Category Archives: Style

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Epic Brewing Company, Stout - Imperial, USA

Epic Son of a Baptist

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Brewery: Epic Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 8%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Novo Coffee – Epic Espresso Blend. Malts – Ultra-Premium Muntons Marris Otter, 2-Row Brewers Malt, Black Malt, Crystal Malt, Chocolate Malt, Roasted Barley, Cara-Aroma and Demerara Sugar. Hops – Nugget, Chinook and Cascade

Brewer Description: (from website) Son of a Baptist is an 8% ABV imperial stout. It is not barrel aged like its father, Big Bad Baptist; instead its flavor profile was designed to highlight the complex and often unique flavors of small batch coffees. Instead of sourcing a coffee that would play well in a beer we sought out creative and innovative roasters, then asked them which beans they’re passionate about. Each resulting release of Son of a Baptist is widely different depending on the coffee selected. Some are fruity and sweet with notes of jam and chocolate, others are rich and earthy with a big roasted finish. Each limited release will return to the Roaster’s home market where the beer and the coffee can be sampled side by side.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.13
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 12 fl oz can with no clear canned on or best before date. Novo Coffee – Epic espresso blend. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: It was dark brown to black in colour with a just over one finger light brown head that had good retention and left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Roasted malt, coffee, dark chocolate with hints of brown sugar and a light char.
Taste: Roasted malt, coffee, milk, bittersweet chocolate and caramel. Sweetish to begin, while lightly bitter on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Creamy and velvety smooth, medium bodied with low carbonation.
Overall: Nice tasting and great to drink, but definitely preferred the barrel aging of its father, Big Bad Baptist.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, England, Euro Sour Ale, The Wild Beer Co.

Wild Beer Sourbeest

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Brewery: The Wild Beer Co.
Country: England
ABV: 5.9%
Style: Euro Sour Ale
Other Notes: Stout + Sour + Chocolate + Barrel-aging

Brewer Description: (from bottle) We believe exceptional brewing stems from imagination and passion. It’s not just a process. By embracing our environment and being free of rules and tradition, we can add a Wild 5th element to our beers – in this case a locally harvested culture of yeasts and bacteria from the famous Somerset orchards. We want to give you a truly memorable drinking experience. We want to alter your perceptions and thrill your taste buds. We want you to Drink Wildly Different. Sourbeest is a sour stout made by the magic of spontaneous fermentation and aged in oak barrels for over 9 months. We use the second running’s from our Imperial Stout, Wildebeest, as the base for this beer and let the yeast and bacteria in the air inoculate the cooling wort and start their own magical fermentation. The beer then goes straight into oak barrels to ferment and mature over many months until we deem it ready for your drinking pleasure. A taste of chocolate coated sour cherries fills the mouth. A proper treat!

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.36
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.2

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 14th January 2018. Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.
Appearance: A moderately dark brownish red colour with pretty much no head, with any head that was there, dissipating almost immediately, while leaving only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Tart and sour mixed berries, vinous red wine, cherry, oak with hints of chocolate in the background.
Taste: Milk chocolate, lightly tart, cherry, mixed berries, vinous, grape with perhaps some light oak.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with low carbonation.
Overall: The tart and sour part was actually pretty good. However, the chocolate came through in the taste every now and then, and while it wasn’t overpowering, I didn’t think it combined too well with the sour parts. I also felt that the carbonation was too light.

4 - Good (buy), Almanac Beer Co., Beer Reviews, USA, Wild Ale

Almanac Vanilla Cherry Dogpatch

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Brewery: Almanac Beer Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 7.6%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Farm to barrel. Barrel aged in oak

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Sour red ale aged in wine barrels with cherries and whole vanilla beans.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.46
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 375ml bottle, released in May 2017. Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy pinkish orange colour with a one finger white head that dissipated quickly and left sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Sweet and tart cherry, vanilla, oak and red gummy candy.
Taste: Very similar to the aroma with sweet and tart cherry, vanilla, oak and a light citrus tang.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: This was really nice and enjoyable. The vanilla and oak mixed really well with the cherries.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Denmark, Porter - Baltic, Thisted Bryghus x Mikkeller ApS

Thisted x Mikkeller Beer Geek Limfjords Porter

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Brewery: Thisted Bryghus x Mikkeller ApS
Country: Denmark
ABV: 7.7%
Style: Baltic Porter

Brewer Description: (from ratebeer description) Beer Geek Limfjordsporter is a double stout with coffee and licorice. A collaboration between Mikkeller and Thisted Bryghus, based on the world’s best stout “Beer Geek Breakfast Stout” and “Limfjordsporter”.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.15
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 17th May 2018. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a one finger dark tanned head that dissipated fairly quickly while leaving some sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Roasted malts and coffee with a light smokiness. There is also some chocolate and liquorice in the background.
Taste: Rich bittersweet chocolate, coffee powder, light burnt smokiness with hints of liquorice and prunes. Nice balance of sweet and bitter.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to low carbonation.
Overall: I think I was surprised about how good this was, in particular that rich bittersweet chocolate flavour. Very enjoyable.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, England, Siren Craft Brew, Stout

Siren Broken Dream Bourbon Coffee

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Brewery: Siren Craft Brew
Country: England
ABV: 6.5%
Style: American Stout

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This special edition of Broken Dream is brewed with our very own bourbon barrel-aged coffee. We source the finest green beans, age them in wet barrels for at least 12 months before roasting in small batches when required.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.76
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 4th January 2018. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: It poured black in colour with a less than one finger brown head that dissipated quickly and left only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Roasted malt, coffee, chocolate and brown sugar.
Taste: Roasty malt and milk coffee with only hints of chocolate, vanilla and oak.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: This was ok, but given the name, even if its just the coffee beans aged in bourbon barrels, I was expecting some bourbon flavours, but unfortunately, I got nothing at all.