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

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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3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Denmark, Lambic - Fruit, Mikkeller ApS

Mikkeller Spontanlemon

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Brewery: Mikkeller ApS
Country: Denmark
ABV: 7.7%
Style: Belgian Lambic (Fruit)
Other Notes: Brewed by Mikkeller at De Proef Brouwerij

Brewer Description: (from Mikkeller webshop) In the spontan series we present Spontanlemon – this time, forming an alliance with Lemon that were generously added underway the brewing process, creating a truly unique, distinct and very sour beer.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.76
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.5

Intro: On tap at Koelschip, Copenhagen, into a Mikkeller Spontan mini gueuze type glass.
Appearance: It was a clear copper colour with a half finger off white head that dissipated fairly quickly, leaving sparse lacing.
Aroma: Lemon, tart, sour, wood, oak with very light funk.
Taste: Lots of lemon. Lemon and carbonated water, sourness, some light oak and funk.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with high carbonation.
Overall: This was ok, but not one of the better beers in the Spontan series.

**Apologies for the poor photo below.

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3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Brouwerij De Molen, Netherlands, Rye Beer

De Molen Blood Orange IPA

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Brewery: Brouwerij De Molen
Country: Netherlands
ABV: 6.2%
Style: Rye Beer
Other Notes: Pale Ale-ish (Fruit Rye IPA-ish). Malts – Pils, Crystal and Rye. Hops – Apollo, Simcoe and Cascade. Dry Hopped – Cascade, Citra and Mosaic. Other – blood orange zest.

Brewer Description: (from website) 160 Kilos of blood oranges were butchered for the bloodthirstiness of a new creation in the brew house. Blood Orange IPA. Dryhopped with Citra, Cascade and Mosaic.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.66
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 330ml bottle, self described as a pale ale-ish, fruit rye ipa-ish beer, bottled on 10th March 2016, poured into a small water glass (all they had at the hotel).
Appearance: It poured a slightly hazy copper orange colour with a two finger beige head that had good retention and lacing.
Aroma: Sharp orange peel, pine and a hint of tropical pineapple.
Taste: Orange, orange peel, caramel malt and a touch of pine.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Easy to drink, but I’m not getting as much blood orange as I would have liked. Only noticed after drinking and looking carefully at the bottle that the ingredients appear to state that only the zest of the blood orange was used.

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3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Brouwerij De Molen, Lager - IPL (India Pale), Netherlands

De Molen Hoger & Lager

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Brewery: Brouwerij De Molen
Country: Netherlands
ABV: 5.4%
Style: American IPL

Brewer Description: (from De Molen taplist) Hoppy lager.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.73
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: On tap at Brouwcafe de Molen, into a De Molen tasting glass.
Appearance: It was a clear golden orange colour with a two finger white head that had good retention and excellent lacing.
Aroma: Honey, flowery, juicy fruits, mango, peach, lemon and grass.
Taste: Sweet and bitter, lemon, grapefruit and grass with a hint of mango.
Mouthfeel: Crisp, light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: A nice crisp and refreshing hoppy lager.

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