Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgian Strong Pale Ale, Stone Brewing Co., USA

Stone Winter Harvest

Sunday, 15 November 2015 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Stone Brewing Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 11.3%
Style: Belgian Strong Pale Ale
Other Notes: Unfiltered and aged 27 months in white wine barrels w/stone farms merlot grapes. 36 IBUs. Malt – Pilsner. Hops – Hallertau.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This golden beauty was created solely for barrel experimentation – you won’t find an unaged “2012 Stone Belgian-Style Golden Ale” in bottles anywhere (you can stop looking now).

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.23
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 500ml corked and caged bottle from the Quingenti Millilitre 2014 Series, Batch No. 07 brewed on 28th April, 2012 and bottled on December 2014.
Appearance: It poured a cloudy, dark golden honey/straw colour with a light half finger white head which dissipated fairly quickly.
Aroma: Grapes, oak, chardonnay, vanilla, light caramel and banana.
Taste: Oak, chardonnay, champagne, grape, white wine.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium bodied with high carbonation.
Overall: This was nice and easy to drink considering its at 11.3% ABV. Basically its like drinking a highly carbonated chardonnay.

4 - Good (buy), Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan, Beer Reviews, German Hefeweizen, Germany

Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier

Saturday, 7 November 2015 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan
Country: Germany
ABV: 5.4%
Style: German Hefeweizen
Other Notes: 14 IBUs.

Brewer Description: (from website) Our golden-yellow wheat beer, with its fine-poured white foam, smells of cloves and impresses consumers with its refreshing banana flavour. It is full bodied and with a smooth yeast taste. To be enjoyed at any time (always a pleasure / enjoyment), goes excellently with fish and seafood, with spicy cheese and especially with the traditional Bavarian veal sausage. Brewed according to our centuries-old brewing tradition on the Weihenstephan hill.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.27
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 500ml bottle with a best before date of 3rd June 2016 and poured into a Riedel weizen glass.
Appearance: It poured a cloudy golden straw yellow colour with a fluffy and puffy three finger white head that dissipated slowly leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Lightly bready and wheaty with lots of sweet banana, banana bread and clove.
Taste: Sweet ripe banana with hints of bubblegum, clove and citrus lemon.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with mid to high carbonation.
Overall: A very balanced Hefeweizen that tastes great. But still can’t find this in Hong Kong and always have to carry it back in a suitcase.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, German Hefeweizen, Germany, Weisses Bräuhaus G. Schneider & Sohn GmbH

Schneider Weisse Tap 7 Unser Original

Wednesday, 4 November 2015 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Weisses Bräuhaus G. Schneider & Sohn GmbH
Country: Germany
ABV: 5.4%
Style: German Hefeweizen
Other Notes: 14 IBUs. Hops – Hallertauer Tradition and Magnum. Malt – 60% wheat malt, 40% barley malt from the region of Kelheim.

Brewer Description: (from website) The full complexity of the genuine Bavarian wheat beer – great with hearty food. Amber-mahogany colored wheat beer.

Nuances of ripe bananas, clove, nutmeg and nuts create the aroma. A full-bodied and sparkling beer with a harmonious finish. Brewed according to the original recipe of the founder of the brewery of 1872.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.22
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 500ml bottle with a best before date of 28th February 2016 and poured into a Riedel weizen glass.
Appearance: It poured a cloudy bronze copper colour with a slightly less than two finger white head that dissipated slowly without too much lacing.
Aroma: Sweet approaching overripe bananas and clove dominate with hints of bubblegum, caramel, toffee and maybe even pear. The toffee becomes even more pronounced as it warms a bit.
Taste: Banana bread is the first thing that comes to mind, but its definitely sweet banana and toffee with hints of clove and caramel while nutty on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with medium carbonation.
Overall: A very nice hefeweizen that I would definitely buy again.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Epic Brewing Company, Smoked Beer, USA

Epic Smoked Porter

Friday, 30 October 2015 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Epic Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 6%
Style: Smoked Beer
Other Notes: Malts – Maris Otter, Two Row Brewers, Smoked Malt. 2-Rpw Chocolate Malt, CaraMunic III, Carafa III. Hops – Nugget, Mt. Hood, Willamette.

Brewer Description: (from website) This nostalgic porter evokes memories of chocolate and coffee around a campfire. The cherry wood smoked malt used in this beer gives it a heavy smokiness that blends smoothly into the chocolate malty body. With a silky finish this porter is ideal for sipping on a cold winter’s eve.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.82
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: A 22oz bomber from release batch #33 with a brew date of 2nd March 2015 and a packaged date of 16th March 2015 and poured into a Spiegelau stout glass.
Appearance: It poured a deep dark brown with amber hues and a nice one fingered tan head that dissipated to a thin creamy layer and leaves spotty lacing.
Aroma: The smoke aromas were light but instead mainly chocolate, some dark fruits and hints of coffee.
Taste: Felt more smoke in the taste than the aromas, but still on the light side. On top of the smoke though, there is chocolate with hints of toffee, plum and raisin as well as some nice light bitterness.
Mouthfeel: Smooth, creamy, medium bodied and light to medium carbonation.
Overall: I enjoyed this but the smokiness in both the aroma and taste was less than I expected. Despite this, I would probably still buy this again.

4 - Good (buy), American IPA, Beer Reviews, Surly Brewing Company, USA

Surly Furious

Monday, 19 October 2015 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Surly Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 6.6%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: Malt – 2-row, Golden Promise, Aromatic, Medium Crystal, Roasted Barley. Hops – Warrior, Ahtanum, Cascade, Simcoe, Amarillo.

Brewer Description: (from can) A tempest on the tongue, or a moment of pure hop bliss? Brewed with a dazzling blend of American hops and Scottish malt, this crimson-hued ale delivers waves of citrus, pine and caramel-toffee. For those who favor flavor, Furious has the hop-fire your taste buds have been screaming for.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.29
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 16 fl oz can canned on 8th July 2015 and poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: It poured a clear copper amber colour with slightly less than two finger white head that leaves spotty lacing.
Aroma: Tropical fruit especially mango, peach and apricot, caramel malt, biscuit and hints of grass and pine.
Taste: Less fruit than I expected. Mainly malt, biscuit, caramel and lasting piney bitterness. Maybe a hint of citrus grapefruit, and its peel, but not much.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with medium carbonation.
Overall: A very nice IPA. It was a lot less fruity than I expected after taking a whiff of the aromas, but the malty and piney hop bitterness was balanced and very good.

words of another dreamy traveller