4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Oskar Blues Brewery, Stout - Russian Imperial, USA

Oskar Blues Ten Fidy

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Brewery: Oskar Blues Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 10.5%
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Other Notes: 65 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from website) Ten FIDY Imperial Stout – This titanic, immensely viscous stout is loaded with inimitable flavors of chocolate-covered caramel and coffee and hide a hefty 65 IBUs underneath the smooth blanket of malt. Ten FIDY (10.5% ABV) is made with enormous amounts of two-row malt, chocolate malt, roasted barley, flaked oats and hops. Ten FIDY is the ultimate celebration of dark malts and boundary-stretching beer.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.46
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 12 fl oz can, canned on 13th October 2016, with a note that said “Midnight on a moonless night”. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: It was black in colour with a nice two fingered mocha brown head that had great retention and left lots of nice sticky lacing.
Aroma: Roasty coffee, rich dark chocolate and light char with hints of molasses and licorice.
Taste: Roasted malts, molasses and dark fruit plum and raisins to start, followed by rich dark chocolate, roasty coffee, caramel and a light char. Finish is lightly bitter.
Mouthfeel: Rich, velvety, creamy and smooth. Full bodied with moderate to light carbonation.
Overall: A wonderful Imperial Stout from Oskar Blues which is nicely balanced and great to drink.

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Hanssens Artisanaal, Lambic - Fruit

Hanssens Oudbeitje

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Brewery: Hanssens Artisanaal
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6%
Style: Belgian Lambic (Fruit)

Brewer Description: (from bottle) (translated from Dutch) Pure Lambic, with fresh strawberries, 100% natural product.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.14
My ratebeer.com rating: 2.8

Intro: A 375ml corked and caged bottle with a notched Lotnr of H (not sure what this means). Then there are two dates. The first I translated from Dutch to: “to consume preferably before” 7th August 2027. The second I translated from French to: “best before” 7th August 2034. Not sure why there are two different dates for different languages. Poured into a Cantillon ballon glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy dark golden orange colour with no head and no lacing.
Aroma: Oak, vinegar, acidity, strawberry and funky.
Taste: Sour, tart and acidic with notes of vinegar and berries.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with extremely low to no carbonation and quite a harsh acidic feel.
Overall: For me, this could use more carbonation. In addition, I wasn’t really getting much strawberries in the flavour, and any berry flavour I did get was quite light. The main thing though was the quite harsh acidity as each swallow felt a light burn on my throat.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij Girardin, Lambic - Fruit

Girardin Kriek

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

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Minimum of 150g of cherries with pits per finished liter.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.37
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 375ml corked and caged bottle. The cork had the words Diam AX 2017 and the number 01 on it, which I think I’ve worked it out to mean Batch A, bottled in January 2016. Poured into a Cantillon ballon glass.
Appearance: A clear ruby red colour with a one finger pinkish head that dissipates quickly while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Cherry Lifesaver hard candy. What this means is cherry, almond and lightly artificial, although this aroma is right up my alley.
Taste: Sour cherry and grapes with an interesting hint of vanilla.
Mouthfeel: Crisp, light bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: The aroma was wonderful, and while the taste didn’t quite match up to the aroma, it was still great to drink.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij Girardin, Lambic - Fruit

Girardin Framboise

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

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Minimum of 150g of raspberries per finished liter.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.28
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 375ml corked and caged bottle. The cork has the words Diam EX 2016, and the number 09 on it, which I think I’ve worked out to be Batch E, bottled in September 2015. Poured into a Cantillon ballon glass.
Appearance: A clear dark pinkish red colour with a very thin pink head that dissipates quickly while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Raspberry jam with perhaps hints of grape juice.
Taste: Sour raspberries and grape juice to begin, followed by sweet-ish berries with hints of wood.
Mouthfeel: Crisp, light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Refreshing and nice to drink. Good balance between sour and sweet.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), American IPA, Beer Reviews, Hong Kong, Young Master Brewery

Young Master Panama Fruit Bomb Coffee IPA

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Brewery: Young Master Brewery
Country: Hong Kong
ABV: 6.4%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: 64 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from bottle) (my summary) Brewed in collaboration with 18 Grams Specialty Coffee using Panamanian Finca Ziska.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.4
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.3

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 30th September 2017. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A clear copper colour with a nice two finger white head that had great retention and lots of sticky lacing.
Aroma: Ground coffee beans with some kind of nuttiness I can’t quite work out as the grapefruit and light floral aromas keep trying to push through. Doesn’t seem to quite mix together here.
Taste: Sweet-ish malt to begin, followed by freshly shelled peanuts and a lightly bitter grapefruit and pine finish.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: I’d be interested to try freshly ground Panama Finca Ziska coffee to see what it tastes like as I’m a little perplexed as to the peanut aroma and taste, which I can only assume comes from the coffee and I’m guessing, unintentional. In addition, I feel that the fruitiness is coming from the hops and not the coffee, despite the name. Lately I’ve found that coffee in IPAs seem to change taste pretty fast and are best consumed fresh as soon as possible. Maybe something happened in this case, but I do believe the bottle is quite fresh (less than 3 weeks?). But this is why I prefer bottled on dates instead of best before dates. Anyway, it’s worth a try if you can get it fresh.

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