Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

4 - Good (buy), Barleywine - American, Beer Reviews, Bell’s Brewery Inc., USA

Bell’s Third Coast Old Ale

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Brewery: Bell’s Brewery Inc.
Country: USA
ABV: 10.2%
Style: American Barleywine

Brewer Description: (from bottle) An ale for those who appreciate complexity and vintage character. Fill a snifter and enjoy it now or commit some bottles to the cellar to test your patience.

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

Intro: A 12 fl. oz. bottle, batch 13615, packaged on 30th October 2014, so almost 5 years. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: A careful pour leaving much of the sediment in the bottle, it was a deep copper amber colour with no head but some sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Malty, sweet, dried berries, dark fruit, blackcurrant, plum, prunes, fig, caramel, syrupy and a touch floral.
Taste: Moderately sweet, dark fruit, plum, prunes, raisins, fig, caramel, brown sugar, candied orange liqueur and a hint of mixed berries.
Mouthfeel: Full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Yes, definitely pleasantly surprised by this as it has aged well. I’m pretty sure I meant to drink this earlier, but I simply forgot about it. In any case I’m not a huge fan of Barleywines, but this was a very nice sipper with great complexity.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, England, Stout - Russian Imperial, The Kernel Brewery

The Kernel Imperial Brown Stout London 1856

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Brewery: The Kernel Brewery
Country: England
ABV: 9%
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Other Notes: ABV varies among batches

Brewer Description: Not much other descriptions I could find.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.21
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 330ml bottle, bottled on 5th February 2016 and with a best before date of 5th February 2021. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: A dark dark brown colour with a reddish hue and a thin tanned head that disappeared quickly but left lots of nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Roasted malts, milk chocolate, caramel, coffee, chocolate milk, with hints of nuts and dark fruit.
Taste: Roasty, chocolate, coffee, chocolate milk, slight bitterness, hint of dark fruit and char.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Body was perhaps lighter than I prefer, but despite this, it was still very enjoyable and great to sip.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Brasserie Popihn, France, Stout - Russian Imperial

Popihn Russian Imperial Stout Chocolat / Vanille

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Brewery: Brasserie Popihn
Country: France
ABV: 11%
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Other Notes: 50 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Chocolat / Vanille

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 3rd April 2023. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark dark brown in colour with a thin brown head that disappeared quickly and left only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Roasty, chocolate milk, chocolate and vanilla with hints of dark fruits and nuts.
Taste: Roasty, chocolate, coffee, vanilla, splash of alcohol, some caramel and a touch of dark fruit.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Nice, smooth, creamy and easy to drink.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Cigar City Brewing, Stout - Russian Imperial, USA

Cigar City Marshal Zhukov’s Vanilla Hazelnut

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Brewery: Cigar City Brewing
Country: USA
ABV: 11.2%
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Stout with vanilla and hazelnuts added

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This Russian Imperial Stout is dedicated to Georgy Zhukov, arguably one of the finest generals of World War II. Huge in body with strong flavors of espresso, chocolate and molasses, this unique iteration of Zhukov’s adds roasted hazelnuts and vanilla to impart even more complexity and depth of flavor to this massive, jet-black stout. In the immortal words of Marshal Zhukov himself, “Есть вещи в России, которые не являются, как они кажутся.”

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.01
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 22 fl. oz. bomber with no bottled on or best before date. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark brown in colour with a thin brown head that dissipated quickly and left only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Roasty, chocolate, molasses, licorice, dark fruit, raisin, plum and a touch of vanilla.
Taste: Roasty, dark fruit, plum, prunes, raisin, chocolate, coffee, molasses, licorice and hints of vanilla.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: The base of roastiness, chocolate and dark fruit is good, but I’m not getting much of the adjuncts. The vanilla come through lightly with just hints of it here and there. While the hazelnut, I’m just not really getting at all. It’s a good sipping Russian Imperial Stout though.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Cascade Brewing, USA, Wild Ale

Cascade Cranberry

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Brewery: Cascade Brewing
Country: USA
ABV: 6.6%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Northwest sour ale. Ale aged in oak barrels with cranberries and spices. 2016 project

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This Northwest sour ale is a blend of wheat ales aged for up to 14 months in oak barrels with cranberries, orange peel and cinnamon.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.23
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, 2016 project. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy copper orange colour with a big more than three finger off white head that had good retention and left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Funky, oak, vanilla, cranberries, orange, cinnamon, leather and spices.
Taste: Sour, tart, berries, orange, cinnamon, oak, herbal and spices.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Nice complexity, good funk, and one of the better Cascade beers I’ve tried.