Category Archives: Beer Reviews

1 - Poor (never again), American Pale Wheat Ale, Beer Reviews, New Zealand, Yeastie Boys

Yeastie Boys White Noise

Tuesday, 19 April 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Yeastie Boys
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 4.4%
Style: American Pale Wheat Ale
Other Notes: Brewed for Yeastie Boys at Invercargill Brewery.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A delicate session-strength beer with hints of orange blossom, coconut, vanilla and a refreshingly clean finish.

My rating: 1
My beeradvocate.com rating: 2.7
My ratebeer.com rating: 2.5

Intro: A 330ml bottle from batch 6 with a best before date of June 2016 and poured into a pint glass.
Appearance: It poured a hazy golden straw colour with minimal white head with some stringy lacing.
Aroma: Light aromas of orange and peach with maybe a hint of vanilla.
Taste: Orange and floral tea with coconut in the background followed by some vanilla towards the end. However, the coconut mixed with the vanilla for some reason gave me a plastic-ey taste that wasn’t too pleasant.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with medium carbonation.
Overall: It was kind of fine until the vanilla came out. That mixed with the coconut really didn’t work here for me unfortunately.

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Estonia, Põhjala x To Øl, Stout - Imperial

Põhjala x To Øl Cellar Series Taanilinn Cognac BA

Monday, 18 April 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Põhjala x To Øl
Country: Estonia
ABV: 14%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Cognac barrel aged spiced Imperial Stout. 70 IBUs. Malts – Pilsner, Oats, Cara 150, Melanoid, Chocolate, Cara Amber, Special B, Chocolate Rye and Demerara Sugar. Hops – Magnum and Goldings. Other – cinnamon, aniseed and orange zest.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Põhjala and To Øl created this beer together to honour the old Danish heritage of Tallinn. Deep complex oatmeal stout aged for months on cognac barrels. Spiced with all the best from the liquors of Estonia.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.72
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.6

Intro: A 330ml waxed bottle with a best before date of 4th November 2018, poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: It poured a pitch black colour with a thin beige head that dissipated quickly but left nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Caramel, toffee, chocolate, vanilla, cognac, wood with a hint of dark fruit, plum and cherries.
Taste: Sweet. Its so sweet, but so good. Brown sugar, cherry, vanilla, oak and cognac with hints of bittersweet chocolate and espresso coffee.
Mouthfeel: Very smooth, mid to full bodied with low carbonation.
Overall: I usually do not enjoy sweet beers, but there are a few exceptions and this is definitely one of them. It starts very sweet, but the combination of oakiness and cognac helps to balance out this sweetness and keep it in check. It’s also surprisingly not full bodied. It’s almost there, but lacks just that little bit that you usually expect from a 14% ABV Imperial Stout. But, despite all that, in my opinion, this is right up there with the best Imperial Stouts, and is easily a must buy beer for me.

4 - Good (buy), 8 Wired Brewing Co., Beer Reviews, German Berliner Weisse, New Zealand

8 Wired Hippy Berliner

Monday, 18 April 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: 8 Wired Brewing Co.
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 4.5%
Style: German Berliner Weisse

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A refreshing, light, hoppy, sour and very fruity tasting ale inspired by traditional Berliner Weisse ales. Naturally soured by live cultures and dry hopped with American and New Zealand hops. Probably the closest thing I have tasted to fruit juice, that didn’t contain any fruit at all! – It’s a trip! Peace out.

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

Intro: A 500ml bottle from batch #23 with a best before date of 22nd June 2016 and poured into a Duvel tulip glass.
Appearance: It poured a hazy straw yellow colour with less than one finger white head which disappeared almost immediately but left some light lace rings.
Aroma: Strong sour fruitiness with mainly guava, passionfruit, mango and lychee. There was some light grainy malts in the background.
Taste: Quite similar to the aroma, taste starts lightly sour and tropical with passionfruit, mango and pineapple. There was also a hint of grainy malt here and there.
Mouthfeel: Crisp, light to medium bodied with high carbonation.
Overall: A nice and crisp Berliner Weisse. Very easy to drink. It had good flavours but could have been even better if the tropical fruits were even stronger. Having said that, I would get this one again.

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Hong Kong, Moonzen Brewery, Porter - Imperial

Moonzen Yama Sichuan Porter

Saturday, 16 April 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Moonzen Brewery
Country: Hong Kong
ABV: 8%
Style: American Imperial Porter
Other Notes: Brewed with Sichuan peppercorns

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This beast of a porter, with wafts of smoked caramel malts and Sichuan peppercorns, will set your senses on fire as you await King Yama’s judgement. Pairs well with Sichuan dishes like 擔擔麵 or 棒棒雞.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.48
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 330ml bottle, bottle numbered 172, with a best before date of 1st June 2016. Poured into a Moonzen teku glass.
Appearance: It poured a dark dark brown colour with a one finger beige head that dissipated quickly, but left some light lacing.
Aroma: Roasted malts, crushed Sichuan peppercorn, ginger, sweet brown sugar and light caramel.
Taste: Dark roast malts, Sichuan peppercorns, light smoke char, black coffee, chocolate, caramel and a light lasting spicy tinge on the tongue.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with low carbonation.
Overall: A very good Porter especially if you like spicy Sichuan peppercorns. The peppercorns really come out in the aroma and taste of this beer and mix well the roasty malts, coffee and chocolate flavours. The spiciness is there and lasts but is not overpowering. I would definitely buy this again. I also think aging this would be very interesting.

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), Abbazia delle Tre Fontane, Beer Reviews, Belgian Tripel, Italy

Tre Fontane Tripel

Friday, 15 April 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Abbazia delle Tre Fontane
Country: Italy
ABV: 8.5%
Style: Belgian Tripel
Other Notes: Unfiltered ale brewed with eucalyptus grown by the abbey.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) (in Italian) Questa birra, aromatizzata con foglie di eucalipto, rappresenta un prodotto unico nato da un’antica ricetta dell’Abbazia delle Tre Fontane. Dal 1873 l’eucalipto caratterizza I prodotti di questa Comunità di Monaci Trappisti.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.24
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.1

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of June 2016 and poured into a Chimay goblet glass.
Appearance: It poured a cloudy dark orange golden colour with a two finger off white head that dissipates to a nice puffy layer and leaves nice curtain lacing.
Aroma: Eucalyptus, orange, honey, lemon, light olive oil, rosemary, sage and peppery spice. Very interesting.
Taste: Starts like the aroma with sweet eucalyptus, honey, sage and lemon followed by banana, clove and cinnamon. The finish is like bread, olive oil and balsamic vinegar with a hint of pepper.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with mid to high carbonation.
Overall: A very interesting beer. Quite a mix of sweet and savoury. Its like eucalyptus and honey with bread, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Good flavours for food, but just ok for beer.

words of another dreamy traveller