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

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Allagash Brewing Company, Beer Reviews, Belgian Strong Pale Ale, USA

Allagash Confluence Ale

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Brewery: Allagash Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 7.4%
Style: Belgian Strong Pale Ale
Other Notes: 2014 vintage. Ale fermented with Brettanomyces and dry hopped. Malts – Allagash 2-row, Malted Barley Blend, Pilsner Malt and Caramel Malt. Hops – Glacier, Tettnang and East Kent Golding

Brewer Description: (from website) Allagash Confluence is a strong golden ale that benefits from mixed fermentation and dry hopping techniques. Brewed with a blend of imported and domestic Pilsner malt, as well as a small portion of caramel malt, Confluence boasts a complex malty profile. Both our house yeast strain and our proprietary Brettanomyces yeast strain are used in fermentation. This layered approach creates a unique blend of fruit and spice flavors along with an incredibly silky mouthfeel. After fermentation, Confluence undergoes a lengthy aging process in stainless steel that allows its complex flavors to fully develop. Just prior to bottling, it is dry hopped with Glacier hops, providing a pleasant, fruity aroma.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.93
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, bottled in April 2014, and poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A cloudy pale orange colour with a thin off white head that poured thick almost like syrup and left no lacing.
Aroma: Funky, brett, stone fruit, peach, apricot, lighter citrus, lemon, yuzu, grass and a touch floral.
Taste: Stone fruit forward, mango, apricot, peach, funky, brett, more mango juice, with a splash of lemon and floral notes.
Mouthfeel: Thick-ish, medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: This was interesting… as I poured what looked a thick syrupy pour, I had the feeling that it might have gone bad. However, the aroma and flavours were great and had lots of stone fruit mixed with funkiness and brett. Mouthfeel wasn’t nearly as bad as what the pour appeared to me, but the carbonation was too light for me, and I felt that stronger carbonation could have helped balance and break down the thickness of the body.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Barleywine - English, Beer Reviews, BrewDog, Scotland

BrewDog Abstrakt AB:20

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Brewery: BrewDog
Country: Scotland
ABV: 14.2%
Style: English Barleywine
Other Notes: Tiramisu Oatmeal Milk Barley Wine

Brewer Description: (from website) Our interpretation of the classic Italian tiramisu dessert. A blend of epic English barley wine brewed with coffee, oats and milk, and a twisted complex rum cask-aged imperial stout.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.7
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.5

Intro: A 375ml corked and caged bottle, bottle 38,773 of 45,800, bottled on 14th March 2016, poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: A cloudy dark brown colour with almost no head and no lacing.
Aroma: Coffee grounds, sweet caramel malt, dark fruit, figs, plum, licorice, brown sugar and alcohol.
Taste: Sweet, caramel, chocolate milk, dark fruit, fig, raisin and a boozy finish.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, full bodied with no carbonation.
Overall: Nice aromas and interesting flavours, but I would have preferred some kind of carbonation.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Barleywine - American, Beer Reviews, Brouwerij De Molen x Hair of the Dog Brewing Company, Netherlands

De Molen x Hair of the Dog Binkie Claws BA Almond

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Brewery: Brouwerij De Molen x Hair of the Dog Brewing Company
Country: Netherlands
ABV: 11.2%
Style: American Barleywine
Other Notes: Malts – Pils, Crystal and Caramel. Hops – Simcoe and Colombus. Adjuncts – Honey and Almond Extract

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Doggie Claws Almond Bourbon Barrel Aged. BA Barley Wine-ish.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.88
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 330ml waxed bottle, bottled on 6th March 2018, and with a best before date of 6th March 2023. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: A deep dark copper amber colour with a thin beige head that sticks around while leaving fine spotty lacing.
Aroma: Marzipan, almond flakes, caramel and alcohol.
Taste: Sweet, marzipan, cherry, almond, caramel, brown sugar, syrupy and boozy.
Mouthfeel: Chewy, full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: I don’t know, I’m a bit unsure about this one. I’d enjoy one sip and the next sip would be just ok, and I’d keep flipping between the two throughout the whole drink. A strange one for me. After finishing, and much thinking throughout the sipping, I think that the almond was maybe too overpowering, and that it made it taste too pastry like for me.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Nøgne Ø x Central Cervecera x La Chingoneria, Norway, Stout - Russian Imperial

Nøgne Ø x Central Cervecera x La Chingoneria M.O.L.E.

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Brewery: Nøgne Ø x Central Cervecera x La Chingoneria
Country: Norway
ABV: 9%
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Other Notes: 63 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from bottle) MOLE… so simple… so powerful… so delicious! With good friends around the world anything can be done. Alberto and Ernesto from Central Cervecera and Isaac from La Chingoneria came all the way from Mexico City to Grimstad. Together we put the tasty MOLE in an imperial stout. That’s how you make a good beer!

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.75
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.5

Intro: A 500ml bottle from batch #1362, bottled on 4th February 2015, and with a best before date of 4th February 2020. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark dark brown to black in colour with a reddish hue and a thin to negligent dark tanned head that dissipated quickly while leaving some spotty lacing.
Aroma: Roasty, nutty, chocolate, coffee, licorice, with hints of dark fruit and char.
Taste: Light roast, chocolate milk, licorice and touches of dark fruit.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Not as roasty and body was lighter than I’d prefer, maybe too “chocolate milk” like.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), 8 Wired Brewing Co., Beer Reviews, New Zealand, Smoked Beer

8 Wired Barrel Aged Smoked Imperial Porter

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Brewery: 8 Wired Brewing Co.
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 11%
Style: Smoked Beer
Other Notes: 2011 vintage

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A Manuka smoked Imperial Porter, refermented with farmhouse yeast & aged in American oak barrels for 18 months.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.85
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 1 pint 0.9 fl. oz. bottle, 2011 vintage. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark dark brown to black in colour with a half finger brown head that stuck around for a bit while leaving some spotty lacing.
Aroma: Roasty, dark fruit, prunes, raisin, smoke. Maybe just call it smoked prunes.
Taste: Roasty, moderately sour, prunes, raisin, smoked dark fruit, oak, chocolate, cocoa.
Mouthfeel: Full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Interesting flavours which perhaps could be described just as ‘sour smoked prunes’. I’m unsure if this is past its prime, but if there was just a little more roast malt, chocolate, cocoa to balance the sour part, it would’ve been even better.