Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

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

The Ale Apothecary El Cuatro

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Brewery: The Ale Apothecary
Country: USA
ABV: 10.58%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: 1206 bottles

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Wild fermentation ale brewed with honey, aged in wine & brandy barrels.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.27
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 375ml corked and caged bottle, brewed in November 2017, bottled on 1st November 2019. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy deep amber orange colour, with a thin khaki head that dissipated fairly quickly, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Grape, oak, vanilla, brandy, lightly vinous, light funky, with a touch of citrus zest.
Taste: Sour, tart, oak, dried apricot, stone fruit, hay, honey, with light brandy and orange citrus notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Enjoyable complex aroma and flavours. A good sipper.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Funky Fluid, Poland, Stout - Milk / Sweet

Funky Fluid Breakfast Stout Rwanda Minazi Coffee

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Brewery: Funky Fluid
Country: Poland
ABV: 7%
Style: Milk / Sweet Stout
Other Notes: Hops – HBC 472

Brewer Description: (from can) Full-bodied and smooth milk stout with Rwanda Minazi coffee selected by Sławek Szostek & Kuba Poręcki and roasted by Czarna Fala in Warsaw. Perfect match!

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.13
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 500ml can, with a best before date of 17th December 2021. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark brown in colour with a half finger tanned head that dissipated fairly quickly but left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Roasty, coffee, with milky/creamy notes.
Taste: Mildly sweet, milk coffee, roasty, coffee beans, espresso, light bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, velvet silky, smooth, full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Very coffee forward, but that’s great if you enjoy coffee. Creamy and silky smooth just made it so easy to drink.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Funky Fluid, Poland, Sour Ale - Smoothie / Soda / Pastry

Funky Fluid Gelato Pastry Sour – PB&J

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Brewery: Funky Fluid
Country: Poland
ABV: 5.8%
Style: Sour Ale – Smoothie / Soda / Pastry
Other Notes: Hops – Amarillo

Brewer Description: (from can) Sweet & sour beer. Inspired by Italian ice creams and famous Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwich. Packed up to the ceiling with raspberry & black currant purée.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.17
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 500ml can, with a best before date of 1st July 2021. Poured into a Alvinne teku glass.
Appearance: A cloudy artificial purple pink colour, with a one finger pink head that disappeared almost immediately, while leaving no lacing.
Aroma: Sweet, dessert, jammy, mixed berries, wafer, nutty, with notes of peanut butter.
Taste: Sour, tart, jammy, mixed berries, sweetness, wafer, nutty.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Easy drinking dessert like beer. Although the nuttiness was more like wafer/peanuts than peanut butter, it still tasted nice with the jammy mixed berry flavours.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij Alvinne, Wild Ale

Alvinne Cuvée Sofie Alvino

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Brewery: Brouwerij Alvinne
Country: Belgium
ABV: 8%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: 2016 vintage. Alvinne limited edition, single cask, 700 bottles. 2012 French Oak from Burgundy. Grape variety – Boskoop

Brewer Description: (from bottle in Dutch) Alvino is een exclusief project omdat we enkel druiven van eigen kweek gebruiken. De oogst van 2016 was uitzonderlijk goed, voldoende om aan twee vaten cuvee sofie 20kg per vat toete voegen.

(translated to English) Alvino is an exclusive project because we only use grapes from our own cultivation. The 2016 harvest was exceptionally good, enough to add 20kg per barrel to two barrels of cuvee sofie.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.15
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 500ml bottle, 2016 vintage, with a best before date of December 2021. Poured into an Alvinne teku glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy copper amber colour with a one finger off white head that dissipated fairly quickly to a ring around the glass, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Sweet malt, grape, grape juice, oak, lightly vinous and light funk.
Taste: Lightly sour, grape, lightly vinous, oak, a splash of sweetness, apple, tart, funky.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Not as vinous as expected from the barrel, but it was still enjoyable and easy drinking.

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

De Struise Black Damnation IV – Coffee Club

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Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 13%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: 72 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A Belgian Royal Stout from Flanders aged for 2yrs in Caribbean rum barrels.

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

Intro: A 330ml bottle, Vintage 2018, bottled on 26th November 2020, with a best before date of bottled date +5 years. Poured into a De Struise Black Damnation tasting glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a half finger beige head that dissipated fairly quickly to a ring around the glass, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Roasty, coffee, neapolitan ice cream blend, chocolate, rum, brown sugar.
Taste: Moderately sweet, lightly boozy, rum, roasty, coffee, chocolate, oak, molasses, brown sugar, with vanilla notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Not a fan of rum, but this worked well with enjoyable aromas and flavours.