Category Archives: USA

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Founders Brewing Company, Stout - Imperial, USA

Founders KBS – Cinnamon Vanilla Cocoa

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Brewery: Founders Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 12%
Style: Stout – Imperial
Other Notes: Barrel Aged Series. 2021 release. Imperial Stout with coffee, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and cocoa nibs aged in oak bourbon barrels

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Here’s one for the cocoa lovers: KBS Cinnamon Vanilla Cocoa – the sumptuous, deep coffee and chocolate flavors of KBS rise to the next level with a swirl of cinnamon and a hint of vanilla to create a sweet-but-not-too-sweet barrel-aged drinking experience. It’s a whole new spin on KBS that’s sure to sweeten your spirits.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.35
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 12 fl. oz. bottle, bottled on 3rd September 2021. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Pitch black with a one finger brown head that had good retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Cinnamon, vanilla, chocolate, coffee, with notes of raisin and bourbon.
Taste: Light to moderate bitterness, dark chocolate, cocoa nibs, black coffee, some sweet notes, cinnamon, vanilla, dark fruit, raisin, bourbon.
Mouthfeel: Smooth, creamy, velvety, full to medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Great aroma, and taste was nice, but the cinnamon was perhaps a bit strong. It was sweet, but there was a good bitterness that balanced it, such that it wasn’t overly sweet. A good variant, however I do prefer the original KBS more.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Black Project Spontaneous & Wild Ales, Sour Ale, USA

Black Project Mallow

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Brewery: Black Project Spontaneous & Wild Ales
Country: USA
ABV: 7.4%
Style: Sour Ale

Brewer Description: (from can) Sour Ale with blueberry and vanilla.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.75
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 473ml can, canned on 21st July 2021, poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy copper orange with a pinkish hue, and a two finger lightly pinkish head that dissipated quickly while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: A bit weak but what’s there is nice, tart, blueberry, lemon zest, vanilla.
Taste: Sour, tart, bubbly, blueberry, vanilla, lemon zest.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with overly high carbonation.
Overall: This sounded good, but in the end I was a bit disappointed. The vanilla definitely saved this beer, and without it, I don’t think I would’ve like it at all. Other than that, it was also overly carbonated as each sip just coated my gums with bubbles.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Black Project Spontaneous & Wild Ales, Sour Ale, USA

Black Project Cipher

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Brewery: Black Project Spontaneous & Wild Ales
Country: USA
ABV: 7.1%
Style: Sour Ale

Brewer Description: (from can) Sour Ale with apricot and plum.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.79
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: A 473ml can, canned on 20th July 2021, poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: It was a lightly hazy copper orange colour with a just over one finger off white head that dissipated fairly quickly to a replenishing cap, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Tart, apricot, plum, raspberry, lemon zest, with notes of candied fruit.
Taste: Sour, tart, plum, lemon, and light apricot, with a slight candied element.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied, with moderate carbonation.
Overall: The aroma was nice, but flavour wise, while not bad, there was not much complexity and a bit of a one dimensional sour.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Brown Ale - Imperial, Founders Brewing Company, USA

Founders Velvet Rush

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Brewery: Founders Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 11.1%
Style: Brown Ale – Imperial
Other Notes: Barrel aged series. 2021 release

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Borrowing elements from both high-end craft cocktails and moody jazz clubs, Velvet Rush takes the bourbon barrel-aged brown ale up an octave with free-flowing notes of coffee, chocolate and vanilla extract. Milk sugar aides in weaving together this complex tapestry of flavors to create a unique sipping experience that really ties the room together.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.86
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 12 fl. oz. bottle, bottled on 5th August 2021, poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: A clear dark brown colour with an almost one finger beige head that had decent retention and left some nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Sweet, brown sugar, chocolate, vanilla, milk, caramel, roasty, coffee bean, espresso, oak, with light bourbon notes.
Taste: Moderate to high sweetness with slight bitter notes, caramel, brown sugar, chocolate, vanilla, coffee, bourbon.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Excellent aroma as the bourbon crept through as it warmed. The flavours were a bit sweet for me though, and didn’t make it as easy to drink as I would have liked.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Farmhouse Saison, Oxbow Brewing Company, USA

Oxbow Barrel Aged Farmhouse Pale Ale

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Brewery: Oxbow Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 6.5%
Style: Farmhouse Saison
Other Notes: Barrel-aged farmhouse ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Barrel Aged Farmhouse Pale Ale is an American-hopped mixed-fermentation saison aged in American and French oak barrels.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.27
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 500ml bottle, bottled on 7th June 2021, and poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A nice hazy golden straw yellow colour with a two finger white head that had good retention while leaving nice lacing.
Aroma: Citrusy, lemon, lemon zest, lime, oak, dusty, vanilla, brett, light funk.
Taste: Light sour, lemon, lemon zest, lime, peach, with light oak and funk.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Enjoyable, refreshing, and really easy to drink.