Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Nøgne Ø, Norway, Stout - Imperial

Nøgne Ø Dark Horizon 7 Barrel Aged

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Brewery: Nøgne Ø
Country: Norway
ABV: 16%
Style: Stout – Imperial
Other Notes: Coffee, Chocolate, Licorice. Bottle# 0587/7750

Brewer Description: (from bottle) The Dark Horizon series from Nøgne Ø is unique. 15 years after we launched the first version in 2006, we are proud to present Dark Horizon 7. This barrel-aged version of Dark Horizon 7 has spent up to 3 years in barrels that have previously contained cognac, aquavit and whiskey respectively.

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

Intro: A 330ml bottle in a nice looking circular metal case, bottle# 0587/7750, bottled on 25th August 2021, with a best before date of 4th July 2031. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a nice one finger brown head that had decent retention while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Roasted malts, chocolate, dark fruit, licorice, brown sugar, whiskey, cognac, boozy, oak, with light notes of coffee.
Taste: Moderately sweet with a light bitterness, roasty, coffee, chocolate, licorice, whisky, cognac, boozy, brown sugar, oak, molasses.
Mouthfeel: Boozy, full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Definitely a sipper, but a good one. The booze is noticeable, and at 16%, it’s not surprising. Not too sweet, which is good, and on top of the alcohol, there’s lots of nice chocolate, coffee and licorice.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, De Struise Brouwers, Stout - Russian Imperial

De Struise Black Damnation XX – Ma Boule

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Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 13%
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Bottle 1555/2000, 2012 vintage

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A massive stout from Flanders, matured in Calvados barrel.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.21
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 750ml bottle, number 1555/2000. 2012 vintage, bottled on 26th March 2017. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with pretty much no head and no lacing.
Aroma: Roasty malts, calvados, apple peel, chocolate, oak, with notes of dark fruit, plum, prunes.
Taste: Lightly sweet and bitter, roasty, chocolate, caramel, calvados, dark fruit, plum, toasty wood, with a spicy herby note.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: I’m not big on calvados, but I tend to be surprised by how much I enjoy calvados barrel aged imperial stouts. For some reason they just work, and this was no exception with good balanced flavours, and just a very good sipper on a night where temperatures are going down again… strange for an April in Hong Kong.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, De Struise Brouwers, Stout - Russian Imperial

De Struise Black Damnation XVI – Ivan The Terrible

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Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 13%
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Bottle 979/2000, 2012 vintage

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A massive stout from Flanders, matured in Glenlivet barrel.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.05
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 750ml bottle, number 979/2000, 2012 vintage, bottled on 31st March 2017. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a very thin brown head that disappeared almost immediately, while leaving only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Roasted malts, chocolate, whisky, brown sugar, with light caramel notes.
Taste: Lightly sweet, chocolate, roasted malts, whisky, oak, some fruity maybe apple sauce notes, caramel, toffee, and maybe a slightly burnt like moderately bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Slightly boozy, medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: An enjoyable sipper, maybe a bit boozy, but it’s got good sweet and bitter balance, and nice whisky notes.

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

3 Fonteinen Speling van het Lot XI.v: Pruim: Conducta + Opal

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7.9%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°24, Season 19/20. Number of bottles – 969

Brewer Description: (from bottle) For this Pruim Speling, we co-macerated two different plum varieties from Wijndomein Hoenshof, Conducta and Opal. We freed up a small 1000L toasted foeder from our friends at Garbellotto, a small family run cooperage. We macerated the plums, with stone and all, for almost five months on two different young lambikken. We bottled the fruit lambik straight from the barrel to the bottle. The final fruit intensity is 769 grams of plums per litre. 100% 3 Fonteinen.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.02
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°24, season 19/20, bottle 673/969, bottled on 15th January 2020, and with a best before date of 26th October 2040. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden orange colour with a just under one finger white head that dissipated quickly to a thin cap while leaving only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Plum, plum skin, minerals, with light notes of lemon zest, leather and funk.
Taste: Sour, tart, plum, apricot, lemon, oak, and light funk.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: There was nice plum notes, but the sour intensity and lemon flavours in this Conducta + Opal was higher than other plum varietals I tried recently, and I preferred both Sultana and especially Reine Claude D’Oullins more.

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

3 Fonteinen Speling van het Lot XI.iv: Pruim: Sultana

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.8%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°21, Season 19/20. Number of bottles – 684

Brewer Description: (from bottle) For the last two summer seasons, unfortunately, peach harvest was almost non-existing with Ludo Rosseels, the last peach grower of importance in Belgium. Luckily, he also has some plum trees that we are fortunate to be able to harvest from. Last summer, we were able to harvest about 250 kilos of Sultana plums from his fields.

We macerated these on an ex-Bordeaux barrel with young lambik for five and a half months. We blended with some jonge lambik prior to bottling. This way, we used lambikken from four different barrels and four different brews. The final fruit intensity is at 500 grams of plums per litre. 100% 3 Fonteinen.

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

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°21, season 19/20, bottle 084/684, bottled on 13th January 2020, and with a best before date of 26th October 2040. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A very lightly hazy golden orange colour, with a two finger white head that had decent retention and eventually settled to a nice thin fluffy cap, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Light plum, plum skin, funky, with some herbal earthy notes.
Taste: Lightly sour, lightly tart, plum, plum skin, dried apricot, funky, leather, oak, earthy.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: Balanced and enjoyable with the plums coming through nicely with the funk.