Category Archives: 3 – Indifferent (might buy, probably drink)

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), American IPA, Beer Reviews, Stone Brewing Co., USA

Stone Enjoy After 07.04.16 Brett IPA

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Brewery: Stone Brewing Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 7%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: 4th Edition. Recommend aging until 07.04.16

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Really? Cellar an IPA? Yes. What you hold in your hands is an experiement. This IPA is spiked at bottling with Brettanomyces, a wild yeast that, over time, brings about charmingly unpredictable complexities of spice, funk, acidity and more. The operative words in our beer-cellaring thesis are “over time.” For those of you who are impatient or like to experiment, the earliest we recommend sampling this beer is 07.04.15. The beer won’t be fully carbonated until that date. Ideally, you’ll want to cellar the beer up to – or beyond – the Enjoy After date to help it reach its full evolutionary potential. At that point, some facets of the Brett characteristics will have mellowed, while others will have become more profound, it all matures into a fascinating and delicious culmination. Individual results will vary… and that’s both the beauty and the intent behind this beer.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.76
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 1 pint 9.36 fl oz (750ml) corked and caged bottle with an enjoy after 4th July 2016 date, and poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass. As soon as I uncaged it, the cork pretty much wanted to pop itself out.
Appearance: It poured a slightly hazy golden orange colour with a huge four finger fluffy white head that just kept going and going but somehow eventually settles to a pillow-y cap and left lots of lacing.
Aroma: Moderate brett, leathery, barnyard funk with tropical fruitiness and pine in the background.
Taste: Earthy funkiness followed by fruity lemon and pineapple, pepper spice, pine and bitterness on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation which was surprising since it looked like it was going to be highly carbonated.
Overall: Other than the bitterness on the finish, and maybe the pine, there really wasn’t much IPA feel left. Maybe a Saison, but at the same time not a spectacular one. It’s ok, I’ll still drink more, but I’m on the fence as to whether I’d get another bottle. I’m glad I tried it though.

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3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Farmhouse Saison, Prairie Artisan Ales, USA

Prairie Puncheon

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Brewery: Prairie Artisan Ales
Country: USA
ABV: 8.5%
Style: Belgian Saison
Other Notes: 25 IBUs. Farmhouse ale fermented in oak barrels. Brewed and bottled by Krebs Brewing Co., Krebs, Oklahoma

Brewer Description: (from website) Puncheon is a farmhouse rye ale fermented in large oak barrels with several different wild bacteria strains. Tropical citrus notes and sourness can be detected with hints of oak.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.7
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 16.9 fl oz (500ml) bottle with oddly no bottled on date visible. Poured into a d’Achouffe tulip glass.
Appearance: It poured a cloudy golden colour with a big three finger white head that dissipated quickly but settled to a thin cap and leaves nice lacing.
Aroma: Strong earthy musty farmhouse funk and damp wood, citrus lemon and orange as well as tropical apricot.
Taste: Tart, lightly sour, light funk, lemon, honey, apple peel, pepper spice and a touch of alcohol creeping through.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: This was quite good but there was a distinct lack of oak barrel notes that I had expected. On top of that, it was a little disappointing that a bit of the alcohol creeped out into the taste.

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3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, German Weizenbock, Germany, Weisses Bräuhaus G. Schneider & Sohn GmbH

Schneider Weisse Tap 5 Meine Hopfenweisse

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Brewery: Weisses Bräuhaus G. Schneider & Sohn GmbH
Country: Germany
ABV: 8.2%
Style: German Weizenbock
Other Notes: 40 IBUs. Hops – Hallertauer Tradition and Saphir. Malt – 50% wheat malt and 50% barley malt from the region of Kelheim

Brewer Description: (from website) Go on a discovery: “Meine Hopfenweisse” – an incomparable taste experience that exceeds all expectations…. Flowery hoppy, full-bodied with malty aromes – this is how far wheat beer can go. A special Schneider treat! It is the ideal companion to spicy dishes and refined chocolate. Fireworks for your senses. Shiny golden wheat doppelbock.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.7
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 500ml bottle with a best before date of 1st February 2017 and poured into a Riedel weizen glass.
Appearance: It poured a rather dull and cloudy orange copper colour with a two finger white head that had decent retention and eventually settled to a thin creamy layer and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Strong floral and herbal notes with orange pith and orange peel with a touch of bready malts.
Taste: Quite similar to the aroma, there is strong orange pith and orange juice flavours followed by grapefruit, floral, herbal and grass with a hint of spice, mango and bitterness.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: I can see why others might enjoy Tap 5, but for me, I’m on the fence with this one; maybe even leaning slightly towards buying it again as it is very easy to drink and does not feel anywhere near the 8.2% abv. My main conflict was the strong floral aromas and flavours which were not my favourite.

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3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Garage Project, Herbed / Spiced Beer, New Zealand

Garage Project Day of the Dead

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Brewery: Garage Project
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 6.7%
Style: Herbed / Spiced Beer
Other Notes: Brewed with smoked chipotle chili, raw cocoa nibs, vanilla and agave.

Brewer Description: (from can) Lager, but not as we know it. Garage Project’s Day of the Dead – a strong black lager inspired by the Aztec beverage xocolatl. “A bitter, frothy, spicy drink” combining cocoa and chili. Brewed with chipotle chili, refermented with organic blue agave syrup and conditioned over raw cocoa nibs with vanilla – rich and dark, Day of the Dead is smooth and drinkable with a complex mix of smoke, chocolate and restrained chili heat. A true celebration of the dark side.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.32
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.2

Intro: A 330ml can with a best before date of 24th September 2016 and poured into a Mikkeller pint glass.
Appearance: It poured a dark dark brown colour with a just over one finger tanned head that dissipated fairly quickly but settles to an extremely thin layer and left only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Chocolate, cocoa, roasted malt, corn and a touch of chili.
Taste: Chocolate, roasted malts, cocoa, a touch of vanilla and light chili heat.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied and moderate carbonation with light tingly spice.
Overall: Day of the Dead was sold as a pack with La Calavera Catrina which was also a spicy beer. However, while I did not enjoy La Calavera Catrina much, Day of the Dead was much better. The spice in Day of the Dead was there, but more restrained such that it did not take over the beer. Not great, but not bad either.

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3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), 8 Wired Brewing Co., American Amber / Red Ale, Beer Reviews, New Zealand

8 Wired Sour Poppy

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Brewery: 8 Wired Brewing Co.
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 7%
Style: American Amber Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Continuing on with all things sour, delicious and boundary pushing, this time we decided to mess with one of our core range beers. So we gave Tall Poppy the sour treatment. The recipe is pretty much the same as the original beer but using natural, live cultures we dropped the pH to a level similar to nice, tart orange juice. The result is quite spectacular and very refreshing. Cheers.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.32
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.2

Intro: A 500ml bottle with no discernible best before date (unusual for 8 Wired). Poured into a Moonzen teku glass.
Appearance: It poured a slightly hazy copper red colour with less than a half finger off white head that dissipates quickly and leaves no lacing.
Aroma: Not very strong, but there’s lychee, grape, pine and some light sourness.
Taste: Sour, strong fruit lychee followed by grape, orange and maybe some berries.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: I liked it better than the Tall Poppy which is was what it was based off of. But as per the ratings, not many others seem to have agreed with me. The recipe is supposed to be quite similar but what I like about the Sour Poppy is that it loses the booziness and caramel malt that I was not too fond of in the Tall Poppy and replaced it with sour fruitiness which I preferred. However, still not the best from 8 Wired.

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