Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, BFM (Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes), Farmhouse Saison, Switzerland

BFM Degustator √227

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Brewery: BFM (Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes)
Country: Switzerland
ABV: 6%
Style: Belgian Saison
Other Notes: 2015 vintage

Brewer Description: (from bottle) (translated from French as best as I could) Infusion of blackcurrant and market raisins in two barrels of Saison √225.

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

Intro: A 375ml bottle, 2015 vintage, bottled in March 2016, and with a notched best before date of March 2020. Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden orange colour with a big just over two finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly to a thin layer, but left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Sour, tart, oak, funk, white grape, blackcurrant, hint of lemon rind.
Taste: Sour, oak, straw, funk, white grape, blackberry, with only a hint of blackcurrant and lemon.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: I enjoyed this the more I drank it. It was balanced and tasty although the blackcurrant was perhaps a little light and the carbonation too soft.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, FiftyFifty Brewing Company, Stout - Imperial, USA

FiftyFifty Imperial Eclipse Stout Java Coffee

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Brewery: FiftyFifty Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 11%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: 2016 vintage, Lavender (sparkly) wax – Java Coffee

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Java Coffee bottle run no.2 2016. Stout brewed with honey, aged in oak barrels.

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

Intro: A 22 fl. oz. waxed bomber, 2016 vintage. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark dark brown to black in colour with a orangey dark brown hue and a one finger tanned head that dissipated fairly quickly but left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Roasty, dark malt, coffee, chocolate, with a splash of piney notes and licorice.
Taste: What you’d expect from the aroma with lots of roastiness, coffee, chocolate, oak, hints of licorice, pine and a light bitterness on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Not as thick and heavy as I hoped for, for this style, but otherwise, aroma was brilliant and flavours were balanced and went well together. Not sure the honey was showing, but nevertheless, this was good.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Farmhouse Saison, USA, Westbrook Brewing Co.

Westbrook Joie

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Brewery: Westbrook Brewing Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 7%
Style: Belgian Saison

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Mixed fermentation saison style ale aged 1 year in Sauternes barrels.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.1
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 1 pint 9.4 fl. oz. bottle, bottled on 18th November 2016. Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden colour with a just over two finger white head that had decent retention but left only sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Sweet Sauternes wine, ice wine, white grape, tangy lime, lemon, oak and light funk.
Taste: Much like the aroma, taste was sweet Sauternes wine, ice wine, white grape, tangy and tart lime, lemon, oak, apple skin and light funk.
Mouthfeel: Dry, light to medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: I’m surprised how well the Sauternes barrel comes through so strongly. However this naturally meant that this was on the borderline of being too sweet for me. The lime and lemon tanginess was probably just enough to balance this sweetness. But this definitely did grow on me, and I liked it more and more.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, USA, Westbrook Brewing Co., Wild Ale

Westbrook Leopold

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Brewery: Westbrook Brewing Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 5%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Sour Ale aged in sauternes wine casks with apricots and peaches added

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Leopold is an adventurous hawk who visited us in the brewery for a few days last winter. In his honor we brewed this sour blonde ale and aged it in sauternes wine casks for 12 months, then refermented it on peaches and apricots.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.94
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 750ml bottle, bottled on 29th April 2016. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: It was a clear golden orange colour with a half finger white head that had decent retention but left only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Tart, light funk, apricot, peach and oak.
Taste: Sour, tart, acidic, apricot, peach, oak, and a splash of vinegar.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation, perhaps a touch too acidic though.
Overall: Despite the acidity, aroma and flavours were still nice.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen, Lambic - Fruit

3 Fonteinen Speling van het Lot VII.xi: Zotte Kadeeën: Cassis – Blended & Alive

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.5%
Style: Belgian Lambic (Fruit)
Other Notes: This cassis lambic is the result of a maceration of blackcurrants for 5.5 months. It was then blended with young lambic and a final fruit intensity of 268 grams of blackcurrants per liter of bottled cassis lambic was obtained. 100% 3 Fonteinen lambic. Number of bottles – 1000

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen “Speling van het Lot” (Twist of Fate) is a series of small batch experimental brews, barrel maturations, fruit macerations and/or blends. This 7th version features a range of fruit macerations on freshly emptied Bordeaux barrels from Château Pabus. These high quality French oak barrels were used for a unique integrated vinification technique, including grape peel maceration in the barrel itself. The name (“Zotte Kadeeën” – “Crazy Kids”) refers to the abundant creativity of our youthful, passionate team, that likes to explore within the traditional lambic boundaries. This cassis lambic is the result of a maceration of blackcurrants for 5.5 months. It was then blended with young lambic and a final fruit intensity of 268 grams of blackcurrants per liter of bottled cassis lambic was obtained. 100% 3 Fonteinen lambic.

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

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle at 3 Fonteinen lambik-O-droom, blend n°87, season 17/18, bottled on 18th October 2018, with a best before date of 26th October 2038. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen ballon glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy ruby red colour with a one finger pinkish head that dissipated fairly quickly, while leaving some nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Blackcurrant, Ribena, light tartness and a touch of red grapes.
Taste: Sour, tart, blackcurrant, Ribena, red grapes, oak and light funk.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Really nice enjoyable blackcurrant aromas with good balanced sour and tart flavours.