Category Archives: Style

Tilquin Oude Gewurzt À l’ancienne

Brewery: Gueuzerie Tilquin
Country: Belgium
ABV: 8.4%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: 2020-2021

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Beer of spontaneous fermentation, the Old Gewurzt Tilquin is made from the fermentation of 250g of Gewurztraminer grapes by liter of lambic. Unfiltered and unpasteurized, this beer is refermented in the bottle.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.28
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, with a neck label of 2020-2021, and a best before date of 24th November 2030. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A mostly clear golden colour with a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly to a ring around the glass, while leaving only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Sweet white wine grapes, grape skin, lemon zest, funk, oak, light herbal notes.
Taste: Tart, sour, grape skin, lemon zest, light funk, oak, grapefruit, with some bitterness on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: This wasn’t anything like I expected as I rarely drink Gewurztraminer and the grapefruit bitterness and flavours that came out of it was a pleasant surprise. It was balanced and enjoyable.

De Cam Zjiem Bezen Framboise Lambic

Brewery: Geuzestekerij De Cam
Country: Belgium
ABV: 5.5%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: 2020 vintage

Brewer Description: (from bottle in Dutch) Fruitlambik zonder hergisting: 600 kilo trosbessen en 400 kilo Frambozen worden samen met 1500 liter lambik vergist op VAT.

(translated to English) Fruit lambic without refermentation: 600 kilos of redcurrants and 400 kilos of raspberries are fermented in VAT together with 1500 liters of lambic.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.27
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 375ml corked and caged bottle, 2020 vintage, with a best before date of August 2030. Poured into a De Cam stemmed glass.
Appearance: A clear ruby red colour with a one finger pinkish head that dissipated quickly to a ring around the glass while leaving only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Sweet candied red fruit, raspberry, redcurrants, wood, light funk, with leather notes.
Taste: Tart, light sour, leather, funky notes, candied fruit, raspberry, redcurrants, with hints of wood.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: Not as complex as some of the other De Cam offerings, but still enjoyable as the candied fruit sweetness and leathery funk balances the tartness such that it’s easy to drink.

Tilquin Oude Mirabelle À l’ancienne

Brewery: Gueuzerie Tilquin
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: 2020-2021

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Beer of spontaneous fermentation, the Old Mirabelle Tilquin is made from the fermentation of 240g of Mirabelle plums by liter of lambic. Unfiltered and unpasteurized, this beer is refermented in the bottle.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.44
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 375ml corked and caged bottle, with a neck label of 2020-2021, and a best before date of 21st January 2031. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy apricot orange colour with a thin half finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly while leaving some decent lacing.
Aroma: Fruity, plum, apricot, minerally, light funk, notes of wood, and lemon zest.
Taste: Lightly sour, plum, stone fruit, oak, vanilla, lemon zest, and light funky notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Much like the Cassis, it may not be complex, but it works really well. The Mirabelle plums provides such great flavours and aromas that it’s just so easy to drink.

Tilquin Oude Riesling À l’ancienne

Brewery: Gueuzerie Tilquin
Country: Belgium
ABV: 8.1%
Style: Lambic – Fruit
Other Notes: 2020-2021

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Beer of spontaneous fermentation, the Old Riesling Tilquin is made from the fermentation of 270g of Riesling grapes by liter of lambic. Unfiltered and unpasteurized, this beer is refermented in the bottle.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.56
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.5

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, with a neck label of 2020-2021, and a best before date of 26th November 2030. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A mostly clear golden colour with a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly while leaving only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Funky, barnyard, oak, wood, lemon peel, lemon juice, white wine grapes.
Taste: Sour, funky, oak, wood, zesty, grapefruit, lemon peel, white wine grapes, vinous, with a nice mild sweetness.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Wonderfully balanced with enjoyable aroma and flavours. The wine grape lambics from Tilquin are really some of my favourites, and the Riesling is right up there.

Heroes BB&AWAIMSwCN&V (3rd Anniversary)

Brewery: Heroes Beer Co.
Country: Hong Kong
ABV: 10.3%
Style: Stout – Milk / Sweet Imperial
Other Notes: Bottle 644 of 960

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Bourbon Barrel & Amburana Wood Aged Imperial Milk Stout with Cacao Nibs & Vanilla. Starts off with robust wood aged characters of gingerbread, tonka beans, and savory herbs from the Amburana wood. Follows with secondary vanilla and toffee like notes from the Bourbon barrels and vanilla pods. The malt base is complex with rounded dark chocolates and coffee, which is further enhanced by the cacao nibs infusion. Secondary malt profile caramel, and toasted bread provides great depth to the flavor. Drinks full body with a chewy mouthfeel.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.12
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A boxed, black waxed, 650ml bomber, bottle 644 of 960, packaged on 15th July 2020, and with a best before date of 15th July 2022. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Poured pitch black with pretty much no head and no lacing.
Aroma: Strong aromatic coconut, gingerbread, and cinnamon from the Amburana, followed by lots of nice milk chocolate, caramel, toffee, and vanilla. The finish is Christmas spice like.
Taste: Sweet, chocolate, Christmas spices, vanilla, caramel, toffee, dried dark fruit and a light spicy kick on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Full bodied and rich, with soft carbonation.
Overall: Aroma was wonderful, while taste was sweet and rich, which was fine while cool, but as it warmed, it started getting more intense to the point where it was on the borderline maybe too much for me. Amburana barrels are not my favourite, but this was certainly worth a try.