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

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), Beer Reviews, Farmhouse Saison - Fruit, Trillium Brewing Company, USA

Trillium Double Apricot Stonington

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Brewery: Trillium Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 6.7%
Style: Farmhouse Saison – Fruit
Other Notes: New England Wild Saison with apricot aged in oak barrels. Hops – US Goldings. Malts – Valley Pilsner, Valley Danko Rye and Valley Wheat. Adjuncts – Apricots

Brewer Description: (from website) The base beer for Double Apricot Stonington was brewed with 100% Valley Malt and fermented by our native New England mixed culture which was collected from grape skins at Saltwater Farm Vineyard in Stonington, CT where JC & Esther Tetreault were married. This New England Saison is aged in French oak Chardonnay casks for sixteen months to layer in a bright vinous character before being blended back into stainless to carry out a secondary fermentation on 4.5 pounds of apricots per gallon for three months.

Out of the bottle, Double Apricot Stonington pours a hazy orange color, immediately announcing itself by swirling a bevy of stone fruit aromatics with undertones of bright white wine, lightly toasted oak and a mild funk. The amplified quantity of fruit used intensifies flavors of apricot nectar, yellow peach, overripe pineapple and tart, freshly squeezed orange that meld together and crash over the palate in bold waves. Balanced by a light biscuity malt backbone, Double Apricot Stonington is splendidly sour with a crisp, semisweet finish accentuated by an elegant floral note and bellini-like effervescence.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.33
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.1

Intro: A 330ml bottle, bottled on 1st November 2018. Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.
Appearance: A hazy orange juice orange colour, with a very thin off white head that disappeared almost immediately, and left no lacing.
Aroma: Tart, intense apricot, with notes of peach and oak.
Taste: Sharp, intense sour, tart, apricot, with a hint of oak and white wine.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: While the flavour wasn’t bad, it could not hide the balance which was off, as the sourness was just too sharp and intense that it distracts from, and hides the other flavours. It also felt rather uncomfortable at times, and just wasn’t easy to drink.

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), Beer Reviews, Brouwerij De Molen, Netherlands, Stout - Russian Imperial

De Molen Hel & Verdoemenis Bruichladdich BA Brett

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Brewery: Brouwerij De Molen
Country: Netherlands
ABV: 11%
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Imperial Stout-ish

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Bruichladdich BA, brett yeast (give it some time please).

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 2.79
My ratebeer.com rating: 2.7

Intro: A 330ml black waxed bottle, bottled on 28th January 2016, with a best before date of 28th January 2041. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with no head and no lacing.
Aroma: Aroma is quite complex, whisky, dark fruit, brett, dark malt, light roast, chocolate, oak, boozy.
Taste: Light roast, earthy, dark malt, chocolate, whisky, herbal, slightly sour, medicinal.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: I don’t know. The aroma was quite complex but it was on and off. Every time I took a whiff, it changed a bit. But the taste really didn’t work for me. It didn’t really come together. I tried the Bruichladdich (peated) BA after this, and that was enjoyable. The brett just didn’t do anything for me here.

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), Beer Reviews, Canada, Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery, Porter - Imperial

Flying Monkeys Acadian Groove

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Brewery: Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery
Country: Canada
ABV: 10%
Style: American Imperial Porter
Other Notes: Canadian Maple Porter

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Sugar Season – Acadian Groove emerges from the changing tempo of Spring in rural Ontario. Here, we go with the flow of 3000 tapped trees and jam with the full-flavored dark syrup that Breedon’s Maple Farm sweetly pulls from the soul of that sappy stream. That syrup lends our Imperial Maple Porter its caramelized sweet taste that’s unique to the land of the Flying Monkeys.

Imperial Maple Porter – Tantalizing aromas of maple and sweet roasted malts are more than Canadian kitsch in our maple beer: they are a remembrance of the rural rhythms our lives in Ontario. Layered with the plump, creamy flavour and aroma of split vanilla pods with undercurrents of light coffee and chocolate, the warmth of this 10% ABV beer embraces the promise of spring.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.33
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.2

Intro: A 750ml bottle with the bottled on date smudged out, but I’m pretty sure it’s more than two years. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: A dark amber brown colour with a slightly less than one finger beige head that dissipated fairly quickly, but left some nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Sweet dark malt, doughy, chocolate, caramel, toffee, maple, brown sugar.
Taste: Sweet dark malt, maple syrup, doughy, caramel, toffee, brown sugar, chocolate, slight bitterness, with notes of nuts.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: On the whole it was too sweet and doughy for my liking. It wasn’t as balanced as it could have been and I was hoping for more roast, chocolate and bitterness.

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), Beer Reviews, Stout - Imperial, The Bruery, USA

The Bruery Share This: Mint Chip

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Brewery: The Bruery
Country: USA
ABV: 10.5%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Imperial Stout with mint and cacao nibs. We donate $1 for every bottle we produce in our Share This series. This release, inspired by mint chip flavors, supports the mission of Food Forward, which donates fresh produce to hunger relief agencies across Southern California.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Share This is a series of beers that spotlights unique ingredients and important causes. This imperial stout is inspired by mint chip flavors, recreated by adding spearmint leaves and cacao nibs to a rich base. It supports the efforts of Food Forward, who is chipping away at hunger relief across Southern California, reaching over 100,000 people a month with recovered fresh produce.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.46
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.1

Intro: A 750ml bottle, 2017 edition. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a one finger brown head that had good retention and left lots of spotty lacing.
Aroma: Light roast, chocolate, and strong mint, maybe too overpowering.
Taste: Spearmint, light roast, and only a hint of chocolate.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: So I like a good mint chocolate any day, but the mint really overpowers anything else in this beer and there’s just not enough chocolate and roast to support the mint. The body is also lacking and feels too thin. You have to really like liquid mint for this.

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), Against The Grain Brewery, Beer Reviews, USA, Wild Ale

Against The Grain Waking Up In Reno

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Brewery: Against The Grain Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 8.5%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: All Funked Up Wild Series

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Wine barrel aged smoked salted Sour Brown Ale.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.19
My ratebeer.com rating: 3

Intro: A 750ml bottle with no bottled on or best before date. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy amber orange brown colour with a thin beige head that dissipated fairly quickly while leaving some spotty lacing.
Aroma: Red grape, cherry, vinous, oak, herbal, caramel, toffee, nail polish, with light smoky notes.
Taste: Funky, lightly tart, red wine, vinous, oak, coconut, peppery, boozy, and only a hint of smoke.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: I think this was maybe a case of doing too much, as in the end it just seemed like a bit of a muddled and puzzling flavour profile. The wine barrel ageing was there front and centre which was fine. As far as smoked and salted goes, the smoke was barely there and I got maybe a whiff here and there, while the salt was nowhere to be found. I’m thinking that the smoke and salted part were there but rather than show up, it just affected the other flavours and just basically confused everything else. This just didn’t work for me.