Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Geuzestekerij De Cam, Lambic - Fruit

De Cam Zjiem Bezen Framboise Lambic

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Brewery: Geuzestekerij De Cam
Country: Belgium
ABV: 5.5%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: 2020 vintage

Brewer Description: (from bottle in Dutch) Fruitlambik zonder hergisting: 600 kilo trosbessen en 400 kilo Frambozen worden samen met 1500 liter lambik vergist op VAT.

(translated to English) Fruit lambic without refermentation: 600 kilos of redcurrants and 400 kilos of raspberries are fermented in VAT together with 1500 liters of lambic.

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

Intro: A 375ml corked and caged bottle, 2020 vintage, with a best before date of August 2030. Poured into a De Cam stemmed glass.
Appearance: A clear ruby red colour with a one finger pinkish head that dissipated quickly to a ring around the glass while leaving only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Sweet candied red fruit, raspberry, redcurrants, wood, light funk, with leather notes.
Taste: Tart, light sour, leather, funky notes, candied fruit, raspberry, redcurrants, with hints of wood.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: Not as complex as some of the other De Cam offerings, but still enjoyable as the candied fruit sweetness and leathery funk balances the tartness such that it’s easy to drink.

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

Tilquin Oude Mirabelle À l’ancienne

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Brewery: Gueuzerie Tilquin
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: 2020-2021

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Beer of spontaneous fermentation, the Old Mirabelle Tilquin is made from the fermentation of 240g of Mirabelle plums by liter of lambic. Unfiltered and unpasteurized, this beer is refermented in the bottle.

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

Intro: A 375ml corked and caged bottle, with a neck label of 2020-2021, and a best before date of 21st January 2031. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy apricot orange colour with a thin half finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly while leaving some decent lacing.
Aroma: Fruity, plum, apricot, minerally, light funk, notes of wood, and lemon zest.
Taste: Lightly sour, plum, stone fruit, oak, vanilla, lemon zest, and light funky notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Much like the Cassis, it may not be complex, but it works really well. The Mirabelle plums provides such great flavours and aromas that it’s just so easy to drink.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Heroes Beer Co., Hong Kong, Stout - Milk / Sweet Imperial

Heroes BB&AWAIMSwCN&V (3rd Anniversary)

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Brewery: Heroes Beer Co.
Country: Hong Kong
ABV: 10.3%
Style: Stout – Milk / Sweet Imperial
Other Notes: Bottle 644 of 960

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Bourbon Barrel & Amburana Wood Aged Imperial Milk Stout with Cacao Nibs & Vanilla. Starts off with robust wood aged characters of gingerbread, tonka beans, and savory herbs from the Amburana wood. Follows with secondary vanilla and toffee like notes from the Bourbon barrels and vanilla pods. The malt base is complex with rounded dark chocolates and coffee, which is further enhanced by the cacao nibs infusion. Secondary malt profile caramel, and toasted bread provides great depth to the flavor. Drinks full body with a chewy mouthfeel.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.12
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A boxed, black waxed, 650ml bomber, bottle 644 of 960, packaged on 15th July 2020, and with a best before date of 15th July 2022. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Poured pitch black with pretty much no head and no lacing.
Aroma: Strong aromatic coconut, gingerbread, and cinnamon from the Amburana, followed by lots of nice milk chocolate, caramel, toffee, and vanilla. The finish is Christmas spice like.
Taste: Sweet, chocolate, Christmas spices, vanilla, caramel, toffee, dried dark fruit and a light spicy kick on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Full bodied and rich, with soft carbonation.
Overall: Aroma was wonderful, while taste was sweet and rich, which was fine while cool, but as it warmed, it started getting more intense to the point where it was on the borderline maybe too much for me. Amburana barrels are not my favourite, but this was certainly worth a try.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Bière de Champagne / Bière Brut, England, Mills Brewing

Mills Islay Brut

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Brewery: Mills Brewing
Country: England
ABV: 9%
Style: Bière de Champagne / Bière Brut
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) Islay Brut is a blend of four barrels from three separate worts produced in March, May, and August 2018. One of the brews fermented in two small Islay whisky barrels, imparting aromas of maritime peat. The blend was refermented with golden caster sugar to produce a strong and dry beer. Finally, it received a large dose of primings to produce a Champagne type carbonation. Serve at fridge temperature.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.4
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, bottled in August 2020, with a best before date of August 2030. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden orange colour with a big three finger white head that had good retention and eventually settled to a fluffy cap, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Grapes, peat, leather, with oak and lemon zest creeping through.
Taste: Light sour, tart, super lemon candies, grape, oak, peat, with light mineral notes.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: I think you have to like peat to enjoy this, and luckily I do. It’s really well balanced as the peat is obviously there, but it doesn’t overpower everything else. The champagne like effervescent carbonation was also enjoyable, while the 9% abv was well hidden.

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

Mills x Nevel Dinkum

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Brewery: Mills Brewing x Nevel
Country: England
ABV: 5.5%
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. Nevel Artisan Ales brew wild beer in Nijmegen with local, organic and foraged ingredients

Brewer Description: (from bottle) In April 2019 we brewed a rich, copper wort with locally picked blackberry leaves in the boil. Both brewery’s mixed cultures were used to ferment the wort in red wine barrels for 12 months. The resulting beer was blended with another reddish beer from August 2018. The beer was then dry hopped with whole leaf Huell Melon, Belma, Cascade and Citra.

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

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, bottled in April 2020, with a best before date of April 2030. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy copper colour with a big three finger beige head that had good retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Lightly tart, grape, unripe berries, leafy, earthy, lemon zest, with notes of caramel.
Taste: Lightly sour, tart, grape, melon and berry notes, leafy, oak, citrusy, lemon zest.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium to light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Complex and balanced aroma and flavours just made it extremely easy drinking and enjoyable.