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3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), 8 Wired Brewing Co., Beer Reviews, Belgian Quadrupel, New Zealand

8 Wired Grand Cru 2011

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Brewery: 8 Wired Brewing Co.
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 11%
Style: Belgian Quadrupel
Other Notes: 2011 vintage. Pinot Noir barrel aged Strong Ale. Brewed with sultanas and funk

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This beer has been made with a little more love, care and attention than most other beers. After brewing this Belgian-inspired ale with a large dose of sultanas, we aged it in Pinot Noir barrels for more than a year. The barrel aging has added some funky sourness to an already very fruity beer, thanks to native micro flora left behind in the wood. If I should describe this beer with one word, it would be “vinous”. In fact, this may be the most wine-like beer I’ve ever tasted. So, maybe calling it “Grand Cru” – a classic wine descriptor – isn’t as preposterous as some wine snobs might claim it to be?

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.81
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: A 375ml bottle, 2011 vintage, and poured into a Chimay goblet.
Appearance: A cloudy dark rusty red brown colour with a just over one finger tanned head that dissipates slowly to a thin replenishing layer while leaving nice curtain lacing.
Aroma: Red wine, grape and raisin with hints of vinegar and tart cherry.
Taste: Tart and sour cherry, vinegar, lots of dark fruit, grape, plum and raisins, vinous red wine with hints of chocolate and a light black coffee bitterness on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: This was pretty good and definitely complex. However, lately I’ve tried quite a few wine barrel aged beers, and I’m thinking that perhaps it’s not my thing in that I don’t feel wine barrels add anything better to the base beer. It’s solid, but perhaps not “Grand Cru”.

4 - Good (buy), Almanac Beer Co., Beer Reviews, Farmhouse Saison, USA

Almanac Saison de Brettaville

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Brewery: Almanac Beer Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 7.2%
Style: Belgian Saison
Other Notes: Farm to barrel. Brettanomyces ale aged in white wine barrels

Brewer Description: (from bottle) We love brettanomyces! This wild yeast, better known as “brett,” brings out a wide range of flavors and aromas in beer, from exotic fruits to earthy funk. We added a dozen different brett strains to our dry-hopped Saison Dolores, then aged it in white wine barrels for many months. The result is an intricate farmhouse ale with the kind of nuance and depth that only brett can create.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.25
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 375ml bottle, bottled in September 2015. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku.
Appearance: A nice hazy golden colour with a two finger white head that had pretty good retention and nice lacing.
Aroma: Flowers and orange zest with hints of grapefruit, oak, pine and brett funk.
Taste: White wine with hints of oak, mango, candied pineapple, lemon and funk.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: This was nice and easy to drink. Only a little sour, but well balanced and still good after almost 19 months.

4 - Good (buy), Almanac Beer Co., Beer Reviews, USA, Wild Ale

Almanac Citra Sour

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Brewery: Almanac Beer Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 7%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Farm to barrel. AKA Almanac Hoppy Sour: Citra

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Sour Blonde Ale aged in wine barrels & dry hopped with Citra.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.34
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 375ml bottle, bottled in July 2015. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku.
Appearance: A nice hazy golden orange colour with a two finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly while leaving some nice sticky lacing.
Aroma: Tropical fruit, mango and pineapple followed by citrusy mandarin, orange rind and grapefruit with hints of funkiness.
Taste: Similar to the aroma as its funky, tart, sour, tropical, mango, passionfruit and apricot, followed by citrusy mandarin and orange rind with light oak.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: Very nice and refreshing tropical and citrus aromas and flavours with matching funk. The barrel notes were a bit weak, but I’m perfectly fine with that in this case.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Scotch Ale / Wee Heavy, Scotland, Tempest Brewing Co.

Tempest Old Parochial

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Brewery: Tempest Brewing Co.
Country: Scotland
ABV: 10%
Style: Scotch Ale
Other Notes: Barrel aged Imperial Scotch ale. Hops – Waimea

Brewer Description: (from website) Nostalgia and Celebration in a bottle. Raise a glass to the art of barrel aging with this rich, complex imperial scotch ale aged in Craigellachie barrels. Smoke, stone fruit, and caramel blend together on the palate with warming hum of whisky.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.64
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.4

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 28th December 2018. Poured into a snifter.
Appearance: A cloudy brown colour with quite a bit of small to tiny sediment, a thin tanned head that dissipated quickly and some sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Sweet, malty, caramel, dark dried fruit, wood with some light smoke and alcohol.
Taste: Roasted malts, caramel, wood, vanilla and smoke. There is some whisky character, and light sweet dark dried fruit, mostly prunes and raisins.
Mouthfeel: Full bodied with light carbonation.
Overall: I find that not many beers taste better than its aroma, but this beer falls in that category. The sweetness coming from the aroma kind of put me off a bit. But this was not the case when I tasted it as the barrel character was clearly the main attraction (smoke, vanilla, wood) and it was a good thing (for me), that the sweetness of the dried fruit was only in the background.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Russian River Brewing Company, USA, Wild Ale

Russian River Consecration

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Brewery: Russian River Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 10%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Sour ale barrel aged 4 to 8 months. Ale aged in Cabernet Sauvignon barrels with currants added

Brewer Description: (from bottle) con.se.cra.tion, n 1. The act of dedication to the service & worship of a deity. 2. The act of giving the sacramental character to the Eucharistic elements of bread and wine. When we made the Toronado’s 20th Anniversary Ale, we had no idea that it would turn out to be one of our favorite barrel aged beers we would ever make. With that said, we have always wanted to make a dark barrel aged beer using 100% Cabernet Sauvignon barrels, but, we never were inspired. That is, until we blended five different beers to make the Toronado beer, the tobacco character from the dark malts blended nicely with the fruit character that developed in blending. So, with Consecration we set out to make a barrel beer using all Cabernet Sauvignon barrels. Now, we are not saying this is a replica of the T-rooms anniversary beer, after all, a beer like that can never be duplicated, and, there was no fruit added to that beer as there is with this one. All we are saying is that it gave us great inspiration to brew Consecration. Consecration is refermented in this bottle to create its carbonation- a process commonly used to make fine Champagne and sparkling wine. Spent yeast forms a thin layer of sediment in the bottle, adding yet another layer of complexity and flavors. Pour slowly as to allow the natural yeast sediment to remain in the bottle.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.31
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 375ml corked and caged bottle, bottled on 4th April 2016, poured into a Cantillon ballon glass.
Appearance: A dark reddish brown colour with a two finger light tan head that dissipated quickly while leaving only slight lacing.
Aroma: Lots of oak, cherry, blackcurrant, grape and red wine.
Taste: Sweet-ish blackcurrant and cherries followed by sourness, oak, red wine, vinegar and light funk.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: This was just like drinking red wine with carbonation. There was no sign of the 10% ABV, and although I thought the aroma was better than the taste, both were still good.