Category Archives: Beer Reviews

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Cerveza Granizo x The Rare Barrel, Chile, Farmhouse Saison

Granizo x The Rare Barrel Noble Alerce

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Brewery: Cerveza Granizo x The Rare Barrel
Country: Chile
ABV: 7%
Style: Farmhouse Saison
Other Notes: Collaboration with The Rare Barrel

Brewer Description: (from bottle in Spanish) El noble Alerce (Fitzroya cupressoides) es uno de los árboles más longevos del mundo, llegando a vivir sobre los 3.000 años, trascendiendo nuestra concepción del tiempo y espacio. Noble Alerce es una cerveza de fermentación mixta, elaborada en conjunto con The Rare Barrel (USA), y que maduró por pacientes 8 meses en barricas de Alerce de más de 100 años, que previamente fermentaron chicha de manzana y, anterior a eso, cerveza del sur de Chile. Más noble imposible!

(translated to English) The noble Alerce (Fitzroya cupressoides) is one of the longest-lived trees in the world, living for over 3,000 years, transcending our conception of time and space. Noble Alerce is a mixed fermentation beer, brewed in collaboration with The Rare Barrel (USA), that matured for eight months in Alerce barrels over 100 years old, which previously fermented apple chicha and, prior to that, beer from southern Chile. More noble impossible!

My rating: 3-
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.65
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.5

Intro: A 375ml bottle, with a best before date of June 2030. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A nice clear golden colour with a one finger white head that had pretty good retention, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Sweet and tart, fresh cut apple, funk, with some citrus zesty notes.
Taste: Lightly sour, tart, apple, citrusy, with some woody notes.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with light to moderate carbonation.
Overall: Good look and aroma, but the flavours didn’t quite match up.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen, Lambic - Fruit

3 Fonteinen Frambozenlambik

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 5.7%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°22, Season 19/20

Brewer Description: (from bottle) For this small batch Frambozenlambik, we used raspberries from Ferme Framboos, located in beautiful Huldenberg, Flanders. These raspberries, hand-picked in the summer of 2019, macerated for three months on stainless steel. While macerating, we only used lambik originating from one brew and from one barrel; no lambik was added prior to bottling. The final fruit intensity is still 371 grams of raspberries per litre of Frambozenlambik.

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

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°22, season 19/20, bottled on 14th January 2020. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy pinkish orange colour with a thin white head that disappeared quickly to a ring around the glass, while leaving only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Jammy raspberry, strawberry, oak, lemon zest, and a touch tart.
Taste: Sour, tart, raspberry, lemon juice, lemon zest, oak, with light funky notes.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Good enjoyable aroma and flavours with just the lack of carbonation limiting it a bit.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgian Quadrupel, The Lost Abbey, USA

Lost Abbey Box Set Track #8 (Number of the Beast)

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Brewery: The Lost Abbey
Country: USA
ABV: 13.7%
Style: Belgian Quadrupel
Other Notes: Ale brewed with raisins, aged in bourbon barrels with cinnamon and chiles

Brewer Description: (from bottle) To this day, little Johnny B. Goode remains one of Sister Mary Hightower’s favorite pupils. A ray of light heaven sent she often declared. Unfortunately, she was now teaching his younger brother Damian and most assuredly was not his biggest fan. Hard to believe one mother could produce two children of such different temperaments, but God works in mysterious ways she reminded herself. Damian had been her biggest challenge this year. The kids didn’t like him. The parents didn’t trust him and most of all, there was something lurking behind those shifty beady eyes. His presence in the classroom always troubled her. She thought him evil but couldn’t prove it. She set out to test him. Damian took his turn at the chalkboard, and the impossible question was presented. What is the square root of 443.556? As Damian finished writing the last 6 for his answer, he turned winked at her and returned to his seat. She finally had her answer. Sister Mary Hightower never returned to work…

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.18
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A corked and caged 12.7 fl. oz. bottle, with no clear bottled on or best before date. Poured into a Chimay goblet glass.
Appearance: A murky dark brown colour with pretty much no head and no lacing.
Aroma: Dark fruit, raisins, prunes, plum, figs, toffee, bourbon, faint cinnamon, light roast, and a touch nutty.
Taste: Light to moderately sweet, dark fruit, raisins, prunes, plum, fig, chocolate, toffee, boozy bourbon, cinnamon, light chili spice.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Although I’m unsure of the timeline due to a lack of bottled on or best before date, I’m pretty sure I’ve cellared this for quite a few years. The aroma and flavours were nice and intense, and it was just an enjoyable sipper.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Harviestoun Brewery, Old Ale, Scotland

Harviestoun Ola Dubh Special Reserve 14

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Brewery: Harviestoun Brewery
Country: Scotland
ABV: 8%
Style: Old Ale
Other Notes: Aged in Highland Park Loyalty of the Wolf Single Malt casks

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Aged in selected oak casks, formerly used to mature Highland Park’s beautifully balanced Loyalty of the Wolf Single Malt Scotch Whisky.

(from tag) Ola Dubh (meaning ‘Black Oil’ in gaelic) is a real labour of love for our brew team. We take our Old Engine Oil and mature it in whisky casks from the award winning Orkney distillery & our good friends, Highland Park. The process is far from simple but the end result is a beautiful brew with complementary whisky notes and a chocolate, roasty and bittersweet aftertaste.

We are delighted to add the 14 year old into the Ola Dubh Range. The loyalty of the wolf barrels provide a smooth approachable ale which perfectly balances sweet flavours of vanilla, baked apples and cinnamon with a subtle spice of whisky and charred oak.

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

Intro: A 330ml black foiled and capped bottle, bottle no. 07501, bottled in February 2021, and a best before end date of March 2024. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark brown in colour with a half finger beige head that dissipated fairly quickly to a ring around the glass, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Roasted malts, chocolate, sweet dark fruit, whisky, caramel, with fruity candy notes.
Taste: Lightly sweet, dark fruit, roasted malts, roasty, toasty, chocolate, whisky, caramel, light vanilla, and a bittersweet finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Interesting aroma and flavours, although perhaps a touch thin.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen, Lambic - Fruit

3 Fonteinen Cassis

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.7%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°26, Season 21/22

Brewer Description: (from bottle) For this first ever Cassis, we macerated freshly harvested cassis berries on an ex-Bordeaux barrel for a good four months. The lambics used for macerating and blending were all two years old, and originating from two different barrels and eight different brews. The weighted average age of this blend clocks at 26 months. The final fruit proportion is 313 grams of cassis berries used per litre of finished fruit lambik. The berries were manually picked at Purfruit, a small community supported orchard in West-Flanders, Belgium.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.29
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°26, season 21/22, bottled on 3rd February 2022. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A deep purple red colour, with a one finger pinkish head that had decent retention, and eventually settled to a thin cap, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Blackcurrant, damp wood, lemon zest, green vines, a touch funky.
Taste: Lightly sour, tart, blackcurrant, lemon juice, citrus zest, rhubarb, oak, green vines (“raw”), with some light funky notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: The blackcurrant aroma and flavours works for me, but there is some rhubarb-y, “green” and “raw” notes that detract from it a bit in this blend.