Category Archives: Beer Reviews

1 - Poor (never again), Beer Reviews, Black Market Brewing Co., German Berliner Weisse, USA

Black Market Tradecraft Series Blackberry Sour

Leave a comment

Brewery: Black Market Brewing Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 3.8%
Style: German Berliner Weisse
Other Notes: 6.2 IBUs. Malt – Wheat and Pilsner. Hops – Czech Saaz.

Brewer Description: (from website) Based off of our wildly popular “1945” Berliner Weisse, this blackberry flavored sour was created for both the crossover drinker and those who find few sessionable style sours can options. Our goal in creating this 6-pack can line was to give the craft beer drinker an alternative to the typical craft beer styles found in cans.

My rating: 1
My beeradvocate.com rating: 2.32
My ratebeer.com rating: 2.3

Intro: A 12 fl oz can with no visible best before date on the can. It was poured into short stemmed wine glass.
Appearance: It poured a cloudy purplish-red colour with a two finger pinkish head that dissipated fairly quickly with almost no lacing.
Aroma: Dark berries and cherries with an unfortunate strong whiff of heated butter before finishing with a light breadiness.
Taste: Tart sour blackberries and cherries which is rather juice like with a bready finish which does not last at all. Flavour is too one dimensional for my liking.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with light carbonation.
Overall: The buttery smell was really not my thing and you get it with every sip. On top of that, the taste really just suddenly stops as soon as you swallow and is a bit too juice like.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), American IPA, Beer Reviews, Garage Project, New Zealand

Garage Project Trip Hop

Leave a comment

Brewery: Garage Project
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 5.6%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: Malts – Carahelles, Vienna and Caraaroma. Hops – Pacifica, Motueka and Riwaka.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) We love NZ hops. How much? Here’s how much. Triple hopped with, Pacifica, Motueka and Riwaka hops in increasingly lavish quantities throughout the boil, Trip Hop’s bitter but balanced on a generous malt base. Rich amber red and redolent of the Nelson hop fields. Think easy drinking for resin heads and pucker up.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.15
My ratebeer.com rating: 3

Intro: A 650ml bottle with a best before date of 9th January 2016, poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: It poured a slightly hazy copper amber colour with a two finger cream coloured head that dissipated slowly leaving lots of stringy lacing.
Aroma: Citrusy orange and lemon, bready malts, grapefruit. There’s also some pine and flowery hops.
Taste: Taste is malty, bready, light caramel and sweet-ish before the hops kick in and gives a lasting bitterness.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with light crisp carbonation.
Overall: More malty and less hoppy than I expected considering its triple hopped. A little disappointing but GP have a lot of other good offerings and for IPAs, I prefer their Garagista IPA.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

garage project trip hop 4

4 - Good (buy), Amager Bryghus x Three Floyds Brewing Co., American Pale Ale, Beer Reviews, Denmark

Amager x Three Floyds Arctic Sunstone

Leave a comment

Brewery: Amager Bryghus x Three Floyds Brewing Co. collaboration
Country: Denmark
ABV: 6%
Style: American Pale Ale
Other Notes: Malts – Pale, Munich, Melanoidin. Hops – Tomahawk, Citra, Centennial, Simcoe.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) The sunstone – much disputed among scholars. Did the Viking navigators really have such a tool that would help them point out what was east and what was west – even on a less than sunny day? We certainly believe so.

Many years later no sunstone was needed when Amager Bryghus was invaded by what very much looked like Viking ancestors of American descent. Hailing from Munster, Indiana, Chris Boggess and Barnaby Struve of Three Floyds Brewing arrived not with a vengeance but with very loud King Diamond on their portable mp3 player.

This was not a day for slaughter but for brewing. And brew we did. The mellow and dangerously quaffable Arctic Sunstone is proof that even Viking warriors can have a more subtle side to them. All hail to Three Floyds.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.05
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 500ml bottle from batch #942 with a best before date of December 2015 (drank on 23rd November 2015) and poured into a Duvel tulip glass.
Appearance: It poured a cloudy orangey copper colour with a fluffy two finger off white head that had great retention and left nice sticky lacing.
Aroma: Citrus zest, grapefruit, sweet mandarin and pineapple with hints of caramel, pine and grass.
Taste: Much like the aromas, taste is mainly sweet mandarin, mango, pineapple, passion fruit, citrus zest and grapefruit. There is also some light caramel and candied sugar notes.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium bodied with medium carbonation.
Overall: I enjoyed this and it was very easy to drink. It was sweeter than expected even though the citrus and hop bitterness was there in the background.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

amager x three floyds arctic sunstone 4

4 - Good (buy), American IPA, Beer Reviews, Garage Project, New Zealand

Garage Project Garagista IPA

Leave a comment

Brewery: Garage Project
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 5.8%
Style: American IPA

Brewer Description: (from can) Embrace the Garagista spirit – ignore convention, experiment, test the limits, and look at things a little differently. Brewed and double dry hopped with New Zealand, Australian and US hops. Great things can come from the garage.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.01
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 330ml can with a best before date of 23rd December 2015 and poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: Poured a slightly hazy orangey amber colour with a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly leaving good amounts of lacing.
Aroma: Mainly a fruity tropical and citrus mix. There’s tropical passionfruit and pineapple along with citrus orange and grapefruit. There’s also a hint of grass.
Taste: Light mango and passionfruit followed by some strong grapefruit bitterness, pine, grass and a hint of sweet malts.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with medium carbonation.
Overall: A solid IPA from Garage Project. Although this is my first GP review, I have quite a few other bottles of their beers that I look forward to trying.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

garage project garagista ipa 4

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), Beer Reviews, Lager - Märzen / Oktoberfest, Sierra Nevada x Brauhaus Riegele, USA

Sierra Nevada x Brauhaus Riegele Oktoberfest

Leave a comment

Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. x Brauhaus Riegele
Country: USA
ABV: 6%
Style: German Oktoberfest/Märzen
Other Notes: Fall seasonal, one time only.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) We partnered with one of Germany’s oldest breweries – Brauhaus Riegele – to create a true festival beer unlike any other brewed in the USA. Using traditional techniques and ingredients, we’re bringing the style back to its authentic roots with a deep golden color, delicate hop note and rich malt complexity.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.15
My ratebeer.com rating: 3

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle packaged on 17th August 2015 and poured into a Duvel tulip glass.
Appearance: It poured a clear golden orange colour with a one and a half finger slightly off white coloured head that had pretty good retention.
Aroma: Toasty bread with honey and apple with a hint of caramel. Generally its the sweet aroma.
Taste: Leans on the sweet side and definitely malty and bready with some grain plus hints of caramel and toffee.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with medium to high carbonation.
Overall: This was decent and easy to drink but nothing exceptional, though it is worth a try. It’s a one time brew, but even if I could buy it again, I’m not sure I would.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

sierra nevada x brauhaus riegele oktoberfest 4