Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

4 - Good (buy), Beavertown Brewery, Beer Reviews, England, IPA - Black

Beavertown Black Betty

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Brewery: Beavertown Brewery
Country: England
ABV: 7.4%
Style: American Black IPA
Other Notes: 75 IBUs. Malts – Best Pale, Caragold, Caramalt, Carafa II and Carafa III. Hops – Colombus, Chinook and Citra

Brewer Description: (from website) So it’s a contradiction in terms. A Black India Pale Ale?! The concept we came up with revolved around the old chewy sweets ‘Black Jacks & Fruit Salads’. We wanted to take a big, fat IPA and lace it with under- tones of slight roast and aniseed and blend with the huge tropical aromas of Pacific West coast hops. We gained the hint of roast by using Carafa malts from Germany. They give us the dark colour and a touch of roast but minimal bitterness, thus letting the hops fly and fly!

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.33
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 330ml can with a best before date of 1st September 2017. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: It was a dark dark brown colour with a one and a half finger tanned head that had good retention and left some nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Citrus peels with some nice roasty malts and cocoa.
Taste: It’s pretty much what you would expect from the aromas with nice citrus flavours, balanced with roasty malts and hints of chocolate and coffee. There is also a lingering grapefruit finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: A good Black IPA that is very easy to drink. It’s 7.4% ABV but feels very sessionable. Quite a dangerous combination.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij Lindemans, Lambic - Gueuze

Lindemans Oude Gueuze Cuvée René Special Blend 2010

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Brewery: Brouwerij Lindemans
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6%
Style: Belgian Lambic (Gueuze)
Other Notes: Grand Cru. Limited Edition

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This Old Gueuze produced by the Lindemans Brewery is an exclusive blend of 4 year old Lambic with young Lambic, fermented in oak barrels and refermented in the bottle. Golden colour, slightly sour, smooth Gueuze with a sherry-like aroma. The Gueuze for beer connoisseurs. Limited edition of 15,000 bottles.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.42
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 750ml bottle, bottled in June 2014 and a best before date of 2024. Poured into a Lindemans flute glass.
Appearance: A clear golden orange colour with a just over one finger white head that had pretty good retention and nice lacing.
Aroma: Citrusy lemon, lime, hints of orange, oak, pepper, damp hay, wet leather and a good amount of barnyard funk.
Taste: Lemon-lime, pear, apple peel, oak, lots of funk, barnyard, hay, lemon rind, vinegar bite and mustiness.
Mouthfeel: Crisp, medium to light bodied with high carbonation and a dry finish.
Overall: This surprised me in a good way. Very enjoyable with lots of funk, barnyard, wet hay and leather.

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

Lindemans Oude Kriek Cuvée René

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Brewery: Brouwerij Lindemans
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7%
Style: Belgian Lambic (Fruit)
Other Notes: 2016. No. 07578

Brewer Description: (from bottle) In Belgium brewing beer is considered a form of art. In our family this art has been passed down since 1822 from generation to generation. Our traditional Kriek Cuvée René Grand Cru is brewed with wild yeast from the surrounding air, water, malted barley, wheat, aged hop flowers and selected wild cherries. Deep cherry red clear body, tart taste with a moderate sourness and an authentic cherry skin presence. No added sugar.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.38
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 375ml bottle, bottled on 9th December 2016 and with a best before date of 9th December 2022. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A very nice deep ruby red colour with a two finger pinkish-purple coloured head that had good retention but pretty much no lacing.
Aroma: Sweetish tart cherry juice followed by some barnyard funk and damp hay with hints of vinegar and oak.
Taste: Crisp sour tart cherries and mixed berries and oak with only hints of barnyard funk.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: Crisp, easy to drink, nice tart cherry and enjoyable.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, BrewDog x Beavertown Brewery, Scotland, Stout - Imperial

BrewDog x Beavertown BrewDog vs. Beavertown Coffee and Cigarettes

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Brewery: BrewDog x Beavertown Brewery
Country: Scotland
ABV: 12.1%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Hops – Chinook and Magnum

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Coffee and Cigarettes. A perfect percolation. Blacker than a Milan Espresso. This smoking gun of a stout gives you both barrels. Smoky peat, roasted coffee and bitter chocolate on the nose. Big espresso and molasses on the palate with subtle notes of coconut, vanilla and raisin. Coffee and Cigarettes – for those of us who want to stay up late and drink beer.

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

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 12th March 2022. Poured into a snifter.
Appearance: Black in colour with a half finger mocha head that dissipated quickly except for parts that clung around the glass and sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Chocolate and roasty coffee with hints of oak, charcoal, whisky and smoky peat.
Taste: Sweet, smoke, peaty whisky, plum and raisins with only hints of the roasty chocolate and coffee that I got in the aroma.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with light carbonation.
Overall: This was not at all what I was expecting. The roasty chocolate and coffee that was so evident in the aroma was completely overpowered by the strong barrel character of peat and whisky such that in a way, it didn’t feel like an Imperial Stout. That’s not to say that it wasn’t good, but it would definitely help if you enjoy peat like I do. The result seemed like an easy to drink peated whisky minus the kick.

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

Almanac Farmer’s Reserve Raspberry

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Brewery: Almanac Beer Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 6.8%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Farm to barrel

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Sour blonde ale aged in wine barrels with raspberries.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.22
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 375ml bottle, bottled in Fall 2016. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy orangey pink (salmon-ish) colour with a one finger white head that dissipated quickly and sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Sweet raspberry jammy, oak with a hint of mustiness.
Taste: Tart, lightly sour, raspberry jam, oak and lemon.
Mouthfeel: Crisp, light to medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: A nice crisp, relaxing and enjoyable drink.