Category Archives: Beer Reviews

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgian Strong Pale Ale, Belgium, De Dolle Brouwers

De Dolle Stille Nacht Reserva 2010

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Brewery: De Dolle Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 12%
Style: Belgian Strong Pale Ale
Other Notes: 2010 vintage

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Stille Nacht aged in Bordeaux wooden barrels for 25 months.

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

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, produced in 2010, poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A very nice clear orange copper colour with a one finger beige head that dissipated fairly quickly to a ring around the glass while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Fruit cake and blackcurrant oxidation, with sweet caramel, toasted oak, and candied citrus zest.
Taste: Sweet fruity, dried red berries, lightly red wine vinous, candi sugar, candied dried orange slices, honey, caramel, oak.
Mouthfeel: Full bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: Despite the oxidation, this was an enjoyable sipper with nice balanced complexities within the flavour.

4 - Good (buy), Barleywine - English, Beer Reviews, H.K. Lovecraft, Hong Kong

H.K. Lovecraft The Enduring

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Brewery: H.K. Lovecraft
Country: Hong Kong
ABV: 10%
Style: Barleywine – English
Other Notes: 28 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Lager wine oak aged with whisky infused. Dark fruit, chocolate, toffee.

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

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 15th December 2024. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: Clear dark brown in colour with a copper tinge, and a two finger tanned head that dissipated fairly quickly to a ring around the glass, while leaving sparse lacing.
Aroma: Dark fruit, raisins, cherry, chocolate, light roast, with notes of caramel.
Taste: Lightly sweet, dark fruit, raisins, dates, cherry, light roasty bitterness, chocolate, with a sweetish toffee finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Drinks really easy with good flavours. Doesn’t seem like 10% abv at all.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Germany, Kemker Kultuur, Wild Ale

Kemker Aoltbeer Blend 2021-06 (Kerner Grapes)

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Brewery: Kemker Kultuur
Country: Germany
ABV: 8%
Style: Wild Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Aoltbeer is the historic beer of Münster. The base beer matured for 10 months in red wine barrels. For this small batch no. 06-2021 we harvested organically grown Kerner grapes from the Nahe valley. After 2 months of maceration in the beer, we pressed the concoction and let it mature in barrels for another 5 months. Vibrant fruits, acidity and mature base notes.

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

Intro: A 750ml bottle, with a best before date of 15th February 2031. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden colour with a one finger white head that had decent retention, eventually settled to a ring around the glass, and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Vinous, grape must, grape skin, grapefruit zest, oak, and a touch of funk.
Taste: Restrained, light sour, grape skin, vinous, grapefruit zest, citrus rind, oak, and light funky notes.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Aroma was strong and enjoyable, while the taste was a bit restrained in comparison. It got a bit better as it warmed, but stronger flavours would have helped.

4 - Good (buy), Australia, Beer Reviews, Deeds Brewing Co., Stout - Imperial

Deeds Once More Into The Fray

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Brewery: Deeds Brewing Co.
Country: Australia
ABV: 13.8%
Style: Stout – Imperial
Other Notes: 2023 vintage

Brewer Description: (from can) This Imperial Stout was aged in Bourbon Barrels for 12 months resulting in thick chocolate notes, backed by vanilla, bourbon and oak.

My rating: 4+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.34
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 440ml can, 2023 vintage, canned on 28th September 2023. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark brown to black in colour with a half finger tanned brown head that had decent retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Sweet, chocolate, bourbon, caramel, and vanilla notes.
Taste: Roasty, chocolate, bourbon, vanilla, caramel, oak, with some biscuit and nutty notes.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, full bodied, with soft carbonation.
Overall: Nice classic BA style Imperial Stout. Despite the sweet aroma, it was balanced in the flavour, with good roasty and bourbon character. An enjoyable sipper.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Lambic - Gueuze, Publitasting

Publitasting Thais Lemongras Geuze

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Brewery: Publitasting
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6%
Style: Lambic – Gueuze
Other Notes: Limited edition (73 liter) – 2022

Brewer Description: (from bottle in Dutch) Ambachtelijk Belgisch bier van spontane gisting. Blend van traditionele lambiek uit de Zennevallei van Brouwerij De Troch (Wambeek) en Brouwerij Eylenbosch (Kobbegem).

(translated to English) Traditional Belgian beer from spontaneous fermentation. Blend of traditional lambic from the Zenne Valley from Brouwerij De Troch (Wambeek) and Brouwerij Eylenbosch (Kobbegem).

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.78
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, 2022 vintage, with a best before date of 31st December 2025. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A clear golden orange colour with a half finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly, while leaving some decent lacing.
Aroma: Rather weak, but there’s green apple, wood, apricot, and light notes of lemongrass.
Taste: Sour, tart, lime, lemon, green apple, peach, sour peach gummies, oak, funk, with light lemongrass notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Lemongrass was there, but not obvious as ‘lemongrass’, and in this case, the aroma on the whole was quite weak. However, lemongrass is an idea that I can get behind, and just need to find a way to incorporate it better, to be more noticeable.