Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

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

Hill Farmstead Charlie

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Brewery: Hill Farmstead Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 2%
Style: Farmhouse Saison
Other Notes: A low-alcohol Farmstead ale. Hops – Mosaic and Simcoe. Yeast – Farmstead ale yeast

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Charlie: Our faithful, loving, and steadfast companion. A golden retriever of renown, he effortlessly adopted everyone on Hill Road and beyond. Tail wagging and tongue lolling, Charlie never failed to charm. He was a cheerful rogue who approached without prejudice or judgment – a furry four-legged foreman who monitored all construction, managed events, and kept dutiful watch over his roads and wayward tacos. In his honor, we have created a beer to suit his spirit: a lively, cheerful, low-alcohol Farmstead ale with a touch of playfulness. Share. Consider. Enjoy…

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.35
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 750ml bottle, bottle conditioned since 2nd March 2022. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden straw yellow colour, with an almost two finger white head that had good retention and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Tropical, mango, citrusy, lemon zest, with light floral, funky, and grainy notes.
Taste: Tart, citrusy, grapefruit, lemon zest, tropical, mango, with a touch of grains and funk.
Mouthfeel: Crisp, light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Enjoyable, refreshing and easy to drink.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, England, Mills Brewing, Wild Ale

Mills Table Beer

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Brewery: Mills Brewing
Country: England
ABV: 3%
Style: Wild Ale
Other Notes: Mills Brewing make beer with minimal modern intervention, relying on local wild yeast cultures and the influence of nature to ferment.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Table Beer is a blend of two different worts produced in February 2020 using traditional turbid mashing. Rye, oat and barley malts were mashed and seven year old Hallertau Hersbrucker hops were used in the boil. The worts were fermented together with our house culture of yeast and bacteria in a stainless steel vessel (a first for us) to keep the delicate aromatics as fresh as possible. After 18 months the beer was dry-hopped with whole-cone Polish Magnum.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.29
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, bottled in August 2021, with a best before date of August 2026. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A nice slightly hazy golden straw yellow colour with a two finger white head that had good retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Tropical fruity, mango, lychee, citrus, lemon zest, with some light funk in the background.
Taste: Sour, citrusy, lemon, lemon zest, with grainy wheat notes on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate spritzy carbonation.
Overall: Super refreshing and just drinks really easy. An enjoyable palate cleanser.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij Oud Beersel, Lambic - Fruit

Oud Beersel Sparkling Infused Winter Lambiek

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Brewery: Brouwerij Oud Beersel
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7.2%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Bottled 5 years before best before date

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Lambic infused with pine bud.

My rating: 4+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.49
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, with a best before date of 8th May 2026. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen gueuze glass.
Appearance: A clear golden orange colour with a one finger white head that had good retention, and eventually settled to a thin cap while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Sweet tea, woody, oak, pine, lemon zest, light funk.
Taste: Sweet, sour, bitter, lemon tea, pine, wood, oak, citrus zest, with some light funk.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Wow, this one surprised me. I really enjoyed this. Sweet, sour, and bitter, this tea, citrus and piney flavours just work for me.

4 - Good (buy), 8 Wired Brewing Co., Beer Reviews, Lambic - Gueuze, New Zealand

8 Wired Oude Imperiale

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Brewery: 8 Wired Brewing Co.
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 8%
Style: Lambic – Gueuze
Other Notes: Spontaneous fermented sour ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A very special “Imperial Geuze” inspired blend of selected barrels from our library. One third each of spontaneously fermented 8, 6 and, 4 year old barrels create a perfect marriage of funk, fruit, acidity and Sherry-like aged flavours.

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

Intro: A 500ml bottle with no clear bottled on or best before date. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen gueuze glass.
Appearance: A clear golden orange colour with a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly to a nice fluffy cap while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Funky, musty, damp wood, oak, vanilla, with notes of orange, and citrus zest.
Taste: Light sour, tart, apricot, orange, funky, musty, damp wood, oak, with light citrus zesty sweetness.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: It was enjoyable while being oak and funk forward.

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

Tilquin Oude Pinot Meunier À l’ancienne

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Brewery: Gueuzerie Tilquin
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7.9%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: 2020-2021

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Beer of spontaneous fermentation, the Old Pinot Meunier Tilquin is made from the fermentation of 250g of grapes by liter of lambic. The grapes were grown biodynamically by our neighbours at Domaine W. Unfiltered and unpasteurized, this beer is refermented in the bottle.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.17
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, with a neck label of 2020-2021, and a best before date of 11th March 2031. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A very nice looking pinkish orange colour with a one finger white head that had decent retention, but eventually settled to a ring around the glass while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Grape skin, grape, funky, oak, with green and citrus zesty notes.
Taste: Sour, tart, funky, grape skin, grapes, grapefruit, citrus zest, oak, earthy, with light gooseberry notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Loved the appearance of this beer. The aroma and taste was interesting, but it was definitely more green and earthy than expected. It’s good, but not one of my favourites of the grape lambics from Tilquin.