Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Browar Stu Mostów, Poland, Porter - Baltic

Stu Mostów WRCLW Baltic Porter Coffee Vanilla Hazelnuts NITRO

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Brewery: Browar Stu Mostów
Country: Poland
ABV: 9.1%
Style: Baltic Porter
Other Notes: 40 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from website) To the extractive base of the Baltic Porter we added extremely aromatic Madagascar vanilla sticks, roasted hazelnuts and BRAZYLIA PATROCINIO coffee beans from from our local roastery – Czarny Deszcz! In this way, we have created an incredibly delicious combination, which is bound in a dessert whole by a velvety texture obtained thanks to nitrogen saturation!

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.39
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 330ml bottle, with a best before date of 23rd December 2023. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark dark brown to black in colour, with a thin brown head that disappeared quickly, while leaving nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Roasty, dark malt, coffee, chocolate, wafer biscuit, with light nutty, raisin and vanilla notes.
Taste: Roasty, bitter, dark chocolate, coffee, biscuit, nutty, hazelnut, light caramel sweetness, and notes of vanilla. Finish is an enjoyable lasting bitterness.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, velvety, smooth, medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Unfortunately I did not know that this was a nitro beer until after it was poured as the word ‘nitro’ was not so obvious on the bottle to me. Therefore I didn’t do the aggressive vertical pour and didn’t get as much of the nice tiny bubbles and cascading effect as I could have. Having said that, this was a great beer, with wonderful bitterness and strong coffee and chocolate flavours.

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

De Cam Mirabel Lambiek

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Brewery: Geuzestekerij De Cam
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: 2020 vintage. Spontaneous fermentation purely natural. Artisan family, consciously small company (1 man only: Karel)

Brewer Description: (from bottle in Dutch) Deze lambiek schuimt niet om de fruitaroma’s 100% te kunnen proeven. 1000 kilogram Mirabellen worden in z’n geheel gedurende een jaar vergist met 1500 liter jonge lambiek. Met verdere maturatie op de eiken vaten.

(Translated to English) This lambic does not foam in order to taste the fruit aromas 100%. 1000 kilograms of Mirabelle are fermented whole over a year with 1500 liters of young lambic. With further maturation in the oak barrels.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.39
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 375ml corked and caged bottle, 2020 vintage, with a best before date of November 2040. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden orange colour with an almost two finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly to a nice thin cap, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Sweet plum, funky, dusty, yellow stone fruit, apricot, floral, perfumy, lemon.
Taste: Lightly sour, tart, perfumy, floral, lemon peel, stone fruit, apricot, plum, and a touch of oak.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: I don’t know what a Mirabelle plum is supposed to smell or taste like. But after researching it a bit, it seems that the perfumy and floral character that I’m getting quite strongly could be from these Mirabelle plums. I’m usually not a fan of these characteristics, but it actually works well in this case, complementing the stone fruit apricot and plum flavours. I’m getting nice funk in the aroma, but not much in the flavour, which might have made it more interesting with the perfumy notes if there was. But still, it drinks easy and I enjoyed it.

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

De Cam Oude Kriek

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Brewery: Geuzestekerij De Cam
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: 2019 vintage. Newer vintages are just “Kriek” without “Oude” in the name

Brewer Description: (from bottle in Dutch) Kriek schuimt niet, doordat hergisting op fles minimaal is om de fruit aroma’s maximaal te proeven. Kriek ontstaat door het samen vergisten van jonge lambiek met een hoeveelheid zure aromatische kersen. De zure kersen, Prunus Cerasus L., worden in hun geheel (geen sap) met pit in bewerking gebracht. Het gehalte aan zure kersen bedraagt ongeveer 40kg per 100 liter kriek.

(translated to English) Kriek does not foam, because refermentation in the bottle is minimal to get the maximum taste of the fruit aromas. Kriek is created by fermenting young lambic together with a quantity of sour aromatic cherries. The sour cherries, Prunus Cerasus L., are processed whole (no juice) with stone. The content of sour cherries is approximately 40 kg per 100 liters of cherries.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.16
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 375ml corked and caged bottle, 2019 vintage, with a best before date of July 2040. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A mostly clear ruby red with a very thin slightly pinkish head that disappeared almost immediately, while leaving only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Lightly tart, cherry, cherry skin, oak, with light funky notes.
Taste: Sour, tart, cherry, oak, citrusy lemon, lightly funky.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: It’s a good kriek with lots of cherry and a nice citrusy bite. The funky notes could have been more pronounced.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Lervig Aktiebryggeri x Hoppin’ Frog Brewing Company, Norway, Stout - Imperial

Lervig x Hoppin’ Frog Sippin’ Into Darkness Bourbon Barrel Aged

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Brewery: Lervig Aktiebryggeri x Hoppin’ Frog Brewing Company
Country: Norway
ABV: 12%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Aged in bourbon barrels

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Chocolate martini Imperial Stout, collaboration w. Hoppin’ Frog Brewery (US), aged in bourbon barrels.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.38
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 330ml bottle with no bottled on or best before date. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark dark brown to black in colour with a very thin brown head that disappeared almost immediately while leaving only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Roasty, chocolate, cocoa, Horlicks malt wheat, coffee bean, vanilla, oak, bourbon.
Taste: Sweet, chocolate, bourbon, light roasted malt, cocoa, oak, candi sugar, molasses, lightly boozy, with notes of vanilla.
Mouthfeel: Smooth, creamy, medium to full bodied, with soft carbonation.
Overall: Loved the aroma, and while taste may be on the verge of being too sweet for me, it was still a wonderful sipper.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, The Ale Apothecary, USA, Wild Ale

The Ale Apothecary Sauvie

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Brewery: The Ale Apothecary
Country: USA
ABV: 8.10%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: A wild fermentation ale aged in wine barrels with hops grown on Sauvie Island

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Made of Mecca Grade Estate barley & rye malts and Crystal hops grown by Sauvie Island Hops on the farming island near Portland. We are honored to purchase and use all the Crystal hops that Jordan and Maya grow each year. 100% naturally carbonated with honey, and 100% Oregon. Unfiltered, open-fermented & barrel-aged.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.33
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 375ml corked and caged bottle, bottled on 29th October 2019. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden orange colour with a two finger white head that had decent retention, and eventually settled to a thin fluffy cap, while leaving nice lacing.
Aroma: Tart, peach, apricot, sweet grape, tangy, citrus, orange, oak.
Taste: Sour, tart, gummy candy like fruitiness, peach, apricot, grape, citrus, lemon, oak.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Really enjoyable and easy to drink, with great aromas and gummy candy like fruitiness in the flavour.