Category Archives: Country

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Goose Island Beer Co., Stout - Imperial, USA

Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout

Tuesday, 2 February 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Goose Island Beer Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 14.3%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: 2015 vintage. Stout aged in bourbon barrels.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Intense aromas of charred oak, vanilla, caramel & smoke.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.95
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.9

Intro: A 1 pint .9 fl oz (500ml) bottle with a bottled on date of 22nd October 2015, poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Poured an extremely dark dark brown colour with a reddish hue on the sides. Dark tanned head was very thin and did not last long and there was some thin spotty lacing.
Aroma: Rich rich aromas full of bourbon, oak, caramel, salted chocolate and vanilla.
Taste: Much like the aromas it was full of bourbon, oak, caramel, salted chocolate and vanilla. Stunning, heavenly goodness.
Mouthfeel: Full bodied, thick motor oil like richness. Low carbonation. Nice light burn as it goes down.
Overall: Wow, this was amazing… a brilliant sipper. Even drinking it 3 months in, aromas, taste and feel were already wonderful. It should develop more complexity with a year or two of aging, which is what I’m going to do with the rest of my bottles.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Australia, Beer Reviews, Mountain Goat Beer Pty. Ltd., Porter

Mountain Goat Cross Breed Seedy Goat Coffee Porter

Friday, 29 January 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Mountain Goat Beer Pty. Ltd.
Country: Australia
ABV: 6.2%
Style: American Porter
Other Notes: Crossbred Goats are LIMITED EDITION releases brewed in collaboration with like-minded folk from Australia and around the world.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Ale, Vienna, Crystal, Chocolate and Roasted Wheat malt are mashed to produce a rich, smooth chocolatey palate – a perfect pairing to the coffee. This coffee is from the El Desarrollo farmers’ group in Huila, Colombia. It’s sourced from 82 small growers who work to produce super premium micro-lots. It displays brown sugar and orange character.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.56
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.4

Intro: A 640ml bottle with a best before date of 13th July 2016. Poured into a Duvel tulip glass.
Appearance: It poured a clear dark brown with a reddish hue and a one finger beige head that dissipated quickly without leaving much lacing.
Aroma: Roasted black coffee dominates with some nuttiness and malts.
Taste: Creamy/milky coffee with notes of brown sugar and vanilla.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied but maybe slightly overcarbonated for this style.
Overall: This was a decent beer with nice aromas. However it was a little too creamy/milky for my liking and the body definitely on the light side.

1 - Poor (never again), Beer Reviews, Denmark, Euro Sour Ale, Mikkeller ApS

Mikkeller MAD4 Refshaleøen Sour

Wednesday, 27 January 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Mikkeller ApS
Country: Denmark
ABV: 6.2%
Style: Euro Sour Ale
Other Notes: Brewed and bottled by Mikkeller at De Proef Brouwerij

Brewer Description: (from website) Beer brewed with blackthorn berries.

My rating: 1
My beeradvocate.com rating: 2.62
My ratebeer.com rating: 2.3

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 7th February 2016, poured into a Duvel tulip glass.
Appearance: It poured a rather unappealing murky light mud brown colour. Looks like a cloudy thick apple juice. There was a one finger frothy and thick off white head that settles down to a thin but puffy layer with some thick sticky lacing.
Aroma: Somewhat sour funkiness with a fruity element leaning towards apple juice and cider. There is also an acidic vinegary touch.
Taste: Tart and sour at the beginning but there is no distinct lasting flavour but some bitterness. Its like as soon you get the sourness, something just cancels out all taste and its weird. Hint of vinegar, blueberry and apple, but at the same time, not really.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with mid to high carbonation.
Overall: Sour beers are good, but this was just a mess. The aromas were fine, but its taste and especially its appearance left something to be desired. I believe this was brewed once only, and that’s probably a good thing. Definitely not going for this again.

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), American IPA, Beer Reviews, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, USA

Sierra Nevada Celebration Fresh Hop IPA

Tuesday, 12 January 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 6.8%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: 65 IBUs. Malts – Two-row Pale and Caramel. Hops – Chinook, Centennial and Cascade.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) We first brewed Celebration IPA in the winter of 1981. Each year, we use only the first fresh hops of the growing season to create this complex and robust ale. Layered pine and citrus hop aromas balance delicately against rich, malt sweetness to shape this bold wintertime classic.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.11
My ratebeer.com rating: 3

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle with a packaged date of 19th October 2015. Poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: It poured a clear dark copper colour with a two finger cream coloured head that had great retention and left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Citrusy lemon, apple, piney hops and sweet but slight biscuit malts. There was also some herbal and spice here and there.
Taste: Light citrus and hop bitterness before it kicks in with some strong maltiness and surprising booze but nice spice.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: This was definitely more malty and boozy than I expected (and not in a good way). However, I will retry this again to make sure, but at the moment, I definitely prefer Hop Hunter and Torpedo IPA over this.

5 - Excellent (must buy), Australia, Beer Reviews, Belgian Dark Ale, La Sirène Brewing

La Sirène Praline

Friday, 8 January 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: La Sirène Brewing
Country: Australia
ABV: 6%
Style: Belgian Dark Ale
Other Notes: Contains nuts & lactose. Bottle conditioned, unfiltered and unpasteurised.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Our award winning La Sirene Praline is a very special Belgian chocolate style ale. Belgian dark malts combine with organic vanilla pods & cacao nibs to provide a delightful contrast of sweet & savoury. Smooth & velvety with a creamy body & fluffy head. This delicate, balanced dark ale is a seductive chocolate praline beer experience.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.52
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 750ml bottle with an enjoy before date of 17th December 2015 (so drank a little late, but I’m not so worried for this style). Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: It poured a clear dark brown colour with an amber hue and a fluffy but thin half finger tanned head that didn’t retain too well but left nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: A very nice sweet hazelnut and chocolate with a hint of brown sugar.
Taste: Much like that aroma, a tasty chocolate hazelnut cake.
Mouthfeel: Light to mid body with light carbonation.
Overall: This surprised me a lot. A very tasty beer that could replace dessert yet surprisingly not too sweet for me (and there are a lot of beers that I find too sweet). I would definitely buy this again.

words of another dreamy traveller