Category Archives: 2 – Maybe (likely wouldn’t buy, might drink)

Hof Ten Dormaal Inferno

Brewery: Brouwerij Hof Ten Dormaal
Country: Belgium
ABV: 10%
Style: Euro Sour Ale
Other Notes: Sugar was added

Brewer Description: (from bottle) On 6 January 2015, the owners of Belgian brewery Hof ten Dormaal in Tildonk, Belgium, saw their worst nightmare come true.

The brewery was completely destroyed by fire. The entire bottling line, hot room and most of the stock were burned to the ground.

Miraculously, a very small portion of our stock survived. This very special, limited edition beer is a blend of all that was salvageable from that disaster. We promise it will be far from the last from us…

And now, after months of hard work and dedication, we proudly present to you this very special limited edition beer.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 2.86
My ratebeer.com rating: 2.7

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of February 2018, poured into a Duvel tulip glass.
Appearance: It poured a slightly hazy reddish copper colour with a one finger off white head that had good retention and left some curtain like lacing.
Aroma: Simply, its sweet BBQ. There’s smoke and char mixed in with cherry and berries and maybe even a hint of peat.
Taste: Its sour and sweet with fruity cherry, raisins and red wine with a mix of smoke, char and peat. But I think the aromas is affecting my tasting, and I’m getting charred crispy bacon and bbq every now and then.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with high carbonation.
Overall: Its just so different to any other beer I’ve tried. I can understand that its largely either you like it or don’t like it beer with not much middle ground. The aromas make it quite savoury to my palate and not exactly what I’m looking for in beer. The taste was slightly better than the aroma, but the aromas is so strong that it does become quite a big factor. The 10% abv is however, well hidden. I think in the end, I finished the bottle, but its not something I’d purchase again.

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Brewdog Kingpin

Brewery: BrewDog
Country: Scotland
ABV: 4.7%
Style: Euro Pale Lager

Brewer Description: (from bottle) For years people have been suffering the maddening delusion that lager tasted of nothing. Well, we’ve got some 500 year old news for you – it tastes and then some. Kingpin is on a crusade to put lager back on top. It is lager reborn, a taste sensation for the 21st century. The crowning glory of the Pilsner dream. Brewed with 100% malt and a juggernaut of hops, this cold-conditioned King lies recumbent for a full five weeks. Expect the first wave of robust, full-bodied malt character to hit, then spicy citrus notes charge across the palate and an assertive bitter finish win the day. Kingpin, centuries in the making, moments in the glass. Lager is dead, long live the King.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 2.68
My ratebeer.com rating: 2.5

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 14th May 2017 and poured into a Mikkeller pint glass.
Appearance: It poured a clear golden colour with a one finger white head that settled to an extremely thin cap and leaves some decent lacing.
Aroma: Grain, grass, some corn and a hint of lemon.
Taste: Bready, grain, corn sweetness and grass.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Ahhh, no, I don’t get it. This was not a 21st century lager for me. Lager is not dead, Jack’s Abby makes great 21st century lager. And there are other great lagers around; this was just not one of them…

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Girardin Faro 1882

Brewery: Brouwerij Girardin
Country: Belgium
ABV: 5%
Style: Belgian Lambic (Faro)

Brewer Description: Could not find much information. Not even a website for Girardin…

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3
My ratebeer.com rating: 2.8

Intro: A 375ml bottle with the numbers 2016 and 09 on different locations on the cork. Haven’t been able to find a consensus on what this means exactly. Poured into a Lindemans flute glass.
Appearance: It poured a clear copper brown colour with a thin tanned head that kind of sticks around and leaves some nice lacing.
Aroma: Had a hard time trying to describe this, but I would say fruity plum, prunes and apple, light tartness, butterscotch and brown sugar.
Taste: Candi sugar, plum and apples. Sweet and lightly tart.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with light carbonation.
Overall: This was an ok Faro. I’m actually in two minds as to whether I really I enjoyed this though. After going through the whole bottle, I’m on the fence.

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Ballast Point Watermelon Dorado

Brewery: Ballast Point Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 10%
Style: American Double IPA
Other Notes: 90 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from website) Our Watermelon Dorado Double IPA is not one to back down from big flavors. Mash, kettle, and dry hopping blend to create a huge hop profile that is balanced with a blast of watermelon. The result is a refreshing brew that is all summer and no seeds.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 2.89
My ratebeer.com rating: 2.8

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle with a Julian bottled on date of 16053, meaning it was bottled on 22nd February 2016. Poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: It poured a clear golden orange colour with a huge four finger off white head with good retention and left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Strong watermelon with a hint of orange peel and sweet biscuit caramel malt.
Taste: A little weird like the flavours don’t mix together. There’s candied watermelon, cucumber (which I guess could be mistaken for the watermelon skin and white parts), some bitter grapefruit and fruit jello like sweetness. And none of it really came together unfortunately.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: I don’t know. I think this beer may be in the you either like it or don’t like it category. There isn’t really a middle ground. And in my case, it just wasn’t for me. It actually smells nice, but the tastes were just muddled and did not fit together for me.

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55th Street Amber Ale

Brewery: 55th Street Craft Brewery
Country: Taiwan
ABV: 5.5%
Style: American Amber Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Brewed with dried longan.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.1
My ratebeer.com rating: 3

Intro: A 330ml bottle bottled on 2nd March 2016 and poured into a Mikkeller pint glass.
Appearance: It poured a hazy amber/dark copper colour with a one finger beige head that dissipated fairly quickly but left nice streaky lacing.
Aroma: Sweet, fruity, plum, longan, raisin and some light caramel.
Taste: On the sweet fruity side with plum, prune, caramel and surprisingly only light longan.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to low carbonation.
Overall: This was an ok Amber Ale. Carbonation was too low for me, and its a little bit on the sweet side. Longan could also be more prominent in the taste.

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