Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Stout - Russian Imperial, USA, Wicked Weed Brewing

Wicked Weed Dark Age Bourbon Barrel-Aged

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Brewery: Wicked Weed Brewing
Country: USA
ABV: 12%
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Bourbon barrel-aged Imperial Stout. Drink it Now. Drink it Later

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Humanity’s path out of the Dark Age is one without end. This path carries us away from the mystical to the measurable, from the magical to the mathematical, and is a meticulous tale of progress from madness to method. Yet, we still find wonder in the Magic, and extraordinary potential in the Mystery. Out of this yearning for the old ways, Dark Age Imperial Stout emerges from the whisky barrel, its dark malt complexity and bold, yet balanced, sweetness softened by its mystical evolution in oak.

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

Intro: A 12.7 fl oz bottle, bottled on 23rd March 2016. Poured into a snifter.
Appearance: A nice dark dark brown colour with a one finger mocha head that dissipates fairly quickly while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Chocolate, cocoa, dark fruit plum and raisins, bourbon, oak with hints of vanilla.
Taste: Bourbon and sharp raisin and cherry sweetness, followed by bittersweet dark chocolate, caramel and licorice.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with moderate to low carbonation.
Overall: This was a nice, easy sipper. The sharp twang of raisin and cherry in the taste mixed with the bourbon was a welcome surprise. The only mini negative was the mouthfeel which could have greater body and a slightly lower carbonation.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, USA, Wicked Weed Brewing, Wild Ale

Wicked Weed Medora

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Brewery: Wicked Weed Brewing
Country: USA
ABV: 6.6%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: American sour with blackberries and raspberries

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Medora is a blonde sour ale aged in red wine barrels with one pound of blackberries and raspberries per gallon. The result is a beautiful, fuchsia ale with bright berry character.

The daughter of a king, Medora was wrought with the burden of expectations. Her father did his utmost to speak confidence into his young daughter. Time passed and with it the king, leaving Medora his sole heir. Her melancholy deepened. One night a great meteor flashed across the northern sky. Her father’s words lit into her heart: “Choose happiness; no expectation or circumstance can usurp your will to rejoice in them.” Medora thrived, and as for imposed expectations; she never gave them credence again.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.46
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 500ml bottle, bottled on 8th January 2016. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A cloudy raspberry red colour with a two finger off white head that had good retention and left nice sticky lacing.
Aroma: Red wine gum berry candy, vinous, oak, earthiness and a light funk.
Taste: Very lightly sour, raspberries, mixed berries, vinous, oak and slightly funky.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate carbonation and a dry-ish finish.
Overall: I tend to enjoy these berry flavoured Wild Ales and this was no different. It was surprisingly not very sour at all, but the oak barrel character in the aroma and taste was quite strong. Definitely enjoyable.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, USA, Wicked Weed Brewing, Wild Ale

Wicked Weed Brettaberry

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Brewery: Wicked Weed Brewing
Country: USA
ABV: 5.5%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Tart Farmhouse Ale with berries & honey

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Brettaberry, a tart farmhouse ale whose inspiration is drawn from freshly baked berry pie, features a half-pound per gallon of strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries. The sweet acidity of the berries paired with the mild farmhouse funk of our house culture is rounded by the addition of full bodied, Haw Creek Honey.

Memory is not a fleeting picture grasped only in the mind’s eye. Memory is a guileless traveller, discovering avenues through the sights, aromas, and flavors of our daily experience. As brewers, our daily experiences orbit around creating beers that convey something more than flavor, we use the palate to express ideas and feelings. The bottle you hold contains more than a complex, balanced beverage. It holds the aromas that echo fresh cut blades of humid august grass, the fizzing noises of warm summer rain on a slate, and tart flavors of ripe berries that roll over us like floured pins over dough. This is our connection to beer – we hope it will be yours as well.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.21
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 500ml bottle, bottled on 20th November 2015. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy strawberry orange pink colour with an almost two finger white head that dissipates fairly quickly but left lots of clingy lacing.
Aroma: Tart mixed berries although it seems strawberry is most prominent, brett funkiness, barnyard, mustiness with hints of honey.
Taste: Tart, lightly sour, strawberry, raspberry and blackberry with mild funkiness and perhaps a touch of lemon and pepper.
Mouthfeel: Medium body with moderate carbonation and a dry-ish finish.
Overall: This was nice, refreshing and easy to drink. I’m not getting much of the honey as it just seems like berry sweetness, but I’m sure its mixed in with that and also guessing that the honey adds to the body.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project, USA, Wild Ale

Crooked Stave Raspberry Origins

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Brewery: Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project
Country: USA
ABV: 7.5%
Style: American Wild Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Burgundy Sour Ale aged in oak barrels with raspberries.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.42
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 375ml bottle, bottled in December 2015. Poured into a Cantillon ballon glass.
Appearance: A dark burgundy ruby red colour with a just over one finger off pink with a dark orange hue head that dissipated fairly quickly to a thin cap with some nice lacing.
Aroma: Very nice sweet and tart raspberry jammy aromas with perhaps a hint of oak.
Taste: Sour and tart raspberries and lemon to begin, followed by some light sweet jammy raspberries and a hint of oak. It finishes sour again with lemon, some citric acidity and a touch of grapes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to light carbonation and a dry-ish finish.
Overall: The aromas were stunning and while the taste didn’t quite match up to the aroma, it was still very good.

4 - Good (buy), American IPA, Australia, Beer Reviews, Feral Brewing Co.

Feral War Hog

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Brewery: Feral Brewing Co.
Country: Australia
ABV: 7.5%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: Treat like milk, refrigerate when possible

Brewer Description: (from can) Prepare to be tagged and bagged as this Full Metal Jacket of an IPA rains an apocalyptic, resinous hellfire of clustered hops and passionfruit aromas upon the senses. There’s nowhere to hide, so gear up, sound off, and blast “Ride of the Valkyries” at full volume, because, soldier, you’re at war. We love the taste of IPA in the morning.

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

Intro: A 375ml can with unfortunately no canned on or best before date. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku.
Appearance: A cloudy, lightly dark golden orange colour with a just under two finger white head that dissipated quickly while leaving only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Tropical mango, peach, passionfruit and some citrusy mandarin with hints of grass. Very juice like.
Taste: Citrusy orange, orange rind bitterness, grapefruit and juicy passionfruit.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: A nice, juicy and easy to drink IPA. Aromas were especially good.