Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

4 - Good (buy), American Brut IPA, Beer Reviews, Heroes Beer Co. x Young Master Brewery, Hong Kong

Heroes x Young Master Dom Houblon French 75

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Brewery: Heroes Beer Co. x Young Master Brewery
Country: Hong Kong
ABV: 7%
Style: American Brut IPA

Brewer Description: (from can) Bière issue d’une collaboration entre les pantalons rouges et les saucisses.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.12
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 330ml can, canned on 11th October 2019 and with a best before date of 11th July 2020. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A very lightly hazy golden colour with a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly but left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Fruity, peach, apricot, grape, sweet white wine with hints of citrus zest.
Taste: Tropical and citrus fruitiness, peach, apricot, sweet malts, citrus zest, light bitterness, grape, sweet-ish white wine (but not dessert wine sweet).
Mouthfeel: Crisp, light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Not sure it’s really Brut IPA like, but I preferred this over the pêche version and the original version. I was never really a fan of the Brut IPA, but this was pretty interesting.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, IPA - Black, Stone Brewing Co., USA

Stone Stygian Descent

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Brewery: Stone Brewing Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 11.6%
Style: American Black IPA
Other Notes: 90 IBUs. Small Batch Series. 2016 Series, Batch No.02. Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Black IPA Ale aged in Rye Whiskey Barrels & Bourbon Barrels. Brewed May 3, 2016, Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Black IPA practically named itself. The perfect melding of dark malts with a downright indecent amount of hops forges a complex flavor profile of assertive dark roastiness and big, bright hop notes for a singularly sublime experience. Malts – Pale, Caramel and Carafa III. Hops – Chinook, Amarillo and Simcoe. Unfiltered and aged 5 months in American Oak Templeton Rye Whiskey Barrels and Kentucky Bourbon Barrels

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Small Batch Brewer Cecil Menasco thought it would be an ingenious experiment to age our dark and deeply hopped Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Black IPA in rye whiskey barrels…and he was right. This time our small batch crew, never a self-satisfied bunch, added bourbon barrels. The result is transcendent: perfectly balanced dark chocolate, oak, dried fruit and citrus tones. As it warms, the spicy rye and sweet bourbon barrel notes complete this masterful transformation.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.19
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 500ml corked and caged bottle, 2016 Series, Batch No.02, bottled in October 2016. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: Dark brown to black in colour with a two finger tanned head that had great retention and left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Hoppy with some light roast, pine, chocolate, coffee and a touch boozy.
Taste: Roasty, chocolate, coffee, oak, bourbon, hoppy, pine, orange zest.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Despite the high ABV%, this was pretty easy to drink as there was good balance between the roast and hops, and although there was some booziness in the aroma, it was well hidden in the taste.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Stone Brewing Co., Stout - Russian Imperial, USA

Stone Mikhail

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Brewery: Stone Brewing Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 13.5%
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Other Notes: 43 IBUs. Small Batch Series. 2017 Series, Batch No.03. Stone Espresso Imperial Russian Stout aged in Bourbon Barrels. Brewed July 17, 2016, Stone Imperial Russian Stout is a thick, rich and sinful beer that’s heavy on the palate and massively aromatic with notes of anise, black currants, coffee and roastiness. Malts – Roasted Barley, Pale Malt, Amber Malt and Black Malt. Hops – Warrior. Adjunct – Ryan Brother’s Espresso Roast Coffee. Unfiltered and aged 14 months in American Oak Kentucky Bourbon Barrels

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Intense coffee characteristics abound from both the dark malts and the espresso, while rich caramel-like and vanilla notes from the bourbon barrel aging adds layers of complexity, a touch of sweetness and a vibrant dark fruit finish. Since this is an unusual take on our traditional imperial Russian stout, “Mikhail” pays homage to Mikhail Bulgakov, whose novel The Master and Margarita is considered the foremost of Soviet satires.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.39
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 500ml corked and caged bottle, 2017 Series, Batch No.03, bottled in October 2017. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: It was black in colour with a half finger brown head that dissipated quickly and left only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Light roast, milk chocolate, damp coffee grounds, espresso, oak and vanilla.
Taste: Moderate roastiness, milk chocolate, coffee, espresso, oak, bourbon, vanilla and a lightly herbal bitterness.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Really enjoyable drinking, as its rich and smooth with velvety chocolate, and nice barrel notes expressing bourbon and vanilla.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Stone Brewing Co., Stout - Russian Imperial, USA

Stone Espresso Totalitarian

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Brewery: Stone Brewing Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 10.6%
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Imperial Stout brewed w/ Espresso

Brewer Description: (from can) Bespoke totalitarianism for the proletariat diaspora. Imperial Russian stouts don’t actually get their name from being brewed in Russia. In fact, the style originated in England, initially brewed to suit the discerning tastes fo the nobles of the mid-18th century Russian court. Flash forward about 250 years, and here we find ourselves in a world populated by the diaspora of craft beer enthusiasts that also have a finely tuned palate for this richly intense style. Fortunately, you neither need to be Russian nor of noble birth to enjoy this intensely rich, deeply complex stout. To further bespoke the bejesus out of this, we brewed with a beautiful espresso roast coffee. It’s as fit for savouring fresh on a warm spring afternoon as it is for aging deep in a Muscovite cellar.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.37
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 12 fl. oz. can, canned on 23rd February 2019. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: It poured black in colour with a two finger brown head that had pretty good retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Roasted malts, espresso, coffee bean and dark chocolate.
Taste: Bittersweet, roasty, dark chocolate, cacao, espresso and coffee beans.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, rich, smooth, full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Really nice and smooth with great roast, chocolate and espresso notes.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Magpie Brewing Company, Sour Ale, South Korea

Magpie Juicybox – Blueberry & Yuja

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Brewery: Magpie Brewing Company
Country: South Korea
ABV: 4.5%
Style: Sour Ale
Other Notes: 5 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from can) Sour Ale w/ blueberry & yuja

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.99
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 500ml can, canned on 1st July 2019. Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.
Appearance: A hazy candy red colour mixed with a bit of purple and an almost two finger pinkish head that dissipated quickly while leaving only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Juicy, blueberry, yoghurt, with light citrus notes in the background.
Taste: Lightly sour, juicy, blueberry, mixed berries, and citrusy yuzu (which I just found out is the same as Yuja).
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. The thickish sediment towards the end was not a good feeling though.
Overall: Very juicy and tasty. The berry and citrus flavours complemented each other and made for easy drinking. It may not be a complex beer, but minus the bottom of the bottle, I do enjoy drinking it.