Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Carbon Brews, Hong Kong, Porter - Baltic

Carbon Brews The Baltic Proper

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Brewery: Carbon Brews
Country: Hong Kong
ABV: 7.7%
Style: Baltic Porter
Other Notes: 38 IBUs. Malts – Pale, Munich T1, Special W, Caramunich T2, Black Patent and Carafa Special T3. Hops – Willamette and Hellertau. Yeast – 34/70

Brewer Description: (from can) Experience – dark chocolate, coffee, rich dark malt.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.96
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 330ml can with a best before date of 30th April 2020. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: Dark brown in colour with a two finger beige head that had good retention and left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Roasty dark malt, chocolate, coffee, and caramel, with notes of dark fruit and nuttiness.
Taste: Roasty dark malt, toasty bitterness, dark chocolate, nutty, and coffee, with notes of sweet dark fruit.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: Looks great with good dark chocolate bitter flavours. I was hoping for stronger dark fruit, but still, it was enjoyable.

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

Alvinne Cuvée Sofie Sleedoorn-Sloeberries

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Brewery: Brouwerij Alvinne
Country: Belgium
ABV: 8%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Fruit Sour. Sweet 2/5, Sour 3/5 & Bitter 1/5

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Foeder aged blond sour with foraged sloeberries.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.07
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 330ml bottle, with a best before date of May 2023. Poured into an Alvinne teku glass.
Appearance: A hazy murky rusty dark orange brown colour with a one finger white head that had decent retention and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Tart, sour fruit, berry skin, blackberries, oak, with hints of funk and acetone.
Taste: Sour, tart, dark berry skin, mixed dark berries, plum, oak, a touch acidic, and hints of vinegar.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: I have no idea what sloeberries are supposed to smell or taste like, but this was enjoyable and great to drink.

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.