Category Archives: Beer Reviews

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Farmhouse Grissette, Oxbow Brewing Company, USA

Oxbow Past Tense

Leave a comment

Brewery: Oxbow Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 4.5%
Style: Farmhouse Grissette
Other Notes: Dry-hopped stainless-aged farmhouse ale with sea salt and lime

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Past Tense is a farmhouse ale brewed with wheat, sea salt and lime juice, dry-hopped with whole leaf American hops and conditioned with Brettanomyces.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.71
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 500ml bottle, bottled on 17th December 2020, and poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A nice hazy golden straw yellow colour with an almost two finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly, while leaving only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Strong citrus zest and rind, lemon, lime, brett, funk, leather, hay.
Taste: Citrusy, lime zest, lime soda, floral, lavender, dishwashing soap, funk.
Mouthfeel: Crisp, light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: The aroma was great and the citrusy part of the flavour was enjoyable, but there was also this floral and soapy flavour on the back end that just wasn’t my thing.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, De Struise Brouwers, Stout - Russian Imperial

De Struise Black Damnation XX – Ma Boule

Leave a comment

Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 13%
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Bottle 1555/2000, 2012 vintage

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A massive stout from Flanders, matured in Calvados barrel.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.21
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 750ml bottle, number 1555/2000. 2012 vintage, bottled on 26th March 2017. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with pretty much no head and no lacing.
Aroma: Roasty malts, calvados, apple peel, chocolate, oak, with notes of dark fruit, plum, prunes.
Taste: Lightly sweet and bitter, roasty, chocolate, caramel, calvados, dark fruit, plum, toasty wood, with a spicy herby note.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: I’m not big on calvados, but I tend to be surprised by how much I enjoy calvados barrel aged imperial stouts. For some reason they just work, and this was no exception with good balanced flavours, and just a very good sipper on a night where temperatures are going down again… strange for an April in Hong Kong.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, De Struise Brouwers, Stout - Russian Imperial

De Struise Black Damnation XVI – Ivan The Terrible

Leave a comment

Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 13%
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Bottle 979/2000, 2012 vintage

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A massive stout from Flanders, matured in Glenlivet barrel.

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

Intro: A 750ml bottle, number 979/2000, 2012 vintage, bottled on 31st March 2017. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a very thin brown head that disappeared almost immediately, while leaving only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Roasted malts, chocolate, whisky, brown sugar, with light caramel notes.
Taste: Lightly sweet, chocolate, roasted malts, whisky, oak, some fruity maybe apple sauce notes, caramel, toffee, and maybe a slightly burnt like moderately bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Slightly boozy, medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: An enjoyable sipper, maybe a bit boozy, but it’s got good sweet and bitter balance, and nice whisky notes.

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

3 Fonteinen Speling van het Lot XI.v: Pruim: Conducta + Opal

Leave a comment

Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7.9%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°24, Season 19/20. Number of bottles – 969

Brewer Description: (from bottle) For this Pruim Speling, we co-macerated two different plum varieties from Wijndomein Hoenshof, Conducta and Opal. We freed up a small 1000L toasted foeder from our friends at Garbellotto, a small family run cooperage. We macerated the plums, with stone and all, for almost five months on two different young lambikken. We bottled the fruit lambik straight from the barrel to the bottle. The final fruit intensity is 769 grams of plums per litre. 100% 3 Fonteinen.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.02
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°24, season 19/20, bottle 673/969, bottled on 15th January 2020, and with a best before date of 26th October 2040. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden orange colour with a just under one finger white head that dissipated quickly to a thin cap while leaving only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Plum, plum skin, minerals, with light notes of lemon zest, leather and funk.
Taste: Sour, tart, plum, apricot, lemon, oak, and light funk.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: There was nice plum notes, but the sour intensity and lemon flavours in this Conducta + Opal was higher than other plum varietals I tried recently, and I preferred both Sultana and especially Reine Claude D’Oullins more.

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen, Lambic - Fruit

3 Fonteinen Pruim Reine Claude D’Oullins

Leave a comment

Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.7%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: Blend°64, Season 19/20. Number of bottles – 655

Brewer Description: (from bottle) For this Pruim, we used Reine Claude d’Oullins plums from Wijndomein Hoenshof in Hoepertingen, Haspengouw region, Flanders. This aromatic golden-green plum has a juicy flesh and honey-like sweetness. For this run, we macerated these plums for almost nine months on an oak barrel that previously held red wine. The lambikken originate from two different barrels and four different brews. The final fruit intensity is 550 grams of plums per litre of Pruim. 100% 3 Fonteinen.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.65
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.5

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend°64, season 19/20, bottled on 16th April 2020, and with a best before date of 26th October 2040. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden orange colour with a two finger white head that had decent retention and settled to a very nice fluffy cap while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Lightly tart, plum, plum skin, lemon zest, dusty, funk, oak.
Taste: Sour, tart, grapefruit, lemon, some sweet notes, plum, yellow stone fruit, oak, and light funk.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: Very nice juicy fruit flavours going on here with a good sour and sweet balance. Aroma and flavours just make this super enjoyable and so easy to drink.