Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, BFM (Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes), Italian Grape Ale, Switzerland

BFM Degustator Edizione Vin Santo

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Brewery: BFM (Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes)
Country: Switzerland
ABV: 6.5%
Style: Italian Grape Ale
Other Notes: Barrel Aged IGA Italian Grape Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) (translated from French as best as I could) Intense nose, roasted note, subtle, vinous, woody and honey. Velvety and ‘friante?’ beautiful texture, nervous acidity on the palate, long finish with aromas of bread and marzipan.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.02
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 375ml bottle, 2016 vintage, bottled in February 2017, and with a notched best before date of February 2019. Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden orange colour with small bits of sediment and a very thin white head that disappeared almost immediately and left no lacing.
Aroma: Lightly funky, vinous, white grape, honey, oak barrel, acetone and a touch of vinegar.
Taste: Sour, acidic, vinous, grapes, white wine, oak, vinegar and every now and then I was getting a herbal element near the finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: I haven’t had much opportunity to try Italian Grape Ales, but this was quite nice. Aroma was good, but the taste and mouthfeel had a slight harshness that would have been better without. However, the more I drank it, I grew to like it, and it was definitely interesting to drink.

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

BFM √441 Saison Rhubarbe

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

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Saison à la rhubarb.

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

Intro: A 330ml flip-top bottle, lot 1, with a notched best before date of May 2020 on the front label. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden dark orange colour with a just over one finger white head that had decent retention while leaving behind some nice lacing.
Aroma: Nice funk, rhubarb, apricot, grape, lemon and wood.
Taste: Light funk, light sour, apricot, white grape, rhubarb, lemon, oak and spice on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with strong carbonation.
Overall: Great tasting rhubarb Saison with a good balance between sour, funk and fruitiness. Feels like I could just keep drinking this.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Garage Project, New Zealand, Stout - Milk / Sweet

Garage Project Chocolate Beer

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Brewery: Garage Project
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 4.7%
Style: Milk / Sweet Stout
Other Notes: Whittaker’s. Now on nitro

Brewer Description: (from can) One whole block of chocolate worth of Whittaker’s cacao nibs infused into every can. Unbelievably rich, dark and creamy. Brewed with chocolate malts, lactose, and infused with vanilla and freshly batch roasted cocoa beans. Tiny bubbles of nitrogen make it smoother and even more delicious. If it was any more chocolatey we’d have to put it in a wrapper.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.3
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 330ml can with a best before date of 3rd May 2019. Poured into a Mikkeller pint glass as per the instructions for a ‘perfect nitro pour’.
Appearance: A clear dark brown colour with a slight amber hue, and an almost two finger light tanned head that had excellent retention and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Strong, rich, chocolate, cocoa beans with a touch of vanilla and nuttiness.
Taste: Bittersweet chocolate, milk chocolate, just a lot of chocolate with hints of cream and vanilla.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, smooth, medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: A good and wonderful chocolate drink. It may not be complex, but the rich chocolate in the aroma and taste made it easy to drink. If the vanilla was even stronger, I think this would have been even better.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Gweilo Brewery x Magic Rock Brewing, Hong Kong, IPA - New England / Hazy Double

Gweilo x Magic Rock Solitaire NEIIPA

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Brewery: Gweilo Brewery x Magic Rock Brewing
Country: Hong Kong
ABV: 8.5%
Style: New England / Hazy Double IPA
Other Notes: 35 IBUs. Collaboration

Brewer Description: (from can) Brewed with our friends at Magic Rock, Solitaire is a seriously juicy Double NEIPA. No expense has been spared on this bad boy with a huge dry hop of Galaxy, Aloha, Citra Cryo, El Dorado and Denali. These are carried by the base of pale malt, wheat and oats to create a super rich, tropical hop bomb. Gently roll the can before opening and drink it fresh to ensure maximum juiciness.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.16
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 330ml can with a best before date of 30th November 2019. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A hazy darkish orange colour with an almost two finger white head that had decent retention while leaving behind some lacing.
Aroma: Strong tropical aromas. Mango, peach, and citrus zestiness.
Taste: Tropical stone fruit, ripe mango, peach, citrus zest and rind, nice light bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: Very nice tropical juiciness with good light bitterness to balance and good body. It’s got pretty much everything I asked for when I reviewed the Nebulous DDH NEIPA. Carbonation was perhaps slightly too high, but not to take anything away from it, this was good and very enjoyable to drink.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Gweilo Brewery, Hong Kong, Lager - IPL (India Pale)

Gweilo Tropical Pilsner

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Brewery: Gweilo Brewery
Country: Hong Kong
ABV: 4.2%
Style: American IPL
Other Notes: 25 IBUs. Collaboration with Potato Head (restaurant)

Brewer Description: (from can) Crafted with our friends at Potato Head, Tropical Pilsner will have you kicking back in no time. Our crisp Pilsen malt base showcases the explosion of citrus, melon and papaya hop notes. The tropical fruit flavours and dry finish deliver a hit of refreshment and are the perfect partner for Indonesian cuisine.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.08
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 330ml can with a best before date of 1st November 2019. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A clear golden straw yellow colour with an almost three finger white head that had great retention and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Light grains, grapefruit rind, melon, passionfruit, papaya, floral, lemon zest and grass.
Taste: Light sweet grain pils malt, grapefruit, melon, papaya, passionfruit, lemon zest, floral, tea.
Mouthfeel: Crisp, light bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: Self described as a tropical Pilsner, I believe its probably closer to an IPL, but regardless, the resulting aroma and flavours were right up my alley. Nice crispness makes it very easy to drink.