Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

4 - Good (buy), Against The Grain Brewery x Brouwerij De Molen, Beer Reviews, Stout - Imperial, USA

Against The Grain x De Molen Bo & Luke (Amburana Wood)

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Brewery: Against The Grain Brewery x Brouwerij De Molen
Country: USA
ABV: 13%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: 2017 white wax. Amburana wood

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Beats all you ever saw! We have a reputation for being big, bold, and having the gumption to do things others won’t. In your hands is a barrel aged ale that exemplifies just that. We took Kentucky’s beloved bourbon recipe and flipped it upside down by employing rye, barley, corn, and cherry wood smoked malts. Then we aged it on freshly dumped bourbon barrels for three Kentucky months! The resulting beer is dark and smoky with hints of caramel, vanilla, and spice. Hang on to it while you can. This one’s going fast.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.28
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A white waxed 750ml bottle with no clear bottled on or best before date, but should be 2017 vintage. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark dark brown to black in colour with an one finger tanned head that had decent retention and left nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Light roast, chocolate, cocoa, oak, sweet, vanilla, cinnamon, and light smoke.
Taste: Sweet, vanilla, cinnamon, oak, bourbon, chocolate, cocoa, chocolate cake, caramel, and light smoke.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Nice aroma and flavours with a nice mix of especially vanilla and cinnamon. Smoke was there but a little light compared to the base, while mouthfeel was lighter than expected.

4 - Good (buy), Against The Grain Brewery x Brouwerij De Molen, Beer Reviews, Stout - Imperial, USA

Against The Grain x De Molen Bo & Luke (Red Wine Barrel)

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Brewery: Against The Grain Brewery x Brouwerij De Molen
Country: USA
ABV: 13%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: 2016 purple wax. Red Wine barrel aged

Brewer Description: (from bottle) It beats all you ever saw! This barrel-aged ale uses the staple ingredients barley, rye and corn, plus cherry wood smoked malt to create a huge imperial stout. To top it all off, we barrel age the beer for three Kentucky months! The result is a rich and complex Imperial Smoked Stout with hints of caramel, vanilla and spice.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.29
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A purple waxed 750ml bottle with no clear bottled on or best before date, but should be 2016 vintage. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark dark brown to black in colour with a half finger tanned head that had decent retention and left nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Light roast, chocolate, vinous, red grapes, kyoho grape jelly, with hints of bourbon sweetness.
Taste: Chocolate, cocoa, roast, sweet bourbon, grape jelly, red grape, red wine, vinous, and light booze.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: At times it felt a little sweet, but I love the kyoho grape aroma in this. Unfortunately, all the smoked malts from the original seems to have been lost in all the bourbon, grape and vinous characteristics, but this was still an enjoyable sipper on a cool night.

4 - Good (buy), Against The Grain Brewery x Brouwerij De Molen, Beer Reviews, Stout - Imperial, USA

Against The Grain x De Molen Bo & Luke (Islay Scotch Barrel)

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Brewery: Against The Grain Brewery x Brouwerij De Molen
Country: USA
ABV: 13%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: 2016 green wax. Islay Scotch barrel aged

Brewer Description: (from bottle) It beats all you ever saw! This barrel-aged ale uses the staple ingredients barley, rye and corn, plus cherry wood smoked malt to create a huge imperial stout. To top it all off, we barrel age the beer for three Kentucky months! The result is a rich and complex Imperial Smoked Stout with hints of caramel, vanilla and spice.

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

Intro: A green waxed 750ml bottle with no clear bottled on or best before date, but should be 2016 vintage. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark dark brown to black in colour with a one finger tanned head that had decent retention and left nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Peat, whisky, bandaid, medicinal, smoked meat, with notes of chocolate and roast hidden in all that peat.
Taste: Scotch, peat, lots of peat, smoke, char, medicinal, with notes of chocolate and dried dark fruit.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: I knew before I opened it, that it was Scotch barrel aged, but little did I know, that it was an Islay barrel. Full on peat in the aroma and taste does overwhelm pretty much everything else, so for sure, this is only for those that like peat. Luckily, I love Islay whisky, so this is right up my alley.

4 - Good (buy), Against The Grain Brewery x Brouwerij De Molen, Beer Reviews, Stout - Imperial, USA

Against The Grain x De Molen Bo & Luke

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Brewery: Against The Grain Brewery x Brouwerij De Molen
Country: USA
ABV: 13%
Style: American Imperial Stout

Brewer Description: (from bottle) It beats all you ever saw! This barrel-aged ale uses the staple ingredients barley, rye and corn, plus cherry wood smoked malt to create a huge imperial stout. To top it all off, we barrel age the beer for three Kentucky months! The result is a rich and complex Imperial Smoked Stout with hints of caramel, vanilla and spice.

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

Intro: An orange pinkish waxed 750ml bottle with no clear bottled on or best before date. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark dark brown to black in colour with a thin tanned head that dissipated quickly and left nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Bourbon, chocolate, black coffee, light roast, oak, smoky, charred wood, caramel, vanilla, dried dark fruit, raisins, and prunes.
Taste: Roasty, sweet, bourbon, charred oak, light smoke, caramel, vanilla, with hints of rye spiciness and dried dark fruit.
Mouthfeel: Smooth, full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: A very nice warming Imperial Stout for a cool night. The smoked malts added a nice touch and balanced the bourbon sweetness.

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.