Category Archives: Style

4 - Good (buy), Against The Grain Brewery, Beer Reviews, Brown Ale - Imperial, USA

Against The Grain Jackyale

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Brewery: Against The Grain Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 9.5%
Style: Brown Ale – Imperial
Other Notes: 35 IBUs. Stave It For Later Barrel Series. Bourbon barrel aged Imperial Brown Ale

Brewer Description: (from website) Double brown ale aged in bourbon barrels in honor of the greatest rock and roll band on this or any other time: JACKYL. Drinking this fine beer will make you feel like the sun is shining down on you, and the heat of love’s flames, down on you. You’ll love the thought of me coming… down on you. This is only weird if you make it that way. PS. We won’t make any beers about pussy rock ballads, I promise!

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.16
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 750ml bottle with no bottled on or best before date that I could see. Poured into a snifter.
Appearance: A clear dark brown colour with a half finger beige head that dissipated fairly quickly but settled to a ring around the glass. There is only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Coffee beans, chocolate, caramel, vanilla and oak with only a hint of bourbon.
Taste: Sweet and roasty. Caramel, molasses, vanilla, oak and bourbon with hints of milk chocolate.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate prickly carbonation.
Overall: Perhaps a little bit too sweet for me, but the nice bourbon and oak flavours do make up for that minor flaw.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project, USA, Wild Ale

Crooked Stave Petite Sour Raspberry

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Brewery: Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project
Country: USA
ABV: 4.5%
Style: American Wild Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Wild ale aged in oak with raspberries.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.06
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 375ml bottle with surprisingly no bottled on date (not sure when they removed the date from the back label). Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A very nice ruby candy red colour with a two finger pinkish head that dissipated fairly quickly and left sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Tart and candy raspberry with hints of grape and oak.
Taste: Tart, lightly sour raspberry, raspberry jam and apple cider with a hint of oak. It’s not as fruity as expected as the base wild ale is quite noticeable.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: This looked great and as I poured it out, I had high expectations. However it’s taste fell a bit flat and one dimensional compared to other sour and wild ales with raspberries. It’s still quite good, but just not as complex as it could be.

4 - Good (buy), American Double IPA, Beer Reviews, Mikkeller San Diego x Pure Project, USA

Mikkeller San Diego x Pure Project This Chit Here

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Brewery: Mikkeller San Diego x Pure Project
Country: USA
ABV: 8.8%
Style: American Double IPA
Other Notes: Malt – Chit. Hops – Nelson and Galaxy

Brewer Description: (from can) New England style Imperial India Pale Ale brewed with Chit malt and Nelson & Galaxy hops.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.26
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 1 pint can with no canned on or best before date. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A hazy dark orange colour with a two finger white head that had good retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Very juicy tropical fruits, apricot, peach, guava, passionfruit and mango with hints of pineapple and grapefruit.
Taste: Apricot, mango and pineapple tropical sweetness, hints of pine needles and a touch of grapefruit rind bitterness on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Nicely balanced bitter and sweet with good aromatic and tasty fruitiness.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Beerbliotek, IPA - Black, Sweden

Beerbliotek No Style Without Substance

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Brewery: Beerbliotek
Country: Sweden
ABV: 11%
Style: American Black IPA
Other Notes: Imperial Cascadian Dark Ale. #188

Brewer Description: (from can) Just in time for summer comes this 11%, black, super hoppy beverage, ‘cause you never know. #blackipa?

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.88
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: A 330ml can with a best before date of 22nd June 2018. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A very dark brown, almost black colour with a less than one finger mocha head that dissipated quickly and left close to no lacing.
Aroma: Roasty coffee, chocolate, char with hints of dark fruit, plum, prunes, raisin and pine.
Taste: Sweet dried dark fruits like prune and raisin with a touch of smokey char and hoppy pine. Only hints of the cocoa, coffee, chocolate combo that I get in the aroma. The boozy character does come through here, but is not overpowering.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied, although leaning towards full, with moderate to low carbonation.
Overall: This was quite good although a touch on the sweet side and also a touch too boozy (granted it is 11% abv).

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), American IPA, Beer Reviews, Beerbliotek, Sweden

Beerbliotek A Moment of Clarity GBG Beer Week 2017

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Brewery: Beerbliotek
Country: Sweden
ABV: 4.7%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: Session IPA. #181

Brewer Description: (from can) When we were asked to brew the official GBG Beer Week beer for 2017, it was like suddenly understanding something… A Moment of Clarity. How could we go wrong? We are only following in the footsteps of one of Sweden’s best ever beers.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.47
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.4

Intro: A 330ml can with a best before date of 21st March 2018. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden orange colour with a two finger white head that had good retention and left some sticky lacing.
Aroma: Mandarin sweetness, grapefruit pith, pineapple, pine and hints of floral notes.
Taste: Floral, perfume-y, grassy, apricot with touches of grapefruit pith.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: This was perhaps too floral and perfume-y for my liking.