Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

4 - Good (buy), Australia, Beer Reviews, Wild Ale, Wildflower Brewing & Blending

Wildflower Gold

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Brewery: Wildflower Brewing & Blending
Country: Australia
ABV: 5%
Style: Wild Ale
Other Notes: Australian Wild Ale

Brewer Description: (from website) Gold is a blended, barrel aged Australian Wild Ale. Gold Blend #27 is a blend of 6 barrels – 1705 (15 month old Gold), 1746 (4 month old Gold), 1769 (6 month old Gold), 1813 (13 month old Gold), 1821 (11 month old Gold), 1836 (12 month old Gold).

Intense nose – ripe citrus (Meyer lemon), slate and oak melded together. Full and well structured palate. Citrus dominant but supported with dark earthy spice, cellar funk and energetic acidity. Pops of stone fruit and vanilla. Incredibly long and persistent. A standout blend of our Gold.

The base beer is brewed entirely with New South Wales cereals: Single Origin (S.O.) Riverina NSW grown Schooner ale malt and Coleambally NSW grown organic Red raw wheat thanks to Voyager Malt & Chris and Sam Greenwood. It is made with filtered Sydney water and Motueka (NZ) and Saaz (CZ) hops. Finally, it was fermented with our house culture: brewers yeast, foraged wild yeast and naturally occurring souring bacteria native to New South Wales. It was bottled on 26 February 2020 and naturally conditioned through refermentation for 23 weeks. At bottling it was 5.0% ABV, 25 IBU and 1°P (FG = 1.004 SG).

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.45
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 750ml bottle, blend #27, bottled in February 2020, and with a best before date of February 2025. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen Zenne glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden colour with a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly, while leaving some spotty lacing.
Aroma: Funky, leather, oak, lemon zest, white grape, with apricot notes.
Taste: Tart, lightly sour, white wine grapes, oak, funky, apricot, green apple, and lemon zest.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: My first Wildflower bottle and wow, this was enjoyable. Good balance of funky, citrus and stone fruit flavours.

4 - Good (buy), Against The Grain Brewery, Beer Reviews, Stout - Milk / Sweet, USA

Against The Grain 70K

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Brewery: Against The Grain Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 13%
Style: Milk / Sweet Stout
Other Notes: Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout. Angel’s Envy barrels

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Double Down! Taking 35K to the next level and ratcheting up our disdain all in one shot! Imagine a silky smooth milk stout worth $35K. Imagine what it takes to double it. We did that. Bourbon barrel aged and big, this one is worth all the money.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.35
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 750ml tightly foiled bottle, with no bottled on or best before date. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a thin half finger brown head that dissipated fairly quickly but left nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Dark roasty malt, chocolate, bourbon, molasses, oak, vanilla, boozy.
Taste: Sweet, light roast, bourbon, molasses, brown sugar, chocolate, oak, vanilla, marshmallow, with dried dark fruit and boozy notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: A very nice sipper with the sweetness balanced by good roast and chocolate notes.

4 - Good (buy), Against The Grain Brewery x Morada Cia Etílica, Beer Reviews, German Doppelbock, USA

Against The Grain x Morada Maple Bockin’ Pastries

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Brewery: Against The Grain Brewery x Morada Cia Etílica
Country: USA
ABV: 10%
Style: German Doppelbock
Other Notes: Stave It For Later Barrel Series

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Pastry style Dopplebock brewed with West Virginia maple syrup.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.25
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml bottle with no bottled on or best before date. Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.
Appearance: A dark brown almost black colour with a nice two finger tanned head that had decent retention, eventually settling to a ring around that glass, but left only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Sweet, chocolate fudge, roasty, coffee, toffee, oak, vanilla, brown sugar, and maple syrup.
Taste: Light to moderate sweetness, doughy, roasty, chocolate, coffee, oak, vanilla, maple syrup, bourbon, lightly boozy.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: A really enjoyable Dopplebock. Based on the description and the aroma, I half expected it to be too sweet, but actually the sweetness is balanced with good roasty notes, and flavours that work well together.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Denmark, Lambic - Fruit, Mikkeller ApS x Three Floyds Brewing Co.

Mikkeller x Three Floyds Blå Spøgelse

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Brewery: Mikkeller ApS x Three Floyds Brewing Co.
Country: Denmark
ABV: 7.7%
Style: Belgian Lambic (Fruit)
Other Notes: Brewed by Mikkeller at De Proef Brouwerij, Belgium

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Sour Ale brewed with blueberries and aged in oak barrels. Blueberry Bluebic.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.22
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 750ml bottle, with a best before date of sometime in 2026 (since the month was not legible). I suspect this bottle is a 2016 vintage. Poured into a Mikkeller stemmed tasting glass.
Appearance: A hazy reddish purple orange colour with a one finger pinkish head that had decent retention but left only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Tart, Spontan like funk, oak, blueberry skin, blueberries, Ribena, with notes of zingy lemon zest, pepper, and hay.
Taste: Sour, tart, funky, blueberry skin, blueberry, oak, plum, Ribena, lemon zest, with herbal, yoghurt and jammy notes.
Mouthfeel: Dry-ish, medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Enjoyable and easy to drink with nice berry notes. I’ve tried it a few times, and admittedly, despite a best before of 2026, I think it may have just past it’s prime.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Carbon Brews, Hong Kong, IPA - New England / Hazy Double

Carbon Brews Crazy Rich Lupulins

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Brewery: Carbon Brews
Country: Hong Kong
ABV: 8.2%
Style: New England / Hazy Double IPA
Other Notes: 23 IBUs. Malts – Pilsner, Wheat, Oats, Carahell and Vienna. Hops – Mosaic, Cascade, Citra, Galaxy and Simcoe. Yeast – London Ale III. Drink – Fresh. Experience – Smooth, juicy, mango, papaya

Brewer Description: (from can) Double Hazy IPA.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.11
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 330ml can, with a best before date of 8th January 2021, but should be less than a month in the can. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A hazy mango orange colour with a one finger white head that had good retention and nice lacing.
Aroma: Fruity, papaya, melon, mango, and orange juice.
Taste: Lightly bitter, juicy, orange juice, papaya, mango, and mandarin zest.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Nice, enjoyable and juicy, the citrusy orange juice flavour stands out among the fruits.