Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

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

Firestone Walker Feral Vinifera #4

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Brewery: Firestone Walker Brewing Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 9.8%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Wild Ale fermented with grapes. Barrel ratio: 70% French Oak & 30% American Oak

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Feral Vinifera is our foray into a new and exciting adventure in the Santa Ynez Valley that expresses our collaborative effort with local grape growers and winemakers. We have carefully fermented, matured and blended this beer with our friend Andrew Murray, proprietor and winemaker at Andrew Murray Winery. The resulting cuvée and partnership of Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Viognier, and Chardonnay grape/beer fermentation bends the mind and senses. Dried apricots, guava, and vanilla mingle with Meyer lemon and roses. A funky, savory yeast bouquet lays down a firm foundation. A flinty minerality and oaky tannic depth add to body and structure that mingle with a soft-finishing acidity and fruity esters carrying assertive vinous perfume. Cheers!

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.41
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 375ml corked and caged bottle. Batch No. 004, bottled on 20th October 2017. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A brilliant clear golden colour with a one finger white head that dissipated quickly with a half replenishing thin layer, while leaving sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Vinous, white wine, grape, oak barrel, apricot and a touch of vanilla.
Taste: What you’d expect from the aroma, Light sour, vinous, white wine, grape, dried apricot, woody, oak, and a hint of vanilla.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Wow, doesn’t feel at all like a 9.8% ABV brew. So easy to drink with nice aromas followed by even better taste. The oak comes through nicely and is complemented well by the vinous and fruity grape, white wine and apricots.

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.