Category Archives: Style

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Carbon Brews, Hong Kong, IPA - New England / Hazy

Carbon Brews Little Rich Lupulins v.6

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Brewery: Carbon Brews
Country: Hong Kong
ABV: 6%
Style: New England / Hazy IPA
Other Notes: 22 IBUs. Malts – Pilsner, Oats, Vienna and Carahell. Hops – HBC 630, Sabro and Nelson Sauvin. Yeast – London III. Experience – Fresh, juicy

Brewer Description: (from postcard) Some of our favourite hops right now are HBC630, Nelson Sauvin and Sabro, so we piled them into the dry hop resulting in a juicy beer packed full of flavour. Initial burst of pineapple, lime and candied cherry followed by a subtle coconut and white grape character.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.86
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: A 330ml can, with a best before date of 12th February 2021, so should be less than two weeks in the can. Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.
Appearance: A hazy but murky orange colour with an almost two fingered white head that had decent retention and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Pineapple juice, lime, orange pith, citrus zest, with notes of mango.
Taste: Light to moderate bitterness, citrus pith, lemon zest, lime, grapefruit, melon, with a hint of coconut here and there on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Personally I preferred the original version more as the stone fruit flavours were more my thing. I believe the change was partly due to not being able to source certain hops in the current environment, which is fine as I enjoy trying different beers. In addition, there was also the mention of candied cherry in its description, and I love candied cherries a lot, but I don’t even get a hint of that here in the aroma or flavour. All that being said, this was still fresh and enjoyable with citrus pithy and melon flavours coming through strongest.

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), Beer Reviews, Stout - Imperial, The Bruery, USA

The Bruery Share This: Mint Chip

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Brewery: The Bruery
Country: USA
ABV: 10.5%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Imperial Stout with mint and cacao nibs. We donate $1 for every bottle we produce in our Share This series. This release, inspired by mint chip flavors, supports the mission of Food Forward, which donates fresh produce to hunger relief agencies across Southern California.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Share This is a series of beers that spotlights unique ingredients and important causes. This imperial stout is inspired by mint chip flavors, recreated by adding spearmint leaves and cacao nibs to a rich base. It supports the efforts of Food Forward, who is chipping away at hunger relief across Southern California, reaching over 100,000 people a month with recovered fresh produce.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.46
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.1

Intro: A 750ml bottle, 2017 edition. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a one finger brown head that had good retention and left lots of spotty lacing.
Aroma: Light roast, chocolate, and strong mint, maybe too overpowering.
Taste: Spearmint, light roast, and only a hint of chocolate.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: So I like a good mint chocolate any day, but the mint really overpowers anything else in this beer and there’s just not enough chocolate and roast to support the mint. The body is also lacking and feels too thin. You have to really like liquid mint for this.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Stout - Imperial, The Bruery, USA

The Bruery Share This: O.C.

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Brewery: The Bruery
Country: USA
ABV: 11%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Imperial Stout with orange zest, cacao nibs and vanilla beans. We donate $1 for each bottle we produce in our Share This series. This orange chocolate release supports the mission of Food Forward, which donates fresh produce to hunger relief agencies in Southern California, including Orange County.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Share This is a series of beers that spotlights unique ingredients and important causes. This rich imperial stout is inspired by orange and chocolate flavors. It’s a profile we’re quite fond of, given the abundance of orange trees in our own backyard. Food Forward takes it one step further – reaching over 100,000 people a month with recovered fresh produce.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.41
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 750ml bottle, 2017 edition. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a one finger brown head that had decent retention and left lots of spotty lacing.
Aroma: Roasty, dark chocolate, cacao, coffee, with notes of vanilla and citrus zest.
Taste: Much like the aroma, roasted malts, dark chocolate, cacao, coffee, vanilla, and orange notes.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium to full bodied, with soft carbonation.
Overall: An excellent Imperial Stout with great roast and chocolate flavours. The orange citrus notes also complement the chocolate well. I do wonder whether due to the age of the bottle (three years), any of the adjuncts have toned down a bit, but the chocolate to citrus proportion is great right now.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Garage Project, New Zealand, Porter - Baltic

Garage Project Baltic Porter Bourbon Barrel Aged

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Brewery: Garage Project
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 11.5%
Style: Baltic Porter
Other Notes: Bourbon Baltic Porter 2016

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Baltic Porter, the favoured tipple of the Tzars. This batch has been treated to an extra serving of imperial decadence, aged for over a year in oak bourbon barrels. The result is a real heavyweight-rich and smooth with a seamless combination of vanilla, dried fruit, coffee, toffee and liquorice, but a classic clean finish courtesy of it’s long, cold fermentation. He’s an old bear, but he can still take any contender pound-for-pound.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.2
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 650ml bottle, packed on 29th September 2017. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: A clear dark brown colour with a one finger beige head that dissipated fairly quickly, while leaving only sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Chocolate, cocoa, bourbon, oak, vanilla, coffee, with notes of dark fruit, prunes, and plum.
Taste: As you’d expect from the aroma, lightly sweet, chocolate, cocoa, coffee, bourbon, oak, vanilla, with a hint of dark fruit, prunes, and plum.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: A very nice and enjoyable Baltic Porter with great bourbon and dark fruit notes. I like this a lot more than the base non-barrel aged version.

4 - Good (buy), Australia, Beer Reviews, Wild Ale, Wildflower Brewing & Blending

Wildflower Good As Gold

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Brewery: Wildflower Brewing & Blending
Country: Australia
ABV: 5%
Style: Wild Ale
Other Notes: Australian Wild Ale

Brewer Description: (from website) Good as Gold is a 50/50 blend of barrel aged Gold with fresh Gold that has just completed primary fermentation. This blend is composed of barrels 1850 (19 month old Gold) and 1722 (22 month old Gold) equally blended with the 62nd batch of Gold brewed in March 2020.

At release, this blend’s aroma shows flinty, wet stone, citrus zest and hoppy spice with soft creamy overtones. The palate is bright and vibrant with clean citrus lines. Really nice balance, mild acidity and palate cleansing gentle bitterness.

The base beer is brewed entirely with New South Wales cereals: Single Origin (S.O.) Riverina NSW grown Schooner ale malt and Coleambally NSW grown organic Red raw wheat thanks to Voyager Malt & Chris and Sam Greenwood. It is made with filtered Sydney water and Motueka (NZ) and Saaz (CZ) hops. Finally, it was fermented with our house culture: brewers yeast, foraged wild yeast and naturally occurring souring bacteria native to New South Wales. It was bottled on 15 April 2020 and naturally conditioned through refermentation for 16 weeks. At bottling it was 5.0% ABV, 25 IBU and 1.1°P (FG= 1.004 SG).

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.32
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 750ml bottle, blend #9, bottled in April 2020, and with a best before date of April 2025. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen Zenne glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy straw golden colour with a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly, while leaving only sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Funky, citrus zest, lemon peel, unripe mango, floral, and soft barrel notes.
Taste: Lightly sour and tart, funky, brett, mixed citrus juice, maybe grapefruit and orange, with a lemon zesty finish.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: A very refreshing, light, and easy to drink Wild Ale. Great on a hot summer day, but seems like it could be an all year round beer for me.