Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Gueuzerie Tilquin, Lambic - Fruit

Tilquin Oude Syrah À l’ancienne

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Brewery: Gueuzerie Tilquin
Country: Belgium
ABV: 8%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: 2021-2022

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Beer of spontaneous fermentation, the Old Syrah Tilquin is made from the fermentation of 185g of grapes by liter of lambic. Unfiltered and unpasteurized, this beer is refermented in the bottle.

My rating: 4+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.47
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, with a neck label of 2021-2022, and a best before date of 22nd December 2031. A nice clearly labelled warning on the neck states: “Open carefully, contents under high pressure, prepare your glasses.” I was prepared, and as soon as the cork popped, the contents of the bottle started to get quite active, but luckily nothing was lost in my case. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A very nice looking bright red, with a slight orange tinge, and a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly to a ring around the glass, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Funky, damp wood, hay, grape skin, vinous, red wine, oak, and a touch herbal.
Taste: Lightly sour, tart, grape skin, grape juice, red berries, light citrus, lemon, oak, with some light funky and vinous notes.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: Another really enjoyable and easy to drink grape varietal fruit lambic from Tilquin.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen, Lambic - Gueuze

3 Fonteinen Cuvée Miel

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7.9%
Style: Lambic – Gueuze
Other Notes: Blend°67, Season 20/21

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This Cuvée Miel is a special version of the Cuvée Armand & Gaston. This geuze is a blend of one-, two-, three- and four-year old lambikken that have been infused with honey on the coolship. While blending, we added some more local honey. The weighted average age of this blend upon bottling was more than 24 months. 100% 3 Fonteinen brewed lambik.

My rating: 4+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.47
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°67, season 20/21, bottled on 28th July 2021. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen gueuze glass.
Appearance: A very nice clear dark golden orange colour, with a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly to a thin cap, while leaving lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Funky, dusty, hay, stone fruit, peach, apricot, orange zest, green apple, with notes of honey.
Taste: Lightly tart, funky, barnyard, damp wood, hay, green apple, citrusy, orange zest, lemon, with light herbal, honey, and stone fruit notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: Another interesting and enjoyable variant of Cuvée Armand & Gaston that drinks really easy and one that I could just drink again and again.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgian Strong Dark Ale, Belgium, S.A. Bières de Chimay

Chimay Grande Réserve Vieillie en Barriques: Châtaignier neuf, Chêne, Cognac 15/03/2016

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Brewery: S.A. Bières de Chimay
Country: Belgium
ABV: 10.5%
Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale
Other Notes: 38% French oak, 22% American oak (second utilization), 22% new cognac barrels & 18% new chestnut

Brewer Description: (from bottle) The “Grande Réserve” barrel aged is an exceptional beer that benefits from triple fermentation and extended maturing in barrels. Unfiltered, unpasteurised, this beer has an incomparable rounded, wooden flavour.

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

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, bottled on 15th March 2016, with a best before date of end of 2021. Poured into a Chimay goblet glass.
Appearance: A dark amber brown colour, with a thin half finger beige head that dissipated fairly quickly to a ring around the glass, and a gently replenishing centre, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Light to moderately sweet dark fruit, plum, prunes, raisin, oak, with light toffee notes.
Taste: Sweet dark malt, dark fruit, plum, prunes, caramel, toffee, oak, cognac, light booze, and a touch bitter on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: It’s a nice complex sipper, but my preference is still the base beer, which is just so good. Despite this, the barrel aged variants are still very interesting, and I would love to keep trying more.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Farmhouse Saison, Hudson Valley Brewery, USA

Hudson Valley Valley Beer Winter 2020

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Brewery: Hudson Valley Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 5%
Style: Farmhouse – Saison

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Blended and bottled in the Winter of 2020. Valley Beer is our Hudson Valley Sour Farmhouse Ale brewed with 100% New York ingredients. It is fermented in our foudres with wild yeast and souring bacteria and aged for up to a year in oak barrels. This beer is bottle conditioned with local wildflower honey, so please open cold, pour carefully, and expect some sediment.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.06
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 750ml baby blue waxed bottle, bottled in the winter of 2020, poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A nice very slightly hazy golden colour with a one finger white head that had decent retention and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Tart, funk, damp wood, hay, yellow stone fruit, with light notes of honey and orange peel.
Taste: Lightly sour, tart, funky, damp wood, apple cider vinegar, green apple, yellow stone fruit, honey, and a touch of citrus peel.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: I’ll accept that they call it a Farmhouse Ale, but it does trend more towards a Wild Ale in my opinion. The funky notes in both the aroma and taste keep it interesting along with the fruitiness and honey.

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

FiftyFifty Imperial Eclipse Stout BKR (Bookers Barrel)

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Brewery: FiftyFifty Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 12.2%
Style: Stout – Imperial
Other Notes: 2019 vintage, yellow wax – Bookers Barrel

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Now in it’s 12th vintage, 2019 Eclipse is our rich Imperial Stout aged to perfection in whiskey and spirit barrels. All Eclipse start with the same base beer bringing hints of dark chocolate, espresso, and a smooth complexity, with each barrel treatment delivering its own unique character after a minimum of 180 days of aging. BKR is aged in select bourbon barrels. DSP-KY-230.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.12
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 500ml dark yellow waxed bottle, 2019 vintage. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark dark brown to black in colour, with a thin tanned head that dissipated quickly, while leaving some spotty lacing.
Aroma: Bakers chocolate, molasses, bourbon, and a touch of almonds.
Taste: Light roast, chocolate, coffee, bourbon, molasses, raisin, with light notes of toasted nuts.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: A fuller body would help this Imperial Stout, but there are some enjoyable flavours with this sipper.