Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij Alvinne, Wild Ale

Alvinne Batch #1000

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Brewery: Brouwerij Alvinne
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.7%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Blond Sour Ale. Sweet 2/5, Sour 3/5 & Bitter 1/5

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Batch 1000, a milestone on our craft beer journey. We made a long boil blond sour and barrel aged it on American oak St-Emilion (red wine) barrels. This is an exclusive project for Beer Seeker, a collaboration between the magazine Belgian Beer & Food and online beershop Etre Gourmet.

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

Intro: A 330ml bottle, with a best before date of November 2023. Poured into an Alvinne teku glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy copper orange colour with a one finger off white head that had decent retention while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Tart, vinous, grape, cherry and oak, with hints of funk, vanilla and balsamic.
Taste: Sour, tart, vinous, grape, cherry, oak, vanilla, light funk, and notes of vinegar.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Enjoyable complex sour with nice vinous and barrel character.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Hoppin’ Frog Brewing Company, Stout - Russian Imperial, USA

Hoppin’ Frog Barrel Aged D.O.R.I.S. The Destroyer

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Brewery: Hoppin’ Frog Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 10.5%
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Other Notes: 70 IBUs. Double Imperial Stout, stout aged in whiskey barrels

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Aged in Bourbon whiskey barrels to add a wonderful complexity to our massive American Double Imperial Stout. This barrel aging imparts memorable buttery, vanilla-like, and savory whiskey character, making this one of our most complex beers we’ve ever brewed. Another testament to our hard work and dedication in bringing our customers the very best.

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

Intro: A 22 fl. oz. bomber with no clear bottled on or best before date. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark brown to black in colour with a very thin brown head that disappeared almost immediately and left only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Whiskey, roasty, chocolate, with hints of oak, molasses and vanilla.
Taste: Sweet bourbon whiskey, roasty, chocolate, molasses, and oak, with notes of vanilla and caramel and maybe even some char.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Although perhaps a little sweet for me, the roast and chocolate did mostly balance it out for me, and it was still an enjoyable sipper.

4 - Good (buy), AF Brew, Beer Reviews, Porter - Baltic, Russia

AF Brew Winter Melancholy

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– aka AF Brew Зимняя Меланхолия (bottle)
– aka AF Brew Zimnaya Melankholiya (ratebeer)

Brewery: AF Brew
Country: Russia
ABV: 10.3%
Style: Baltic Porter
Other Notes: 30 IBUs. Reflexive Baltic Porter

Brewer Description: (from description on ratebeer) A New Year’s Eve version of warmly recognized Melancholy, our Imperial Baltic Porter. Smooth touch of Kenyan coffee and bourbon vanilla turn the beer from egocentric and depressive to meditative and reflexive as we all become on the first days of the New Year.

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

Intro: A 330ml bottle, bottled on 9th July 2019. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark brown to black in colour with a one finger brown head that had decent retention and left nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Roasty, iron, bourbon, coffee, chocolate, with some light smoky tobacco notes.
Taste: Strong roast, moderately sweet, chocolate, vanilla, coffee, with light alcohol notes, maybe bourbon, and notes of tobacco.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Nice roasty notes with good chocolate, coffee and vanilla flavours. I would have liked for the body to be fuller, but otherwise, this was enjoyable.

4 - Good (buy), AF Brew, Beer Reviews, IPA - New England / Hazy Double, Russia

AF Brew Eat The Dust! DDH Citra

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Brewery: AF Brew
Country: Russia
ABV: 8%
Style: New England / Hazy Double IPA
Other Notes: Double IPA DDH Citra

Brewer Description: (from description on ratebeer) Eat the Dust! is a new round in our ‘haze craze and juicy race’. It’s a DDH all-Citra, and nothing but 20 g/l of pellets and 3 g/l of lupulin powder literally smuggled into Russia. You can’t get further into the hops after all that.

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

Intro: A 500ml can, canned on 14th October 2019. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A very hazy straw yellow colour with a three finger white head that had great retention and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Juicy, citrus, orange, lemon zest and pith, with a good smack of tropical pineapple and mango at the end.
Taste: Like the aroma, juicy, citrus, mandarin, orange peel, lemon zest and pith, light bitterness with tropical mango and pineapple on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: This was enjoyable, better than Mosaic and Simcoe in my opinion although admittedly this is two or three weeks fresher. Good juicy citrus and tropical fruits in the aroma and taste.

4 - Good (buy), American Milkshake Double IPA, Beer Reviews, Carbon Brews x Moon Dog Craft Brewery, Hong Kong

Carbon Brews x Moon Dog Meringue-Utang Pavlova Double NEIPA v.2

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Brewery: Carbon Brews x Moon Dog Craft Brewery
Country: Hong Kong
ABV: 7.2%
Style: American Milkshake Double IPA
Other Notes: 23 IBUs. Malts – Wheat, Oats, Pale and Carahell. Hops – Whatever our mates could smuggle in. Yeast – London III. Fruit – Strawberry, Passion Fruit, Vanilla and Lactose

Brewer Description: (from can) Experience: pavlova, tropical fruits, juicy.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.24
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 330ml can, with a best before date of 8th April 2020. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A cloudy slightly murky dark orange colour with an almost two finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly and left only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Vanilla, lactose, pavlova, strawberry, with hints of tart tropical fruits.
Taste: Light tartness, mixed tropical fruits, strawberry, pineapple, passion fruit, moderately sweet, vanilla and lactose.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Nice fruity and juicy flavours balanced with the sweetness of vanilla and lactose. I actually think I prefer version 1 (which had kiwi added) a bit more as it was more pavlova like, but this was still an enjoyable Milkshake Double IPA.