Category Archives: USA

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, IPA - New England / Hazy Double, Root + Branch Brewing, USA

Root + Branch Dead Men on Holiday

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Brewery: Root + Branch Brewing
Country: USA
ABV: 8.5%
Style: IPA – New England / Hazy Double

Brewer Description: (from can) Multi-oat/wheat Double India Pale Ale brewed and dry hopped with Citra, Simcoe and Comet hops.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.28
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 1 pint can, with an illegible canned on date, poured into a winebar glass.
Appearance: It was a hazy milky yellow colour, with a one finger white head that had good retention and left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Tropical and citrus juiciness, mango, papaya, orange zest and rind, with a light biscuit backend.
Taste: Lightly sweet, candied grapefruit, pineapple, papaya, grass, and a citrus zesty bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium bodied with light to moderate carbonation.
Overall: Very smooth and drinks easy with good tropical and citrus fruity aromas and flavours.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Mortalis Brewing Co. x Two Tides Brewing, Sour Ale - Smoothie / Soda / Pastry, USA

Mortalis x Two Tides Hydra Fluff Motif

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Brewery: Mortalis Brewing Co. x Two Tides Brewing
Country: USA
ABV: 7%
Style: Sour Ale – Smoothie / Soda / Pastry

Brewer Description: (from can) Sour Ale brewed with pineapple, strawberry, mango, & marshmallow.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.32
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 1 pint can, with an unclear smudged date. Poured into the only glass available to me at the hotel.
Appearance: A thick carrot orange with a layer of milkshake like bubbles/head, and no lacing.
Aroma: Fruity, fruit punch, pineapple, strawberry, vanilla, marshmallow.
Taste: Lightly sweet, fruit punch, pineapple, strawberry, mango, orange, vanilla, and marshmallow.
Mouthfeel: Thick medium to full bodied, with soft carbonation.
Overall: The flavour stands out as an enjoyable fruit punch smoothie that is easy to drink.

4 - Good (buy), American Strong Ale, Beer Reviews, The Lost Abbey, USA

Lost Abbey Box Set Track #11 (Devil Went Down to Georgia)

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Brewery: The Lost Abbey
Country: USA
ABV: 12.5%
Style: Strong Ale – American
Other Notes: Bourbon barrel-aged ale with peaches & black tea

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Henry Jones Sr. and his son loved to fiddle each evening at dusk; their notes sweetly carried through the wooded acres. Their farm, Jones Peaches, was a southern institution. Many whispered their fiddling coaxed sugars from the earth making them the juiciest peaches known to man. Heaven smiled daily on the Jones’ until tragedy struck, summoning Henry Sr. to his final resting place. Henry Jr. assumed his father’s farming, but the peaches slowly became less sweet. Sales plummeted as bills piled up. One evening a curious banker in an orange suit arrived with an offer… One song, two fiddles – a duel with the land deed in the balance. Neighbors witnessed an evil thrashing and heaven guided harmonics that night. The man in orange left his gilded fiddle on top of the deed, never to be heard from again. Soon the whispers of JP’s greatness returned as Henry Sr. smiled down from above.

My rating: 4-
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.05
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A corked and caged 12.7 fl. oz. bottle, 2017 vintage, poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A dark brown colour with pretty much no head and no lacing.
Aroma: Chocolate cake, caramel, toffee, bourbon, dark rum, vanilla, black tea, dark fruit, and peachy notes.
Taste: Chocolate, caramel, bourbon, lightly herbal, black tea, oak, and a lasting bittersweet finish.
Mouthfeel: Full bodied with soft to no carbonation.
Overall: An interesting and enjoyable sipper. The black tea is there and I can even imagine the peaches at times. It makes me wonder if the peaches were more noticeable fresher, and what it would have been like.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Flanders Red Ale, The Lost Abbey, USA

Lost Abbey Cuvee de Tomme

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Brewery: The Lost Abbey
Country: USA
ABV: 12.5%
Style: Flanders Red Ale
Other Notes: Barrel-aged wild ale with sour cherries

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Bourbon & wine barrel-aged wild ale with sour cherries. You are holding in your hands one of the most elusive and sought after small batch beers known simply as Cuvee. Our Cuvee de Tomme is a blend of Old World brewing traditions and New World brewing processes. It is made from our Judgment Day ale, then aged in American bourbon and French oak wine barrels. We add some fantastic wild yeasts and sour cherries to the barrels, creating a secondary fermentation. After one year, our brewers then get together to work out the final blend. This means that each batch of Cuvee will vary slightly between bottlings. Yet, the result will always be a memorable drinking experience.

My rating: 4+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.55
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A corked and caged 1 pint 9.4 fl. oz. bottle with no clear bottled on or best before date. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: It was a dark brownish red colour, with a thin beige head that dissipated quickly, while leaving only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Cherry, vanilla, blackcurrant, oak, graphite, cabernet sauvignon.
Taste: Sour, tart, cherry, blackcurrant, blackberry, vanilla, oak, with light notes of caramel, chocolate and bourbon, and a lightly acidic finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Complex and enjoyable. Loved the aroma, while the taste was good but perhaps just a touch acidic.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Hudson Valley Brewery, USA, Wild Ale

Hudson Valley Amulet Sour Farmhouse Ale

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Brewery: Hudson Valley Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 6%
Style: Wild Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Amulet is a sour farmhouse ale conditioned on blueberries and hibiscus flowers, and aged for one year in oak. The beer is bottle conditioned with champagne yeast, so please open cold, pour carefully, and expect some sediment.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.23
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 500ml white waxed bottle, batch no. 4, poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy dark pinkish orange colour with an almost two finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly but settled to a ring around the glass, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Blueberry, floral, hibiscus, guava, herbal, basil, oak, with a touch of funk.
Taste: Sour, tart, blueberry, hibiscus, lemon, herbal, red berries, oak, and some mild funk.
Mouthfeel: Spritzy, medium bodied with high carbonation.
Overall: An interesting fruit and floral mix that gives off nice herbal notes in both the aroma and flavours. Carbonation perhaps a touch too much, but otherwise, it was enjoyable.