Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Casey Brewing & Blending, Farmhouse Saison, USA

Casey Fruit Stand Grape (Viognier)

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Brewery: Casey Brewing & Blending
Country: USA
ABV: 6%
Style: Farmhouse Saison (Fruited)

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Ale aged in oak barrels with grapes (Viognier).

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.01
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, bottled on 20th January 2017. Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.
Appearance: A mostly clear golden colour with a thin white head that dissipated quickly and left no lacing.
Aroma: White grape, vinous, oak, vanilla, funk, with peach and citrus notes.
Taste: Tart, lightly sour, white grape, vinous, oak, funk, and stonefruit.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Nice, refreshing and enjoyable with interesting fruity flavours, on top of the white grape Viognier, coming through nicely.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Hanssens Artisanaal, Lambic - Fruit

Hanssens Oude Kriek Handgeplukte Schaerbeekse Krieken

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Brewery: Hanssens Artisanaal
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6%
Style: Belgian Lambic (Fruit)

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Ale fermented with sour cherries and aged oak barrels.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.06
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 375ml corked and caged bottle, with a notched bottled on date of January 2016. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy dark ruby red colour with thin to minimal head, and no lacing.
Aroma: Sweet fruity, cherry, marzipan, acetone, oak and balsamic notes.
Taste: Sour, tart, sharp, acetic, cherry, vinegar, oak, lemon juice.
Mouthfeel: Sharp, acetic, acidic, medium bodied, with soft carbonation (but maybe feels like more because it’s so sharp).
Overall: In classic Hanssens style, it’s sharp and acidic, but luckily it’s got good cherry and oak notes, that help with what may seem harsh.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, De Kromme Haring, Farmhouse Saison, Netherlands

De Kromme Haring Manneken Vis

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Brewery: De Kromme Haring
Country: Netherlands
ABV: 6.9%
Style: Belgian Saison
Other Notes: 2020 BXL BeerFest beer pack

Brewer Description: (from bottle) We made this beer for BXL fest 2020, unfortunately cancelled due to a certain pandemic. We are still proud to release this beer as part of their exclusive beer package and hope to see you all in 2021 in Brussels. Manneken Vis is a farmhouse ale with a mix of our house saison blend and the mudking yeast/bacteria culture. We added fresh elderflowers, which our entire team picked in and around Utrecht. The result is refreshing, slightly sour and funky beer with summery aromas of the flowers and character of the yeast.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.3
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 750ml bottle from the 2020 BXL beer pack, with a best before date of end of August 2025. Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden straw yellow colour, with a two finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly, while leaving only sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Tart, sour, lemon zest, peach, floral, elderflower, lightly funky, with peppery spice notes.
Taste: Sour, tart, citrusy, lemon, lemon zest, light funk, elderflower, and light pepper spice.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Sour notes dominate, with a good balance of lemon and elderflower flavours. Very enjoyable and refreshing.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij Boon, Lambic - Fruit

Boon Oude Schaarbeekse Kriek

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Brewery: Brouwerij Boon
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6%
Style: Belgian Lambic (Fruit)

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Oude Kriek Boon with 250g/l “Schaarbeekse cherries” is a unique taste experience. These powerful cherries of Belgian origin, harvested in 2018, support the mellow and soft sourish flavour of the lambic with a very powerful, but balanced cherry expression.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.31
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 375ml corked and caged bottle, 2018 vintage, with a best before date of 3rd April 2039. Poured into a Boon stemmed glass.
Appearance: A nice hazy ruby red colour with a slightly more than two fingered pink head that had decent retention and eventually settled to a thin cap, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Sweet and sour, cherry, lightly tart and some floral notes.
Taste: Good balance of sweet and sour cherry, tart, oak, and light funk.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: While the amount of funk is low, there is a good amount of cherry and a nice balance between sweet and sour flavours. Enjoyable, worth trying again.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij Boon, Lambic - Fruit

Boon Kriek Mariage Parfait

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Brewery: Brouwerij Boon
Country: Belgium
ABV: 8%
Style: Belgian Lambic (Fruit)
Other Notes: Oude Kriek – Kriek à l’Ancienne

Brewer Description: (from website) Kriek Mariage Parfait is an “Old Style Kriek” of exceptional excellence, brewed in Lembeek, the village that gave Lambic its name. It is unsweetened, unfiltered, unpasteurised and has no artificial flavours, preservatives or colourings added. “Old Style Kriek” or “Oude Kriek” is a protected E.U. appellation. 400 g of wild cherries per litre are fermented together with a strong Lambic of spontaneous fermentation and aged on 6,200 litre oak foeders (large wooden casks) for 6 to 8 months. Kriek Mariage Parfait is naturally clarified and referments in the bottle. After a maturation of 6 months in the bottle it is ready for tasting. The alcohol content of this Lambic beer is 8% by vol. Kriek Mariage Parfait has a high ageing potential, keep it by preference for more than two years in a cool and dark place. Pour slowly in 2 dry flute glasses without disturbing the yeast sediment in the bottle and enjoy this epitome of traditional Lambic brewing. Kriek Mariage Parfait has a clear deep reddish color lambic with a nice large pink head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma: tart cherry notes with some mild lambic funk, winy, well supported by its alcohol content. Taste: dominated by loads of fresh tart cherry notes with some mild barnyard and some vanilla notes, balanced against a backdrop of musky roasted oak. Body is full with good carbonation. Serve this beer with magret of duck, roast goose, seared foie gras, foie gras terrine, gamy pâtés, aged goat cheeses.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.04
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 375ml corked and caged bottle, 2018 vintage, with a best before date of 24th June 2039. Poured into a Boon stemmed glass.
Appearance: A cloudy cherry red colour, with a two fingered pinkish head that dissipated fairly quickly but settled to a thin cap, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Cherry, oak, apple, and a touch vinous and funky.
Taste: Light sour, tart, cherry, dried cherry, vanilla, oak, funk, with some vinous notes.
Mouthfeel: Dry, light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Good cherry aroma and flavours with an interesting mix of oak, vanilla and funk.