5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brasserie Fantôme, Farmhouse Saison

Fantôme Saison

Monday, 23 May 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Brasserie Fantôme
Country: Belgium
ABV: 8%
Style: Belgian Saison
Other Notes: US label bottle. Belgian Ale brewed with spices

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Fantôme is a classic artisanal farmhouse brewery in the heart of the Ardennes Forest. Its brews are in the robust, flavorful ‘saison’ style, and recall the early days of Belgian brewing. Brewer Dany Prignon is known for his regular Fantôme Saison and for the creative and adventurous brews he makes to mark each of the four seasons. The recipes change every year, but don’t ask what makes them so tasty… the Fantôme never gives up its secrets.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.64
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.5

Intro: A 750ml US label bottle with no best before date (Belgian label bottle has a best before end date). Poured into a Duvel tulip glass.
Appearance: It poured a lightly hazy golden colour with a slightly less than two finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly but left nice streaky lacing.
Aroma: Barnyard funk, honeydew melon, banana, clove, honey, lemon and grass.
Taste: Similar to the aroma, there is musty farmhouse funk, sweet honey, banana, clove, fleshy melon with a hint of citrus lemon, grass and a bready finish.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with high carbonation.
Overall: Wow, a very nice Saison. Great aromas and mouthfeel with nice fruit and funkiness.

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Belgian Dubbel, Belgium, Brouwerij der Trappisten van Westmalle

Westmalle Dubbel

Thursday, 19 May 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Brouwerij der Trappisten van Westmalle
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7%
Style: Belgian Dubbel
Other Notes: Trappist beer. As per the website, the larger 75cl bottles mature differently to the 33cl bottles. They say that in the larger bottles, you will notice a more subtle aftertaste.

Brewer Description: (from website) Westmalle Dubbel is a dark, reddish-brown Trappist beer with a secondary fermentation in the bottle. The creamy head has the fragrance of special malt and leaves an attractive lace pattern in the glass. The flavour is rich and complex, herby and fruity with a fresh-bitter finish. It is a balanced quality beer with a soft feel in the mouth and a long, dry aftertaste. The Dubbel contains 7% alcohol.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.66
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 24th July 2016 and poured into a Chimay goblet glass.
Appearance: It poured a dark brown colour with a slight reddish hue and a two finger beige head that slowly settles to a nice thin but creamy puffy layer while leaving nice curtain lacing.
Aroma: Strong dark fruits with cherry, plum, prune, raisin, grape and a hint of banana, toffee and caramel in the background.
Taste: Some toffee and caramel before a blast of lightly sweet dark stone fruits, cherry, plum, grape, fig and raisin.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium to full bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: Excellent Dubbel, excellent beer. Nice complexity and balance in the aromas and taste and is definitely a must buy beer for me.

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), American IPA, Beer Reviews, Omnipollo, Sweden

Omnipollo Magic #90000 Bilberry Smoothie IPA

Wednesday, 18 May 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Omnipollo
Country: Sweden
ABV: 7%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: Brewed by Omnipollo at De Proef Brouwerij (Belgium)

Brewer Description: (from website) Part of Magic Numbers, a dreamy small-batch series: 90000 is an IPA brewed with bilberries, crushed pecans, almond flour, vanilla and lactose.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.45
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.2

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 5th August 2016 and poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: It poured a murky red purple colour with a one finger lightly pink head that dissipates quickly but leaves some nice lacing.
Aroma: Guava, blueberry, raspberry, pineapple with hints of almond and orange.
Taste: It starts off pretty good with some blueberry, Ribena and cranberry before some light grapefruit bitterness and then just falling off to nothing pretty fast.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: I wasn’t a fan of its appearance and while the aromas were good, the quick fall off in the taste was a bit disappointing. Perhaps my hopes were too high to start since I really enjoyed Magic #4:21 but since then some of these ‘experimental’ Magic brews haven’t quite matched #4:21’s must buy status in my opinion.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), American IPA, Beer Reviews, Denmark, Mikkeller ApS

Mikkeller Citra Session IPA

Tuesday, 17 May 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Mikkeller ApS
Country: Denmark
ABV: 4.5%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: Brewed and bottled by Mikkeller at De Proef Brouwerij.

Brewer Description: (from Mikkeller blog) Bitter notes on the nose from the Citra hops combine with an earthy and citrusy palate to create a fresh session beer at only 4.5% abv.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.64
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 4th June 2017 and poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: It poured a hazy golden orange with a big puffy three finger white head with great retention and left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Great tropical Citra aromas of mango and peach with a hint of citrus orange and grapefruit.
Taste: Much like the aroma with tropical mango and some light citrus orange. But the flavours don’t stick around for long and only hang around for a short time.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium to light bodied with moderate prickly carbonation.
Overall: This was a pretty good Session IPA that drank extremely easy. Flavours were nice but didn’t last long though.

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), Beer Reviews, BrewDog, Rye Beer, Scotland

Brewdog Albino Squid Assassin

Tuesday, 17 May 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: BrewDog
Country: Scotland
ABV: 7.4%
Style: Rye Beer
Other Notes: Red Rye IPA

Brewer Description: (from Brewdog webshop) This tentacled terminator packs a punch – ten punches to be precise. Each hop addition adds to the intense layers of depth in this red rye IPA. Toasty caramel & cinder toffee from crystal malts, cacao richness from intensely roasted malt and the spiciness of rye. Zesty pithiness from citra and the robust resin of chinook. This small batch exclusive brew is up-front intensity matched with twisted complexity.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.11
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.1

Intro: A 330ml can with a best before date of 16th December 2016 and poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: It poured a very nice clear dark amber colour with a two finger beige head that had good retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Nice tropical aromas of mango and pineapple with a hint of caramel, spice and alcohol.
Taste: Some light but sweet mango mixed in with toasty bread graininess and a long lasting piney grapefruit pith bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with light carbonation.
Overall: This was only ok for me. Looks and smells great but I thought that the taste was a bit light (cancelled each other out) with too much grain and pith and not enough fruit.

words of another dreamy traveller