Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij ‘t Verzet, Flanders Oud Bruin

Verzet Oud Bruin Raspberry

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Brewery: Brouwerij ‘t Verzet
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6%
Style: Belgian Flanders Oud Bruin
Other Notes: Harvest 2016

Brewer Description: (from neck tag) Oud Bruin Raspberry is created by adding raspberries to beer that has already aged on oak barrels for at least one year. At the end of July last year, we met a bunch of little raspberries. They were looking at a sad future because they were already too ripe for the market! The 300kg of dark red fruits would have been left on the bush and would have died a lonesome death. We refused to let that happen, so we decided to adopt the little guys. We baptized the boys from Ternat with our West-Flemish holy water. The little fruits give a pleasant fruitiness to the Oud Bruin. This is a nice counterweight for the sour base beer. The ideal thirst quencher for a beautiful summer evening.

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

Intro: A corked and caged 750ml bottle, harvest 2016, and with a best before date of February 2027. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A clear amber red colour with a thin beige head that dissipated quickly and left only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Lightly tart, raspberry, sweet jammy, notes of mixed berries.
Taste: Sour, tart, raspberry, acidic, lemon juice, and vinegar.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Like other versions of this Oud Bruin, the sweet jammy fruity aroma was great, while taste is the opposite with strong sourness and acidity. Despite this, the raspberry does come through nicely and still makes this enjoyable.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij ‘t Verzet, Flanders Oud Bruin

Verzet Super Boil

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Brewery: Brouwerij ‘t Verzet
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6%
Style: Belgian Flanders Oud Bruin
Other Notes: Super Boil 2016. Boiled on 16 December 2016

Brewer Description: (from bottle in Dutch) Deze speciale editie van onze Oud Bruin wordt 16 uur gekookt, ipv de gangbare 1,5 uur. De Maillard-reactie die daardoor ontstaat geeft het zure bier een zachter karakter, leerden we uit oude brouwersgeschriften. Het bier verbleef exact 324 dagen in houten vaten. De Super Boil is beduidend donkerder van kleur dan de conventionele versie en heeft een ronder karakter, iets volmondiger. De geur en het aroma hebben iets vineus met hints van hout en vanille.

(Translated from Dutch to English) This special edition of our Oud Bruin is cooked for 16 hours, instead of the usual 1.5 hours. The Maillard reaction that arises gives the sour beer a softer character, we learned from old brewer’s writings. The beer spent exactly 324 days in wooden barrels. The Super Boil is considerably darker in color than the conventional version and has a rounder character, slightly more full-bodied. The scent and the aroma have something vinous with hints of wood and vanilla.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.02
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 375ml corked and caged bottle with the normal impossible to pull out Verzet cork, and an expiry date of 20th November 2027. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: Brown in colour with an orange hue, and a one and a half finger beige head that had good retention and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Tart, grape skin, dark berries, cherry, oak, with a splash of vinegar and acetone.
Taste: Sour, tart, grape skin, cherry, red wine vinegar, oak, light caramel, slightly vinous, with hints of vanilla.
Mouthfeel: Moderate acidity, medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Although vinegary acidity may be on the borderline, it was still an enjoyable Oud Bruin.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, German Eisbock, H.K. Lovecraft, Hong Kong

H.K. Lovecraft Eisbock

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Brewery: H.K. Lovecraft
Country: Hong Kong
ABV: 9%
Style: German Eisbock
Other Notes: 25 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from H.K. Lovecraft Facebook post) Our Eisbock is made by freeze distillation. It’s full bodied, along with touches of cake. Outstanding sweet aroma of caramel malt and forward. High alcohol content without rising to the level of booziness. Take a sip and indulge in this amber beer.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.13
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 330ml wrapped bottle, with no clear bottled on or best before date (despite it stating ‘see the label’ multiple times). Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: A nice clear amber copper colour with a one finger off white head that settles to a thin layer and leaves nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Sweet malt, honey, caramel, with notes of plum, bubblegum and booze.
Taste: Sweet malt, honey sweetness, caramel and plum.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: Lots of sweet and malty characteristics, but nicely balanced in that it’s not overly sweet or cloying, with a nice mix of honey, caramel and plum notes. Alcohol is also well hidden.

4 - Good (buy), American Solera, Beer Reviews, Old Ale, USA

American Solera Old Dishoom

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Brewery: American Solera
Country: USA
ABV: 8.5%
Style: English Old Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Old ale aged in Sherry casks.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.13
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 12.7 fl. oz. bottle, 2016 vintage. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: A clear brownish colour with an orange tinge, and a one finger tanned head that dissipated fairly quickly to a thin layer, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Lightly tart, dark fruit, raisin, prunes, plum, fig, red grape, with a hint of wood, caramel and sherry.
Taste: A mix of Flanders Oud Bruin and Old Ale. Lightly tart, with lots of dried dark fruit, raisin, prunes, fig, plum, red grape, with a splash of oak, caramel and sherry.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: Not your traditional Old Ale, but what appears to be some blend of Flanders Oud Bruin and Old Ale, lends itself to a nice enjoyable sipper.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Garage Project, New Zealand, Wild Ale

Garage Project Oh What A Lovely Day Let’s Go Out And Pick Some… Hop Bine

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Brewery: Garage Project
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 6.8%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Foraged flowers, spontaneous ferment no.5

Brewer Description: (from bottle) The latest release in our ongoing series of foraged flower ferments. For this brew, freshly harvested whole bines were plunged into a light golden base wort creating a spontaneous fermentation using only the wild yeast present on the hops. The beer was then allowed to age and develop for a year in oak barrels before being infused with another dose of fresh hops from the next harvest. The result of this brewery outing is a complex yet clean citrus like sour, bursting with a delightful fresh hop aroma.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.09
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 750ml bottle, bottled on 23rd May 2019. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A clear golden straw colour with a two finger white head that had decent retention, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Sour, tart, light funk, lychee, apricot, and white grapes.
Taste: Sour, tart, white grape, apricot, citrus notes, leafy, and a touch of vinegar.
Mouthfeel: A touch acidic, light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Although maybe slightly on the acidic side, the nose and taste were enjoyable.