Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

Council Broken Wand Boysenberry

Brewery: Council Brewing Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 6.7%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: American Dark Sour Ale oak foeder aged with boysenberries. Brewery closed in December 2018

Brewer Description: (from bottle) The giant, wind up Owl, guardian of the Magic Factory and conjurer of darkness and truth, comes bearing the Broken Wand, which has turned this ominous beer into darkness. This foeder aged sour beer with scrumptious boysenberries is the result of carefully selected microbes from our Deadlock barrel program that worked their magic in this beer. This dark concoction has intense flavors and aromas of, dark berries, chocolate, vanilla, and soft oak tannins.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.31
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 375ml bottle with no clear bottled on or best before date. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy dark dark purple red colour with a two finger pink head that had decent retention, and eventually settling to a nice replenishing thin layer, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Mixed berries, jammy, blueberry, blackberry, oak.
Taste: Sour, tart, blueberry, blackberry, lightly vinous, oak, and vanilla.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: I actually don’t know what boysenberry tastes like, but I’m getting a nice mix of blueberry and blackberry. The barrel aging also imparts some nice oak and vanilla notes.

Council Béatitude Three Berry Tart Saison

Brewery: Council Brewing Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 4.5%
Style: Belgian Saison
Other Notes: Raspberry, blueberry and blackberry ale. Brewery closed in December 2018

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Béatitude is the French word for bliss which is what we float away on whenever we enjoy this specially brewed beer. This Tart Saison is brewed in the Belgian tradition of tart farmhouse ales. The magic happens when our house culture of Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus and Saison yeast throw an out-of-this world party in our fermenters. Aged on raspberries, blueberries and blackberries, this yields a beer with a lacto forward nose, an intensely tart berry flavor, a doughy complexity, and takes the word “refreshing” to a whole new level.

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

Intro: A 750ml bottle with no clear bottled on or best before date. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A very cloudy deep purple reddish colour with a big two finger light pink head that dissipated quickly and left only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Tart, mixed berries, raspberry, blackberry, blueberry, grape and a touch bubblegum.
Taste: Sour, tart, mixed berries, raspberry, blackberry, blackcurrant, blueberry and lemon juice.
Mouthfeel: Lively, acidic, light to medium bodied, with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: Nice mixed berries aroma and flavour makes for good easy drinking.

Council Béatitude Black Currant Tart Saison

Brewery: Council Brewing Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 4.5%
Style: Belgian Saison
Other Notes: Ale brewed with black currants. Brewery closed in December 2018

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Béatitude is the French word for bliss which is what we float away on whenever we enjoy this specially brewed beer. This Tart Saison is brewed in the Belgian tradition of tart farmhouse ales. The magic happens when our house culture of Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus and Saison yeast throw an out-of-this world party in our fermenters. Aged on black currants, this yields a beer with a lacto forward nose, an intensely tart black currant flavor, a doughy complexity, and takes the word “refreshing” to a whole new level.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.46
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 750ml bottle, bottled on 26th March 2016. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy reddish purple colour with a two finger very light pink head that dissipated quickly and left only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Black currant, bubblegum, mixed berries jello.
Taste: Sour, tart, black currant, light sweetness, mixed berries jello.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Great, wonderful, easy drinking black currant flavours. Well balanced between fruity, sour and sweet. Maybe one of my favourites of the Béatitude series.

Council Béatitude Pineapple Tart Saison

Brewery: Council Brewing Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 4.5%
Style: Belgian Saison
Other Notes: Ale brewed with pineapple. Brewery closed in December 2018

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Béatitude is the French word for bliss which is what we float away on whenever we enjoy this specially brewed beer. This Tart Saison is brewed in the Belgian tradition of tart farmhouse ales. The magic happens when our house culture of Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus and Saison yeast throw an out-of-this world party in our fermenters. Aged on pineapples, this yields a beer with a lacto forward nose, an intensely tart pineapple flavor, a doughy complexity, and takes the word “refreshing” to a whole new level.

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

Intro: A 750ml bottle, bottled on 21st October 2016. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden straw yellow colour with a lightly less than two finger white head that dissipated quickly and left only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Tart, pineapple juice, lemon zest, wheat, with a light funk.
Taste: Sour, tart, pineapple juice, canned pineapple sweetness, acidic and lime.
Mouthfeel: Dry, light bodied with high carbonation.
Overall: Great pineapple flavours coming through with a good balance of sweet and sour.

Council Béatitude Raspberry Tart Saison

Brewery: Council Brewing Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 4.5%
Style: Belgian Saison
Other Notes: Raspberry ale. Brewery closed in December 2018

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Béatitude is the French word for bliss which is what we float away on whenever we enjoy this specially brewed beer. This Tart Saison is brewed in the Belgian tradition of tart farmhouse ales. The magic happens when our house culture of Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus and Saison yeast throw an out-of-this world party in our fermenters. Aged on raspberries, this yields a beer with a lacto forward nose, an intensely tart raspberry fruit flavor, a doughy complexity, and takes the word “refreshing” to a whole new level.

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

Intro: A 750ml bottle with no clear bottled on or best before date. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A cloudy pink guava juice colour with a slightly more than one finger white head that dissipated quickly and left only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Lightly tart, mixed berry flavour hard candies, raspberry, and a light funkiness.
Taste: Sour, tart, raspberry, raspberry candy, lightly jammy and a touch of lemon juice.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied, with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: Not complex, but very nice easy drinking raspberry flavours. A good mix of sour, sweet and fruitiness.