Category Archives: My Rating (out of 5)

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Hong Kong, Wild Ale, Young Master Brewery

Young Master Days Of Being Wild – Blueberry

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Brewery: Young Master Brewery
Country: Hong Kong
ABV: 6.5%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Single foeder sour ale series – blueberry edition

Brewer Description: (from July 9th 2018, YM facebook post) The latest iteration of our Days of Being Wild Series, the blueberry edition is fermented in white wine barrels with dried and fresh blueberries. Bursting with fresh berry flavor, it has a silky body, refreshing tartness. Its cocktail of wild yeast strains gives it complex fruitiness with hints of spice and light funk. It pours deep purple with a mousse-like head and is the perfect beer for a summer afternoon.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.63
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.5

Intro: A 750ml bottle, 2018 release, bottle 198 of 215. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A deep purple reddish colour with a big three finger pinkish head that dissipated fairly quickly and left only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Lightly tart, blueberry, strong oak character, strong vanilla, light funk, grape skin and a touch of lemon.
Taste: Tart, lightly sour, grape, white wine, oak, light vanilla, blueberry, funk, grass, and lemon.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Maybe my expectations were too high given what I thought were good earlier variations. The blueberry is there, but I think it was overpowered by the strong oak character and vanilla, which just covered everything. I have another bottle, so I’m hoping that age will do it some wonders. We shall see.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Denmark, German Berliner Weisse, Mikkeller ApS

Mikkeller Spontanberliner Frederiksdal Cherry

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Brewery: Mikkeller ApS
Country: Denmark
ABV: 4.4%
Style: German Berliner Weisse
Other Notes: Brewed by Mikkeller at De Proef Brouwerij, Belgium

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Blended ale with Frederiksdal cherries added.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.41
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 375ml bottle, with a best before date of 15th February 2023. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A dark ruby reddish purple colour with a big four finger light purple head that had decent retention and left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Tart, sour and sweet cherry, raspberry and a touch of raisin. Lightly jammy.
Taste: Sour, tart, cherry, almond, marzipan, yoghurt with a touch of oak.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: Looks great, with good cherry plus marzipan aroma and flavours. There appears to be less funk coming from the Spontan base in this Spontanberliner versus the other Spontan ales, which is not a problem, but interesting to note. I also seem to like it whenever they add Frederiksdal cherries to their beers.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Funk Factory Geuzeria, Lambic - Fruit, USA

Funk Factory Meerts – Cherry

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Brewery: Funk Factory Geuzeria
Country: USA
ABV: 4.5%
Style: Belgian Lambic (Fruit)

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Cherry Meerts is our take on the low alcohol style traditionally derived from the second runnings of Lambic. Our modern interpretation begins with Pilsner malt, raw wheat, and Saaz hops which is brewed using a turbid mash, long boil, and low hopping rate, and finally fermented in foeders with our wild yeast. This version was then refermented on tart cherries.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.25
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml bottle with no bottled on or best before date. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A very nice clear reddish orange pink colour with a thin white head that disappeared almost immediately and left no lacing.
Aroma: Tart, candy sweetness, cherry and oak with a very light hint of lemon zest and funk.
Taste: Sour, tart, cherry, vinegar, light candy sweetness, light funk, a hint of oak and a sprinkle of salt on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Nice balanced flavours of sweet and sour cherries, and the vinegary bite was there but not overdone. Funk was on the low side but didn’t take away from how enjoyable it was.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Canada, Outcast Brewing, Stout

Outcast Last Minute Stout

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Brewery: Outcast Brewing
Country: Canada
ABV: 7.5%
Style: American Stout
Other Notes: Stout with vanilla, hazelnut and chocolate added. Brewed at Coulee Brew Co. for Outcast Brewing

Brewer Description: (from can) We do our best work under stress. So with this brew, we knew we wanted to brew a bold stout but had no idea what we wanted to add to it… until four days after it went into the fermenter. This stout is bold and flavourful, with a nice smooth and roasty character that lets the additives shine. There’s no minute, like the last minute.

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

Intro: A 473ml can, with a canned on date that really isn’t too visible, but I would guess 1st November 2017, ‘nearly didn’t happen’. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: A dark dark brown to black colour with a one finger tanned head that dissipated fairly quickly but left some nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Vanilla, chocolate, cocoa, hazelnut, cream, honey with light roastiness and a touch of coffee.
Taste: Sweet-ish, light roast, vanilla, creamy coffee, hazelnut, caramel malt, biscuit, coffee and chocolate with a lightly earthy herbal finish.
Mouthfeel: Smooth, medium bodied with moderate to light carbonation.
Overall: Nice and tasty with good vanilla, creamy and nutty flavours.

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

The Ale Apothecary La Tache – Fresh Hop

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Brewery: The Ale Apothecary
Country: USA
ABV: 7.09%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Fresh Hop version. Mixed fermentation ale aged in wine barrels

Brewer Description: (from tag on bottle) the beer formerly known as La Tache. (* wild & open fermented in the woods of OR. * Mecca Grade Estate Malt + wheat + Goshie Farms hops. * barrel-aged over a year & dry-hopped in oak. * OR honey + sour wort + our yeast = 100% natural carbonation from bottle fermentation.)

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

Intro: A 750ml bottle, batch bottled on 20th November 2017. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden colour with a two finger white head that had pretty good retention and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Tart, citrusy, lemon zest, orange rind, grass, funk, with hints of peach in the background.
Taste: Sour, tart, sour, yup I said it twice. Lemon juice and lemon with a hint of oak.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Refreshingly sour, and I could imagine it being way too sour for some, but I like it. This fresh hop version seems to have lost some of the tropical peach, apricot and grape flavours I was getting in the original La Tache. The result is pure citrusy lemon which I found to be very refreshing, especially on hot days.