Category Archives: Style

4 - Good (buy), American IPA, Beer Reviews, Cigar City Brewing, USA

Cigar City Jai Alai India Pale Ale

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Brewery: Cigar City Brewing
Country: USA
ABV: 7.5%
Style: American IPA

Brewer Description: (from can) Jai Alai, the “merry game,” is a game native to the Basque region of Spain. Tampa was once home to this high speed game, but sadly all that remains here is this India Pale Ale that we brewed in tribute to the merry game. Pair Jai Alai India Pale Ale with Empanadas, Deviled Crabs and other spicy dishes.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.98
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 12 fl oz can with a canned on date of 21st March 2017. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy light copper orange colour with a two finger slightly off white head that had great retention and left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Lots of citrus grapefruit peel, orange rind and lemon with hints of tropical pineapple and pine.
Taste: A nice sweet-ish malty caramel and biscuit backbone, followed by some nice citrus grapefruit and orange with a touch of pineapple and a mildly bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: To be fair, perhaps this was hidden in my fridge a bit too long. It was however, still well balanced and enjoyable to drink.

4 - Good (buy), Beavertown Brewery, Beer Reviews, England, IPA - Black

Beavertown Black Betty

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Brewery: Beavertown Brewery
Country: England
ABV: 7.4%
Style: American Black IPA
Other Notes: 75 IBUs. Malts – Best Pale, Caragold, Caramalt, Carafa II and Carafa III. Hops – Colombus, Chinook and Citra

Brewer Description: (from website) So it’s a contradiction in terms. A Black India Pale Ale?! The concept we came up with revolved around the old chewy sweets ‘Black Jacks & Fruit Salads’. We wanted to take a big, fat IPA and lace it with under- tones of slight roast and aniseed and blend with the huge tropical aromas of Pacific West coast hops. We gained the hint of roast by using Carafa malts from Germany. They give us the dark colour and a touch of roast but minimal bitterness, thus letting the hops fly and fly!

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.33
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 330ml can with a best before date of 1st September 2017. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: It was a dark dark brown colour with a one and a half finger tanned head that had good retention and left some nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Citrus peels with some nice roasty malts and cocoa.
Taste: It’s pretty much what you would expect from the aromas with nice citrus flavours, balanced with roasty malts and hints of chocolate and coffee. There is also a lingering grapefruit finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: A good Black IPA that is very easy to drink. It’s 7.4% ABV but feels very sessionable. Quite a dangerous combination.

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), Beer Reviews, Stout - Imperial, Three Floyds Brewing Co. x Mikkeller ApS x Warpigs Brewpub, USA

Three Floyds x Mikkeller x Warpigs Black Flame

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Brewery: Three Floyds Brewing Co. x Mikkeller ApS x Warpigs Brewpub
Country: USA
ABV: 12%
Style: American Imperial Stout

Brewer Description: (from website) The Black Flame (La Flama Negro). It burns bright for those who care to notice. It takes a true beer lover to stray from the norm and experience real flavor. If you can’t handle the black flame, you can’t handle adventure. Made in conjunction with Mikkeller.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.42
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.2

Intro: A 22oz bomber, I think bottled in 2015 (but nothing clearly marked on the bottle). Poured into a snifter.
Appearance: It was black in colour with a dark brown hue on the sides and a one finger mocha head that had decent retention and left some nice small spotty lacing.
Aroma: Orange citrus fruitiness and milk chocolate with hints of roasty coffee and some kind of spiciness.
Taste: Milk chocolate and molasses sweetness, roasted coffee and orange citrus with a hint of dark chocolate bitterness.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with low carbonation.
Overall: You’d think that orange and chocolate flavours go well together, and it started off ok enough. But after a while, it just felt a bit too sweet and hard to finish. The orange was overpowering compared to the chocolate and I think it would have been better if it was the other way around. Just didn’t quite work for me.

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij Girardin, Lambic - Gueuze

Girardin Gueuze White Label

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Brewery: Brouwerij Girardin
Country: Belgium
ABV: 5%
Style: Belgian Lambic (Gueuze)

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Filtered version.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 2.99
My ratebeer.com rating: 2.8

Intro: A 375ml corked and caged bottle. The cork had the words Diam DX 2016 and the number 08 on it, which I think I’ve worked it out to mean Batch D, bottled in August 2016. Poured into a Cantillon Gueuze glass.
Appearance: A clear copper orange colour with a half finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly, but settles to a thin replenishing layer with sparse lacing.
Aroma: Sour-ish, raisins, green apple, pear, vinegar, oak and hints of cheese.
Taste: Tart and lightly sour, apple cider vinegar, apple core, lemon peel, grass and oak with a sweet-ish raisin, prune like finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to low carbonation.
Overall: Aroma and taste was very different to all other Gueuze’s that I’ve tried and in this case, was just not really my thing, especially the dark fruit like sweetness and apple cider vinegar. I’d just stick with the Black Label version.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij Lindemans, Lambic - Gueuze

Lindemans Oude Gueuze Cuvée René Special Blend 2010

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Brewery: Brouwerij Lindemans
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6%
Style: Belgian Lambic (Gueuze)
Other Notes: Grand Cru. Limited Edition

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This Old Gueuze produced by the Lindemans Brewery is an exclusive blend of 4 year old Lambic with young Lambic, fermented in oak barrels and refermented in the bottle. Golden colour, slightly sour, smooth Gueuze with a sherry-like aroma. The Gueuze for beer connoisseurs. Limited edition of 15,000 bottles.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.42
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 750ml bottle, bottled in June 2014 and a best before date of 2024. Poured into a Lindemans flute glass.
Appearance: A clear golden orange colour with a just over one finger white head that had pretty good retention and nice lacing.
Aroma: Citrusy lemon, lime, hints of orange, oak, pepper, damp hay, wet leather and a good amount of barnyard funk.
Taste: Lemon-lime, pear, apple peel, oak, lots of funk, barnyard, hay, lemon rind, vinegar bite and mustiness.
Mouthfeel: Crisp, medium to light bodied with high carbonation and a dry finish.
Overall: This surprised me in a good way. Very enjoyable with lots of funk, barnyard, wet hay and leather.