Category Archives: Style

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgian Pale Ale, The Bruery x Maine Beer Company, USA

The Bruery x Maine Fourthmeal

Thursday, 5 May 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: The Bruery x Maine Beer Company
Country: USA
ABV: 6.9%
Style: Belgian Pale Ale
Other Notes: Collaboration Series. Hoppy Belgian-style ale.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) The Bruery and Maine Beer Company got together and cooked up something special for you: fourthmeal. It isn’t brunch; it isn’t “linner.” It’s a hoppy Belgian-style ale that brings aspects of both breweries to the table: fruity, Belgian yeast esters, a crisp, bready backbone, citrus and piney hop characteristics, and a dry, hop-forward finish. There’s no one shouting “come n’ git it” when it’s time to dine – just mouth-watering, dry-hopped aromatics, signalling that it’s time for fourthmeal. This beer is best enjoyed fresh.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.06
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 750ml bottle from batch #280, bottled on 9th December 2015 and poured into an oversized wine glass.
Appearance: It poured a hazy golden orange colour with a one finger slightly off white head with decent retention and very nice lacing.
Aroma: Mandarin orange, pine, candied malt, grass and light grapefruit pith.
Taste: Light citrusy candy orange, bready malt, pound cake, light bitter herby pine and grass with a light peppery finish.
Mouthfeel: Crisp, dry, medium bodied with medium prickly carbonation.
Overall: This was nice. Medium bodied but very light crisp easy drinking. Wish I could have tried this earlier for a fresher point of view.

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), Beer Reviews, Belgian Dubbel, Belgium, Brouwerij Haacht NV

Tongerlo Brune

Wednesday, 4 May 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Brouwerij Haacht NV
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.5%
Style: Belgian Dubbel

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Abbey beer brewed with the approval of the Norbertins of Tongerlo. This beer was refermented in the bottle for a more refined aroma and a broader, richer taste palette. Contains barley malt.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.04
My ratebeer.com rating: 3

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 7th November 2016 and poured into a Chimay goblet glass.
Appearance: It poured a reddish brown colour with a one finger beige head that had good retention and settled down to a creamy puffy layer with good lacing.
Aroma: Light plum, banana and some metal mineral-ness.
Taste: Started pretty decent with plum, brown sugar, raisin, caramel and banana. But for some reason, the finish is a little watery.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with medium carbonation.
Overall: Looks great, but the minerally aroma and the watery finish didn’t help the beer.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgian Dubbel, Bierbrouwerij De Koningshoeven B.V., Netherlands

La Trappe Dubbel

Tuesday, 3 May 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Bierbrouwerij De Koningshoeven B.V.
Country: Netherlands
ABV: 7%
Style: Belgian Dubbel
Other Notes: Trappist beer

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Discover this genuine dark Trappist beer, with a gentle, flavour, creamy head and pronounced bouquet.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.25
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of July 2016, poured into a Chimay goblet glass.
Appearance: It poured a deep dark brown / amber colour with a one finger beige head that dissipated fairly quickly but left nice lacing.
Aroma: Raisins, dried cherry, toasted malts, caramel, toffee and bubblegum.
Taste: Sweet dark stone fruits of plum, prunes, raisin and cherry, grape juice, banana and a light toffee finish.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: A very nice Dubbel that is tasty and easy to drink.

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), American IPA, Beer Reviews, Omnipollo x Tired Hands Brewing Co., Sweden

Omnipollo x Tired Hands Milkshake IPA

Monday, 2 May 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Omnipollo x Tired Hands Brewing Co.
Country: Sweden
ABV: 7%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: Brewed by Omnipollo at De Proef Brouwerij (Belgium)

Brewer Description: (from website) IPA brewed with oats, wheat and lactose sugar. Fermented atop strawberries and vanilla beans. Hopped intensely with Mosaic and Citra. We also added wheat flour to the boil. Brewed in collaboration with our friends at Tired Hands Brewing Co.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.16
My ratebeer.com rating: 2.9

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 23rd November 2016 and poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: Actually I had to pour it twice. The first pour was going fine until three quarters in, suddenly there were some big blobs of sediment which appeared quite gross really. So I waited for it to settle a bit, before pouring that into another Spiegelau IPA glass with much less but only finer sediment. It was a hazy golden yellow colour with a one finger white head with some light lacing. As a note, after re-pouring, I let the first glass settle for about 10 minutes, and there was about a one finger layer of sediment on the bottom… it was a lot.
Aroma: Strong tropical fruitiness with guava, strawberry, mango and passionfruit with a hint of citrus orange peel.
Taste: Lightly sour strawberries with some bitterness but other than that, the flavours kind of disappeared.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with medium carbonation.
Overall: I don’t know if this batch that was sent to Hong Kong went bad or what not. I am fine with hazy and cloudy beers, but not big blob sediment which just does not look good. In addition, there was even A LOT of fine sediment. Other than that, aromas actually seemed great while the taste was disappointing especially when compared to #4:21 Raspberry Smoothie IPA which was stunningly good, and the slightly lesser but still good #4:11 Wild Strawberry/Rhubarb/Vanilla Smoothie IPA.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), American Double IPA, Beer Reviews, Nøgne Ø, Norway

Nøgne Ø Two Captains

Sunday, 1 May 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Nøgne Ø
Country: Norway
ABV: 8.5%
Style: American Double IPA
Other Notes: 100 IBUs.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Jan Halvor Fjeld, winner of Norwegian home brewing championship 2010 brewed his champion Imperial IPA at Nøgne Ø. We at Nøgne Ø are of course proud to be with him in making this happen.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.53
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.5

Intro: A 500ml bottle from batch #1328 with a best before date of 15th December 2016 and poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: It poured a clear dark amber orange colour with a one finger off white head that leaves nice lacing.
Aroma: Heavy citrus orange and grapefruit with a hint of floralness and caramel.
Taste: Sweet-ish pineapple and grapefruit hop bitterness with some light caramel malt. The grapefruit bitterness sticks around for a while.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with light to medium carbonation.
Overall: A pretty decent Double IPA with good lasting bitterness. It’s still well within its best before date, but I have to wonder if a fresher bottle would be even more impressive.

words of another dreamy traveller