Category Archives: Beer Reviews

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, England, Mills Brewing, Wild Ale

Mills Table Beer

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Brewery: Mills Brewing
Country: England
ABV: 3%
Style: Wild Ale
Other Notes: Mills Brewing make beer with minimal modern intervention, relying on local wild yeast cultures and the influence of nature to ferment.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Table Beer is a blend of two different worts produced in February 2020 using traditional turbid mashing. Rye, oat and barley malts were mashed and seven year old Hallertau Hersbrucker hops were used in the boil. The worts were fermented together with our house culture of yeast and bacteria in a stainless steel vessel (a first for us) to keep the delicate aromatics as fresh as possible. After 18 months the beer was dry-hopped with whole-cone Polish Magnum.

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

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, bottled in August 2021, with a best before date of August 2026. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A nice slightly hazy golden straw yellow colour with a two finger white head that had good retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Tropical fruity, mango, lychee, citrus, lemon zest, with some light funk in the background.
Taste: Sour, citrusy, lemon, lemon zest, with grainy wheat notes on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate spritzy carbonation.
Overall: Super refreshing and just drinks really easy. An enjoyable palate cleanser.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, England, Mills Brewing, Wild Ale

Mills Still

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Brewery: Mills Brewing
Country: England
ABV: 4.2%
Style: Wild Ale
Other Notes: Mills Brewing make beer with minimal modern intervention, relying on local wild yeast cultures and the influence of nature to ferment.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Still is a single barrel bottling of four year old beer, brewed in March 2018. The wort was made using a turbid mash and underwent an extended boil with large quantities of aged hops. After two nights in our coolship, the wort was transferred to a single 500 litre barrel for four years fermentation and maturation. The resulting beer was bottled still without carbonation.

My rating: 3-
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.43
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.3

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, bottled in March 2022, with a best before date of March 2032. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A clear copper orange colour with pretty much no head and no lacing.
Aroma: Funky, oak, orange zest, and green apple.
Taste: Funky, tart, sour, cheesy, leather, light apricot, with a citrus zesty bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with no carbonation.
Overall: Aroma was nice, but I definitely missed the carbonation, which I feel affected the taste and the overall experience for me, but as per the name, I knew what I was getting into.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij Oud Beersel, Lambic - Fruit

Oud Beersel Sparkling Infused Winter Lambiek

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Brewery: Brouwerij Oud Beersel
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7.2%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Bottled 5 years before best before date

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Lambic infused with pine bud.

My rating: 4+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.49
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, with a best before date of 8th May 2026. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen gueuze glass.
Appearance: A clear golden orange colour with a one finger white head that had good retention, and eventually settled to a thin cap while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Sweet tea, woody, oak, pine, lemon zest, light funk.
Taste: Sweet, sour, bitter, lemon tea, pine, wood, oak, citrus zest, with some light funk.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Wow, this one surprised me. I really enjoyed this. Sweet, sour, and bitter, this tea, citrus and piney flavours just work for me.

4 - Good (buy), 8 Wired Brewing Co., Beer Reviews, Lambic - Gueuze, New Zealand

8 Wired Oude Imperiale

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Brewery: 8 Wired Brewing Co.
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 8%
Style: Lambic – Gueuze
Other Notes: Spontaneous fermented sour ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A very special “Imperial Geuze” inspired blend of selected barrels from our library. One third each of spontaneously fermented 8, 6 and, 4 year old barrels create a perfect marriage of funk, fruit, acidity and Sherry-like aged flavours.

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

Intro: A 500ml bottle with no clear bottled on or best before date. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen gueuze glass.
Appearance: A clear golden orange colour with a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly to a nice fluffy cap while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Funky, musty, damp wood, oak, vanilla, with notes of orange, and citrus zest.
Taste: Light sour, tart, apricot, orange, funky, musty, damp wood, oak, with light citrus zesty sweetness.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: It was enjoyable while being oak and funk forward.

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

Belle-Vue Sélection Lambic

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Brewery: Belle-Vue
Country: Belgium
ABV: 5.2%
Style: Lambic – Gueuze

Brewer Description: (from bottle) 1999 vintage.

My rating: 3+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.94
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, 1999 vintage, bottle no. 05590, with a notched best before date of December 2005. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen gueuze glass.
Appearance: A clear bright copper orange colour with no head and no lacing.
Aroma: Tart, funky, barnyard, musty, damp wood, apple, citrus, orange, vinegar, with maybe some berry notes.
Taste: Tart, sour, apple, apple cider vinegar, mixed berries, lemon juice.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: This was interesting, and I probably want to say, past it’s prime, although unfortunately I don’t really have a reference point since this is the first one I’ve tried. But there was still some nice flavours going on. Worth a try, especially for those that enjoy gueuze like I do.