Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Hudson Valley Brewery, IPA - Sour, USA

Hudson Valley Pirouette

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Brewery: Hudson Valley Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 6%
Style: American Sour IPA
Other Notes: Sour IPA

Brewer Description: (from website) Sour IPA w/ raw wheat & malted oat; hopped w/ Galaxy, Citra & Azacca.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.17
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 16 fl. oz. can, with no clear canned on or best before date. Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.
Appearance: A hazy straw yellow colour with a big three finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly, but left only sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Tart, sour, guava, pineapple, grapefruit, lemon, and citrus zest.
Taste: Sour, tart, lemon, lime, grapefruit, with notes of guava.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with spritzy moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: Nice enjoyable and easy drinking Sour IPA with good citrus and tropical fruit aroma and flavours.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Equilibrium Brewery, IPA - New England / Hazy, USA

Equilibrium Fractal Mosaic

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Brewery: Equilibrium Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 6.8%
Style: New England / Hazy IPA
Other Notes: Simple . Complex . IPA

Brewer Description: (from website) Fractal Mosaic (6.8% IPA) was the first beer we ever brewed and was the first release from our small-batch Fractal research series. A fractal is something simple at the core yet can produce wonderful and amazingly complex results. We use the fractal series to investigate how different hops manifest through our processes, allowing us to optimize both our use of hops and our hopping techniques. Fractal Mosaic pours a resinous-hazy-straw yellow releasing complex aromas of dank blueberry, citrus, earthy grass, and tropical melon. The taste is a highly resinous blueberry cannabis, melon and pine with a juicy with a slightly creamy mouthfeel, and a firm but rounded bitterness. The medley of characteristics makes the name “Fractal Mosaic” warranted indeed.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.29
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 1 pint can, canned on 29th May 2020. Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.
Appearance: A hazy straw yellow orange colour with a two finger white head that had excellent retention and left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Fruity, mango, blueberry, citrus zest and notes of melon.
Taste: Lightly fruity sweet, mango, blueberry, melon, citrus zest, with a lingering bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Easy to drink. Great balance between sweet and bitter with lots of nice fruit flavours.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Equilibrium Brewery, IPA - New England / Hazy Double, USA

Equilibrium South Street Experimentum

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Brewery: Equilibrium Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 8%
Style: New England / Hazy Double IPA
Other Notes: Double India Pale Ale

Brewer Description: (from website) Juice experiments are well underway here to explore some of the new toys we have at our new South Street facility. We had two leading theories on how to best use one of our new toys, both rooted in solid science, preliminary results both looked good… but different. So we thought… lets try both! We brought back the South Street version of the familiar companion set Experimentum and Imperium (Latin for Experiment and Control). Both feature our DIPA sized 2-Row Fractal fermentation, fractal grain bill, and a hop bill of Citra, Mosaic, and Sabra. These beers are parallel in recipe but not process. The difference focuses on two distinct uses of an exclusive piece South Street equipment and Experimentum utilizes our coveted Energy treatment process #twovariables. Both beers have a candy-like-tiki-cocktail aroma. South Street Imperium has notes and flavors of assorted citrus, peach, and crushed Pez candy with dank and slightly resinous finish and punchy rollercoaster of #EQJuice. South Street Experimentum offers flavors of bright tropical fruit, deep navel orange characteristics with mango and papaya in a distinctly succulently soft body while and crossing the finish line with our EQJuice. With the same ingredients but two different processes, a showdown is underway. Which one do you prefer?

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.99
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 1 pint can, canned on 29th May 2020. Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.
Appearance: A hazy orange colour with a two and a half finger white head that had excellent retention and left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Citrusy, lemon, lime, orange zest, with notes of melon.
Taste: Citrusy, orange, orange zest, melon, notes of papaya.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: Not my favourite of fruit flavours, but still enjoyable. I preferred this Experimentum over Imperium.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Garage Project, IPA - New England / Hazy, New Zealand

Garage Project FRESH IPA (Jun 2020)

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Brewery: Garage Project
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 7%
Style: New England / Hazy IPA
Other Notes: Malts – Pilsner, Oats and Spelt. Hops – Simcoe, Centennial Cryo, Motueka and Azacca. Yeast – Wyeast 1318 London III

Brewer Description: (from can) Fresh IPA, a rolling, ever-changing monthly series of one-offs, brewed in small batches and available only from our brewery outlets, and only while stocks last. Each batch is an opportunity to try a new, brewery fresh IPA – unfiltered and unfined, showcasing a unique combination of yeast, malt and hops. Just fun, fresh hoppy beer at its best.

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

Intro: A 440ml can, canned on 4th May 2020 (maybe… it’s not too legible). Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.
Appearance: A hazy orange yellow colour with a three finger white head that had good retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Strong citrus pith, orange and lemon zest, with notes of pine and grass.
Taste: Juicy, papaya, melon, mango, citrus zest and pith, lightly bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation and a dry finish.
Overall: Easy drinking IPA with enjoyable aroma and flavours.

4 - Good (buy), Barleywine - American, Beer Reviews, Estonia, Põhjala

Põhjala Cellar Series Odravein Bourbon BA

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Brewery: Põhjala
Country: Estonia
ABV: 14%
Style: American Barleywine
Other Notes: Bourbon barrel aged Barleywine. 65 IBUs. Malts – Pale, Melanoid, Cara Pale, Cara 150 and Cara 300. Hops – Magnum, Cascade and Goldings

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Our anniversary barley wine, aged in bourbon barrels.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.37
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 330ml dark blue waxed bottle with a best before date of 23rd September 2022. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: It was a slightly rusty orange brown colour with a half finger beige head that dissipated fairly quickly while leaving only sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Sweet, fruit cake, raisin, plum, fig, bourbon, caramel, toffee, and lemon cream.
Taste: Bourbon, wood, caramel, toffee, dark fruit, raisin, fig, cherry, dried fruit, with notes of sherry and piney hops.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Going on the aroma, I was worried this was going to be too sweet, but I was pleasantly surprised as the flavour was well balanced and the sweetness subdued. This is a really good and enjoyable sipper.