taste: Sour, tart, cherry, almond, marzipan, yoghurt with a touch of oak.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: Looks great, with good cherry plus marzipan aroma and flavours. There appears to be less funk coming from the Spontan base in this Spontanberliner versus the other Spontan ales, which is not a problem, but interesting to note. I also seem to like it whenever they add Frederiksdal cherries to their beers.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Funk Factory Geuzeria, Lambic - Fruit, USA

Funk Factory Meerts – Cherry

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Brewery: Funk Factory Geuzeria
Country: USA
ABV: 4.5%
Style: Belgian Lambic (Fruit)

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Cherry Meerts is our take on the low alcohol style traditionally derived from the second runnings of Lambic. Our modern interpretation begins with Pilsner malt, raw wheat, and Saaz hops which is brewed using a turbid mash, long boil, and low hopping rate, and finally fermented in foeders with our wild yeast. This version was then refermented on tart cherries.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.25
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml bottle with no bottled on or best before date. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A very nice clear reddish orange pink colour with a thin white head that disappeared almost immediately and left no lacing.
Aroma: Tart, candy sweetness, cherry and oak with a very light hint of lemon zest and funk.
Taste: Sour, tart, cherry, vinegar, light candy sweetness, light funk, a hint of oak and a sprinkle of salt on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Nice balanced flavours of sweet and sour cherries, and the vinegary bite was there but not overdone. Funk was on the low side but didn’t take away from how enjoyable it was.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Canada, Outcast Brewing, Stout

Outcast Last Minute Stout

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Brewery: Outcast Brewing
Country: Canada
ABV: 7.5%
Style: American Stout
Other Notes: Stout with vanilla, hazelnut and chocolate added. Brewed at Coulee Brew Co. for Outcast Brewing

Brewer Description: (from can) We do our best work under stress. So with this brew, we knew we wanted to brew a bold stout but had no idea what we wanted to add to it… until four days after it went into the fermenter. This stout is bold and flavourful, with a nice smooth and roasty character that lets the additives shine. There’s no minute, like the last minute.

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

Intro: A 473ml can, with a canned on date that really isn’t too visible, but I would guess 1st November 2017, ‘nearly didn’t happen’. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: A dark dark brown to black colour with a one finger tanned head that dissipated fairly quickly but left some nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Vanilla, chocolate, cocoa, hazelnut, cream, honey with light roastiness and a touch of coffee.
Taste: Sweet-ish, light roast, vanilla, creamy coffee, hazelnut, caramel malt, biscuit, coffee and chocolate with a lightly earthy herbal finish.
Mouthfeel: Smooth, medium bodied with moderate to light carbonation.
Overall: Nice and tasty with good vanilla, creamy and nutty flavours.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, The Ale Apothecary, USA, Wild Ale

The Ale Apothecary La Tache – Fresh Hop

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Brewery: The Ale Apothecary
Country: USA
ABV: 7.09%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Fresh Hop version. Mixed fermentation ale aged in wine barrels

Brewer Description: (from tag on bottle) the beer formerly known as La Tache. (* wild & open fermented in the woods of OR. * Mecca Grade Estate Malt + wheat + Goshie Farms hops. * barrel-aged over a year & dry-hopped in oak. * OR honey + sour wort + our yeast = 100% natural carbonation from bottle fermentation.)

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.13
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 750ml bottle, batch bottled on 20th November 2017. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden colour with a two finger white head that had pretty good retention and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Tart, citrusy, lemon zest, orange rind, grass, funk, with hints of peach in the background.
Taste: Sour, tart, sour, yup I said it twice. Lemon juice and lemon with a hint of oak.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Refreshingly sour, and I could imagine it being way too sour for some, but I like it. This fresh hop version seems to have lost some of the tropical peach, apricot and grape flavours I was getting in the original La Tache. The result is pure citrusy lemon which I found to be very refreshing, especially on hot days.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, The Ale Apothecary, USA, Wild Ale

The Ale Apothecary OJ Dan

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Brewery: The Ale Apothecary
Country: USA
ABV: 7.62%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Mixed fermentation ale aged in wine barrels

Brewer Description: (from tag and label on bottle) OJ Dan (this experiment got a little juicy). OJ Dan the OG becomes the OJ. (* named in honor of our brewer Jareds’ Pa, 592 bottles produced. * Sauvie Island Hops + Mecca Grade malt + fresh orange juice. * aged in 2nd use Bulleit rye barrels and finished in an oak puncheon. * OR honey + sour wort + our yeast = 100% natural carbonation from bottle fermentation.)

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.86
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: A 750ml bottle, batch bottled on 21st September 2017. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: First pour was a very lightly hazy golden colour (but subsequent pours were a much more cloudy golden orange colour), with a big four finger white head that had pretty good retention and left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Tart, orange juice, citrus zest, tropical stone fruit like mango and peach with a touch of oak and funk.
Taste: Orange juice and citrus zest with a touch of rye whiskey, oak and funk.
Mouthfeel: Acidic, medium bodied with high carbonation.
Overall: The aroma was really nice, but taste while not bad, was a bit one dimensional, with orange juice and a splash of rye whiskey. The strong acidity and high carbonation does not make it easy to discern other flavours. I still think it’s worth a try though. I have to say though, that the more and more I drink it, the more it’s growing on me.