Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij Hof Ten Dormaal, Euro Sour Ale

Hof Ten Dormaal Zure Van Tildonk 2014

Thursday, 22 December 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Brouwerij Hof Ten Dormaal
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6%
Style: Euro Sour Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Zure Van Tildonk is an original Belgian Sour Ale from the farm brewery Hof Ten Dormaal. With this beer, we strived to create a special, spontaneously-fermented beer via traditional methods using ambient yeast from our farm in Tildonk. Each batch of Zure Van Tildonk is carefully aged in our cellars at the Engelburcht Monastery for several months prior to release.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.14
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 12.7 fl oz bottle with a best before date of July 2017. Poured into a Cantillon ballon glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy golden colour with a just over one finger white head with decent retention and great lacing.
Aroma: Sour, funky and bretty with some nice fruity lemon, apricot and a hint of vinegar.
Taste: Sour, tart and lemony. Light oak and sweetness on the finish with a touch of berries.
Mouthfeel: Crisp, light bodied with high carbonation.
Overall: It’s nice and refreshing.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Lambic - Fruit, OWA Brewery SPRL

OWA Sakura Lambic

Wednesday, 14 December 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: OWA Brewery SPRL
Country: Belgium
ABV: 5.5%
Style: Belgian Lambic (Fruit)
Other Notes: Brewed at Brouwerij De Troch

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Sakura is cherry blossoms in Japanese. The lambic which is matured in wooden barrel, and after matured with leaves of cherry blossom. Not added perfume, pigment, even yeast. Lambic brewed in Belgium by special wild yeast, and sakura is the Japanese national flower. Sakura lambic is the first marriage of Belgian proper beer and Japanese representative flower.

(from website) A perfect beer to enjoy before a meal. Sakura means cherry leaves in Japanese. The leaves are steeped in salt for several months producing a highly perfumed aroma. In Japan, Sakura are also enjoyed as special sweets during spring time.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.09
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 375ml corked, capped and paper wrapped bottle, 2015 vintage, with a best before end date of January 2018. Poured into a Cantillon ballon glass.
Appearance: A clear golden orange colour with a one finger white head that slowly settled to a thin layer with sparse lacing.
Aroma: Sweet fruity cherry, almond, apple and cinnamon. Also some wood with a light funk in the background.
Taste: No idea what cherry blossom is supposed to taste like but this is lightly sour with cherry, apple, wood, citrusy orange and a hint of cinnamon.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with high to moderate carbonation.
Overall: Taste could be more sour, but its still nice. I definitely preferred this Sakura Lambic much more than its Yuzu counterpart. I’m also surprised that there is not more floral element in either the aroma or taste though considering that cherry blossom is used.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Deschutes Brewery, Stout, USA

Deschutes Obsidian Stout

Friday, 9 December 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Deschutes Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 6.4%
Style: American Stout
Other Notes: 55 IBUs. Malts – Pale, Crystal, Carapils, Munich, Black Barley, Roasted Barley and Wheat. Hops – Nugget, Bravo, Delta and Northern Brewer

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Notes of espresso and dark chocolate with a roasty finish.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.17
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 355ml bottle with a best before date of 30th January 2017, poured into a Spiegelau Stout glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a big frothy three fingered mocha brown head with pretty good retention and great lacing.
Aroma: Light roasty, milk chocolate, coffee and a hint of raspberries.
Taste: Sweet-ish milk chocolate, a touch of dark fruit with a bitter roast coffee bean and espresso finish.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium to light bodied with mild carbonation.
Overall: An easy to drink Stout with nice chocolate and coffee notes.

4 - Good (buy), Avery Brewing Company, Beer Reviews, Stout - Imperial, USA

Avery Vanilla Bean Stout

Wednesday, 7 December 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Avery Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 11.5%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Stout with Vanilla Beans added, Aged in Bourbon Barrels

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A double dose of vanilla derived from both fresh Bourbon barrels and the trio of Tongan, Ugandan and Mexican whole vanilla beans is complemented by essences of chocolate, caramel and molasses to round out this luxuriously silky stout.

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

Intro: A 22 fl oz foiled bomber, bottled on 29th April 2016. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: A dark dark brown to black colour with a less than one finger tanned head that dissipated fairly quickly while leaving some sparse lacing.
Aroma: Nice strong sweet vanilla, cocoa, oak, bourbon and perhaps some light char.
Taste: Sweet vanilla, cocoa, molasses and toffee, a good hit of bourbon with a touch of dark fruit and oak.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with moderate to light carbonation.
Overall: Other than its body being lighter than I prefer for an Imperial Stout, this beer has everything else going for it. Great aromas and taste make it a great sipper on a cool night.

4 - Good (buy), American Pale Ale, Beer Reviews, Deschutes Brewery, USA

Deschutes Hop Trip

Wednesday, 30 November 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Deschutes Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 6.1%
Style: American Pale Ale
Other Notes: 38 IBUs. Malts – Pale, Extra Special, Cara-Munich, Carapils and Munich. Hops – Bravo, Centennial and Fresh Crystal

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Hints of bright citrus and juicy grapefruit. The intense aroma of hops brewed mere hours after harvest.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.77
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: A 355ml bottle with a best before date of 26th December 2016, poured into a Mikkeller pint glass.
Appearance: It poured a clear copper amber colour with a two finger fluffy and foamy off white head that had decent retention and left thick-ish lacing.
Aroma: Leafy, grassy, pine with sweet pear, a hint of citrus and a light floral element.
Taste: Sweet and malty. Pine, grass and pear with hints of grapefruit, caramel and tea.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate to light carbonation.
Overall: It’s quite nice. Not getting as much of the citrus that others seem to be getting (I will try another bottle), but the sweet-ish pear, pine, tea combo works quite nicely for me.

words of another dreamy traveller