Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Trillium Brewing Company, USA, Wild Ale

Trillium Fated Farmer – Red Currant

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Brewery: Trillium Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 6.7%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Barrel fermented wild ale. Hops – Aged Hops. Malts – Valley Pilsner and Valley Wheat. Adjunct – Red Currants

Brewer Description: (from website) Our Fated Farmer Series is a landmark step toward realizing our foundational vision for Trillium: Build a place that intuitively celebrates the intersection of New England farming, agriculture, brewing and an integrated community experience. The grist of each of the dynamic Fated Farmer wild ales is set on the structure of Valley Malt and is barrel fermented in 500L puncheons with our Native New England Wild Culture and aged for 5-7 months, before refermenting on freshly harvested fruit.

Fated Farmer: Red Currant (sourced from Wards Berry Farm in Sharon, MA) presents a warm, orange-pink hue, with a leaping nose of rose of pinot noir, and hints of strawberry and fermentation derived overripe stonefruit. The palate leads with tart wild berry flavor and mellows into a subtle sweetness, slight tannic structure and snappy, pleasing finish.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.28
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml bottle, bottled on 21st December 2017. Poured into a Cantillon ballon glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy golden orange colour with a thin white head that dissipated quickly, while leaving only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Soft funky, oak, vanilla, red berry tartness, with yellow stone fruit.
Taste: Sour, tart, mixed berries, red currant, stone fruit, peach, with soft vinegar notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Good balance of funk, fruit and barrel in both aroma and taste, but it is especially so in the aroma. I didn’t get to try it fresh, but I think some age might have had a good effect on it.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgian Strong Dark Ale, Belgium, Brouwerij De Dochter van de Korenaar

De Dochter van de Korenaar Embrasse

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Brewery: Brouwerij De Dochter van de Korenaar
Country: Belgium
ABV: 9%
Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale
Other Notes: A beer to embrace. Belgian Strong Dark Ale / Stout

Brewer Description: (from website) An intense heavy dark beer with 9% vol. Embrasse is a heavy dark beer that is perfectly in between a heavy dark Abbey / Trappist beer and a Stout / Porter. The beer combines roasted malt and coffee / chocolate aspects with a pleasantly light fruitiness of dried subtropical fruits. Bittersweet flavors go together with a pronounced creamy mouthfeel and make drinking this beer to an exceptional delight for lovers of heavy dark beers. Pleasant with a traditional cheese & sausage board / selection of hard piquant cheese.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.99
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a notched best before date of August 2023. Poured into a Chimay goblet glass.
Appearance: Dark brown in colour with a half finger beige head that dissipated fairly quickly to a replenishing cap, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Roasted malts, coffee, chocolate, bread dough and perhaps a touch nutty.
Taste: Roasted malts, coffee, cocoa, dark chocolate, bittersweet, with very light notes of plum.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Enjoyable, balanced and easy to drink.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Scotland, Sour Ale, Vault City Brewing

Vault City Double Crust Raspberry Pie

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Brewery: Vault City Brewing
Country: Scotland
ABV: 9%
Style: Sour Ale
Other Notes: Modern sour beer

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Ever feel like you can’t have your pastry treat and drink? We’ve taken direct inspiration from the culinary world for this Modern Sour Beer. A big biscuity base and a fruity filling so jammy, it’s juicy! Layering complex malt and squeezing in as many raspberries as we could for the fullest, richest pudding we could muster. Decadent and delightful, mixed-culture tartness and sharp fruit flavour balance the sweet pastry-like malt elements.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.42
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 375ml bottle with a best before date of 12th November 2022. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A hazy deep reddish purple colour with a just over one finger pink head that had decent retention while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Fruity dessert, jammy raspberry, strawberry and raspberry shortcake, with Digestive wheat biscuits.
Taste: Tart, lightly sour, sweet, jammy, raspberry, strawberry, biscuit, pie crust.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Aroma was near perfect and reminded me of strawberry shortcake. Taste was enjoyable, but didn’t match the perfectness of the aroma. Still, it was great overall, and hid the 9% booze well.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Scotland, Sour Ale, Vault City Brewing

Vault City Blueberry Pumpkin Spice Latte

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Brewery: Vault City Brewing
Country: Scotland
ABV: 8.8%
Style: Sour Ale
Other Notes: Modern sour beer

Brewer Description: (from bottle) It’s that time of year, all the knitwear and pumpkin flavoured everything! We’re no exception and have created our own unique take on a ‘pumpkin beer’ but opted for the pumpkin spice approach. Befitting the time of year, and a fruit that we know works wonders in combination with our house mixed-culture, we settled for local blueberries as the base for our Autumn special. Cosy up for a seasonal sensation of tart blueberry, warming spices and sweet vanilla in texture smoother than crema. It’s not a trick, it’s a treat!

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.19
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 375ml bottle with a best before date of 2nd November 2022. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A deep purple beetroot colour with a big three finger purple head that had good retention and left lots of lacing.
Aroma: Pumpkin spice dominates with cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg, along with notes of tart blueberry and pie crust in the background.
Taste: Tart, lightly sweet and sour, blueberry, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and some vanilla notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Balanced and enjoyable as long as you like pumpkin spice.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Scotland, Sour Ale, Vault City Brewing

Vault City Tropical Sour – Mango Coconut Passionfruit

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Brewery: Vault City Brewing
Country: Scotland
ABV: 7.2%
Style: Sour Ale
Other Notes: Modern sour beer

Brewer Description: (from bottle) As winter draws nearer, we look to sunnier climates to bring you a taste of the tropics in your glass. Having ripened in the far-off sunshine we’ve picked a mouth-watering medley to transport you to a world of tropical tartness in this Modern Sour Beer. A sweet mango base and floral passionfruit tartness are unified by the creamy character of coconut, which imparts a hint of woody vanilla. Each element stands apart and together they are complimented by our ester filled house mixed-culture base beer. Sunglasses at the ready!

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.07
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 375ml bottle with a best before date of 11th November 2022. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A murky mango juice orange colour with pretty much no head and no lacing.
Aroma: Mango dominates with hints of tart passionfruit and coconut.
Taste: Sour, tart, unripe mango, passionfruit, with only a hint of coconut in the background.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Enjoyable, easy to drink, cocktail like, very fruity.