Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Bellwoods Brewery, Canada, Wild Ale

Bellwoods Jelly King Strawberry Rhubarb

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Brewery: Bellwoods Brewery
Country: Canada
ABV: 5.6%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Dry-Hopped Sour w/ strawberry and rhubarb

Brewer Description: (from website) This limited edition version of Jelly King includes a large dose of strawberry and rhubarb purees, blended on top of a mixed fermentation sour ale. In addition, we added a complimentary dose of Citra-Mosaic-Cascade in the dry hop. The result is juicy, sour, and bursting with jammy aroma and flavour that comes enrobed in a dusty rose hue. A classic combo served on top of a sour beer for your pleasure.

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

Intro: A 500ml bottle with no bottled on or best before date, poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A cloudy guava pink colour with a two finger white head that dissipated quickly and left sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Sweet jelly fruitiness, strawberry, peach and apricot. Mixed berry instant jello.
Taste: Very juicy, moderate tartness, lightly sour. Strawberry, rhubarb, lemon and peaches.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Really tasty stuff, and I felt that the addition of strawberry, rhubarb and dry hopping improved upon the base beer Jelly King quite a bit. Perfect for a hot summer day.

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

Almanac Valley Of The Heart’s Delight

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Brewery: Almanac Beer Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 7%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Farm to barrel

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Sour blonde ale aged in wine barrels with apricots & strawberries

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.28
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 375ml bottle, released in February 2017. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden yellow orange colour with a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly to a ring around the glass that lingers and left some sparse lacing.
Aroma: Oak, strawberry, apricot, peach, tart mixed berries, with some funk, leather, straw and white wine.
Taste: Tart and tangy lemon, apricot and strawberry, followed by a touch of oak, vanilla, funk and leather.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate prickly carbonation.
Overall: It was very tasty and complex. I’m not usually too fond of wine barrel aging, but the addition of apricots and strawberries matched it well, and probably took it up a notch. Very enjoyable.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Brasserie Popihn, France, German Berliner Weisse

Popihn Berliner Weisse Framboise

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Brewery: Brasserie Popihn
Country: France
ABV: 4%
Style: German Berliner Weisse

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Framboise.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.15
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 330ml bottle, bottled on 21st June 2017 and with a best before date of 21st December 2017. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden colour with a one finger white head that dissipated quickly and left sparse to no lacing. Lots of energetic upward streaming bubbles.
Aroma: Lightly tart raspberries, hard candy and strawberries with perhaps a touch of wheat.
Taste: Sour, berry fruitiness and a touch of lemon. The raspberries are there, but not as strong as in the aroma.
Mouthfeel: Crisp, light bodied with high prickly carbonation and a dry finish.
Overall: Easy to drink, nice and refreshing.

4 - Good (buy), Against The Grain Brewery, Beer Reviews, Brown Ale - Imperial, USA

Against The Grain Jackyale

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Brewery: Against The Grain Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 9.5%
Style: Brown Ale – Imperial
Other Notes: 35 IBUs. Stave It For Later Barrel Series. Bourbon barrel aged Imperial Brown Ale

Brewer Description: (from website) Double brown ale aged in bourbon barrels in honor of the greatest rock and roll band on this or any other time: JACKYL. Drinking this fine beer will make you feel like the sun is shining down on you, and the heat of love’s flames, down on you. You’ll love the thought of me coming… down on you. This is only weird if you make it that way. PS. We won’t make any beers about pussy rock ballads, I promise!

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

Intro: A 750ml bottle with no bottled on or best before date that I could see. Poured into a snifter.
Appearance: A clear dark brown colour with a half finger beige head that dissipated fairly quickly but settled to a ring around the glass. There is only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Coffee beans, chocolate, caramel, vanilla and oak with only a hint of bourbon.
Taste: Sweet and roasty. Caramel, molasses, vanilla, oak and bourbon with hints of milk chocolate.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate prickly carbonation.
Overall: Perhaps a little bit too sweet for me, but the nice bourbon and oak flavours do make up for that minor flaw.

4 - Good (buy), American Double IPA, Beer Reviews, Mikkeller San Diego x Pure Project, USA

Mikkeller San Diego x Pure Project This Chit Here

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Brewery: Mikkeller San Diego x Pure Project
Country: USA
ABV: 8.8%
Style: American Double IPA
Other Notes: Malt – Chit. Hops – Nelson and Galaxy

Brewer Description: (from can) New England style Imperial India Pale Ale brewed with Chit malt and Nelson & Galaxy hops.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.26
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 1 pint can with no canned on or best before date. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A hazy dark orange colour with a two finger white head that had good retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Very juicy tropical fruits, apricot, peach, guava, passionfruit and mango with hints of pineapple and grapefruit.
Taste: Apricot, mango and pineapple tropical sweetness, hints of pine needles and a touch of grapefruit rind bitterness on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Nicely balanced bitter and sweet with good aromatic and tasty fruitiness.