Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Farmhouse Saison, Hill Farmstead Brewery, USA

Hill Farmstead Nonconformist 03

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Brewery: Hill Farmstead Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 6%
Style: Farmhouse Saison
Other Notes: A farmstead ale aged in oak barrels. Hops – Cascade. Adjunct – Buckwheat and Vermont Buckwheat Honey. Time in oak – 1 year

Brewer Description: (from website) This is the third entry in our novel exploration of blended beers, aging techniques, and often unexplored ingredient combinations. In the summer of 2018, we brewed a beer with a base composition of 20% Vermont buckwheat honey, 48% organic buckwheat, 32% malted barley, and cascade hops. After a year of respite in wine barrels, the beer rested in the bottle, moving through its own hopeful arc towards achievement over the course of nearly three years. The result is a delicate, floral expression, displaying differing facets of this ancient grain within the context of our Farmstead® ale framework. Once again, the label features the imaginative artwork of our creative collaborator, a close friend, who has inspired and supported the Hill Farmstead journey since the very beginning, Alex Peltz of Peltz Creative.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.28
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 375ml bottle, bottled on August 16, 2019. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy dark orange colour with a one finger white head that had pretty good retention, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Zesty, mandarin, funky, wine barrel, oak, vanilla-ish.
Taste: Tart, sweet, apricot, grapefruit, oak, pineapple, and a touch vinous.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: Easy drinking and balanced. Needed some time, but I think it got better after a while.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Farmhouse Saison - Fruit, Hill Farmstead Brewery, USA

Hill Farmstead Plum: 2021 Harvest

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Brewery: Hill Farmstead Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 6%
Style: Farmhouse Saison – Fruit
Other Notes: Farmstead ale aged in oak barrels with plums. Source: Elmore Roots Nursery, Elmore, VT

Brewer Description: (from website) Each harvest season, we choose various barrels of our Farmstead® ales that exhibit sympathetic characteristics for pairing with local fruit varieties, in this case, organic plums from the 2021 harvest season at Elmore Roots Nursery in nearby Elmore, Vt. Once again, the care and intentionality with which David and his team work with the land translates fully into the fruit’s seasonal expression each year, especially with these varieties of plums. Regardless of the base beer’s composition or blend, the ideal outcome remains the same: a thoughtful representation of the fruit in season and one of our favorite offerings within this collection.

My rating: 4+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.44
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 375ml bottle, plums 2021 harvest, bottle conditioned since March 23, 2022, poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy orange pinkish colour, with a one finger white head that had good retention and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Tart, plum, plum skin, grapefruit rind, citrus zesty, oak.
Taste: Lightly sour, tart, plum, grapefruit rind and zest, oak, slight tropical notes, funk, with a light salty touch on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: A very enjoyable and really easy to drink fruited Saison, with balanced plum flavours.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, DUST Blending, Lambic - non-Lambic Blends

DUST 1 Grappe

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Brewery: DUST Blending
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7.5%
Style: Lambic – non-Lambic Blends
Other Notes: #024 – Saison / Lambiek blend

Brewer Description: (from bottle) #024 Barrel aged Saison/Lambiek + 6 days of Chardonnay skin contact and 5 months of rest on amphora.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.07
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped clear bottle. Bottled in April 2022. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden straw yellow colour with a one finger white head that had pretty good retention and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Funky, preserved salted mandarin, newborn poop, lemon zest, very ripe apricot, balsa wood, with some light white wine vinous notes.
Taste: Lightly tart, lemon zest, white wine vinous, wood, with notes of salted mandarin and light funk.
Mouthfeel: Spritzy, light to medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: Super funky on the aroma, maybe a bit too much, but luckily, the funk is much more balanced in the flavour, and doesn’t overpower the nice citrus zestiness, while being spritzy and refreshing.

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

Boon HORAL’s Oude Geuze Mega Blend 2015

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Brewery: Brouwerij Boon
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7%
Style: Lambic – Gueuze
Other Notes: HORAL members – 3 Fonteinen, Boon, De Cam, De Troch, Hanssens, Lindemans, Oud Beersel, Tilquin, Timmermans.

Brewer Description: (from bottle in Dutch) Voor deze botteling van de Oude Geuze Megablend hebben 9 verschillende brouwerijen en stekerijen samen lambiek gemengd. Deze Megablend werd speciaal voor de tiende editie van ‘Toer de Geuze’ gemaakt en zal op de dag van de Toer de Geuze 2015 meer dan 6 maanden op fles gerijpt hebben. Het mengsel bevat Lambiek die bij het vullen van de flessen 1, 2 en 3 jaar oud was.

(translated to English) For this bottling of the Oude Geuze Megablend, 9 different breweries and blenders mixed lambic together. This Megablend was specially made for the tenth edition of ‘Toer de Geuze’ and will have matured in the bottle for more than 6 months on the day of the Toer de Geuze 2015. The mixture contains Lambic that was 1, 2 and 3 years old when the bottles were filled.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.34
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, 2015 vintage, with a best before date of 31st October 2034. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen gueuze glass.
Appearance: A clear golden orange colour with a two finger white head that had decent retention, eventually settling to a thin cap, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Crisp green apple, apple peel, lemon zest, oak, with light funky notes.
Taste: Lightly sour, green apple, apple peel, lemon zest, oak, funk.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: Up there with 2017 as one of my favourites HORAL Mega Blend vintages with good balance and refreshing aroma and flavours.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brasserie Atrium, Stout - Imperial

Atrium Cocada

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Brewery: Brasserie Atrium
Country: Belgium
ABV: 12.3%
Style: Stout – Imperial
Other Notes: 2022 BXL BeerFest beer pack

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Quad stout with grilled coconut, rapadura and vanilla.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.25
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml bottle, with a best before date of July 2029. Brewed for BXL BeerFest 2022. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a very thin tanned head that dissipated immediately, while leaving pretty much no lacing.
Aroma: Light roast, coconut, grilled coconut, coffee, brown sugar.
Taste: Sweet and bitter, roasted malts, dark chocolate, roasted coconut, coffee, brown sugar, near burnt caramel, cinnamon, vanilla, with an interesting lightly spicy finish.
Mouthfeel: Full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: An enjoyable sipper. From the aroma, I was worried that it might be too sweet, but there was some nice dark chocolate bitterness and an interesting spicy note on the finish that balanced a lot of the sweetness.