Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

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.

4 - Good (buy), American Pale Ale, Beer Reviews, Cloudwater Brew Co., England

Cloudwater DDH Simcoe Vic Secret Pale

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Brewery: Cloudwater Brew Co.
Country: England
ABV: 5.5%
Style: American Pale Ale
Other Notes: Spring-Summer 2017. Specialising in modern, seasonal beer. Malts – Golden Promise, Wheat, Dextrin Malt and Carapils. Yeast – WLP001. Hops – Simcoe, Vic Secret, Chinook and Pilgrim Alpha CO2 Extract

Brewer Description: (from can) Our second mid strength Pale, double dry hopped with Simcoe, Vic Secret and Chinook. We increased the Carapils and Dextrin malt for a richer mouthfeel and fermented with WLP001 for a neutral yeast profile.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.35
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 440ml can, canned on 28th April 2017 and with a best before date of end of August 2017. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A cloudy golden orange colour with a one finger white head that had decent retention and left some lacing.
Aroma: Mango and passionfruit with hints of peach, orange and grapefruit.
Taste: Tastes similar to the aroma with mango, peach, apricot, mandarin and orange with a nice finish of bitter zesty citrus rind.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: A nice juicy Pale Ale that’s great to drink.

4 - Good (buy), American Double IPA, Beer Reviews, Hong Kong, Young Master Brewery

Young Master Yat Cheen

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Brewery: Young Master Brewery
Country: Hong Kong
ABV: 10%
Style: American Double IPA
Other Notes: 100 IBUs. Malts – All Malt (five variety blend). Hops – Citra and Mosaic

Brewer Description: (from website) When life (or your hop supplier) gives you €1,000 of free hops, you do the obvious. Make a single 1,000L batch with all the hops thrown in the same batch and of course you make it a punchy 10.00% DIPA. We genuinely thought this was going to be a one-off. Having (extensively) tasted it now though…

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.83
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: Young Master released 100 specially bottled versions of Yat Cheen on 24th May 2017. I am unsure of their reasons to hold back the release of these bottles though as I would definitely prefer this as fresh as possible, but it is what it is, and I was just glad to be able to try it as I missed the earlier opportunities. It was a 750ml corked and caged bottle, bottle number 46 of 100, and poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A slightly cloudy golden orange colour with a two finger white head that had good retention and left lots of nice sticky lacing.
Aroma: Lots of citrusy grapefruit, grapefruit rind, pine and pineapple with hints of mango on the backend.
Taste: Grapefruit rind and peel with hints of pine, light malt sweetness and a nice long bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to light carbonation.
Overall: It was nice and easy to drink with the 10% ABV well hidden. From the description, it appears that YM have reconsidered the one-off decision and will brew this again, and I am excited as I definitely want to try this fresh.