Tag Archives: ba

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgian Quadrupel, Belgium, Brouwerij De Halve Maan

Straffe Hendrik Heritage 2015 Armagnac Oak Aged Ale

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Brewery: Brouwerij De Halve Maan
Country: Belgium
ABV: 11%
Style: Belgain Quadrupel
Other Notes: Armagnac Oak Aged Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This quadruple is a heavy and dark beer, brewed in the unique family brewery “De Halve Maan”, which has been located since 1856 in the historical centre of Bruges. This quadruple is matured for more than one year in oak casks in the ancient cellars of the brewery. It gives this beer a complex flavour and rich aroma. The beer is re-fermented in the bottle, and has a longer shelf life, during which the taste evolves still further. The tannins and the complex malt flavours ripen into a harmonious balance over the time.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.38
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, bottle no. 22214, 2015 vintage, and with a best before date of end of 2026. Poured into a Chimay goblet glass.
Appearance: A hazy dark amber brown colour with an almost two finger creamy beige head that dissipated fairly quickly but settled to a rapidly replenishing thin layer over the top while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Plum, prunes, apple, oak, with notes of cherry, red berries, and brandy.
Taste: Dark fruit, plum, prunes, oak, boozy, brandy, caramel, toffee, apple, with notes of red berries.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium to full bodied, light to moderate carbonation, and a warming finish.
Overall: Very nice complex flavours and the Armagnac barrel matched well with this Quad. I haven’t tried many barrel aged Quads, but this definitely makes me want to try more.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Garage Project, New Zealand, Porter - Baltic

Garage Project Baltic Porter Bourbon Barrel Aged

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Brewery: Garage Project
Country: New Zealand
ABV: 11.5%
Style: Baltic Porter
Other Notes: Bourbon Baltic Porter 2016

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Baltic Porter, the favoured tipple of the Tzars. This batch has been treated to an extra serving of imperial decadence, aged for over a year in oak bourbon barrels. The result is a real heavyweight-rich and smooth with a seamless combination of vanilla, dried fruit, coffee, toffee and liquorice, but a classic clean finish courtesy of it’s long, cold fermentation. He’s an old bear, but he can still take any contender pound-for-pound.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.2
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 650ml bottle, packed on 29th September 2017. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: A clear dark brown colour with a one finger beige head that dissipated fairly quickly, while leaving only sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Chocolate, cocoa, bourbon, oak, vanilla, coffee, with notes of dark fruit, prunes, and plum.
Taste: As you’d expect from the aroma, lightly sweet, chocolate, cocoa, coffee, bourbon, oak, vanilla, with a hint of dark fruit, prunes, and plum.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: A very nice and enjoyable Baltic Porter with great bourbon and dark fruit notes. I like this a lot more than the base non-barrel aged version.

4 - Good (buy), Australia, Beer Reviews, Wild Ale, Wildflower Brewing & Blending

Wildflower Good As Gold

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Brewery: Wildflower Brewing & Blending
Country: Australia
ABV: 5%
Style: Wild Ale
Other Notes: Australian Wild Ale

Brewer Description: (from website) Good as Gold is a 50/50 blend of barrel aged Gold with fresh Gold that has just completed primary fermentation. This blend is composed of barrels 1850 (19 month old Gold) and 1722 (22 month old Gold) equally blended with the 62nd batch of Gold brewed in March 2020.

At release, this blend’s aroma shows flinty, wet stone, citrus zest and hoppy spice with soft creamy overtones. The palate is bright and vibrant with clean citrus lines. Really nice balance, mild acidity and palate cleansing gentle bitterness.

The base beer is brewed entirely with New South Wales cereals: Single Origin (S.O.) Riverina NSW grown Schooner ale malt and Coleambally NSW grown organic Red raw wheat thanks to Voyager Malt & Chris and Sam Greenwood. It is made with filtered Sydney water and Motueka (NZ) and Saaz (CZ) hops. Finally, it was fermented with our house culture: brewers yeast, foraged wild yeast and naturally occurring souring bacteria native to New South Wales. It was bottled on 15 April 2020 and naturally conditioned through refermentation for 16 weeks. At bottling it was 5.0% ABV, 25 IBU and 1.1°P (FG= 1.004 SG).

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.32
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 750ml bottle, blend #9, bottled in April 2020, and with a best before date of April 2025. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen Zenne glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy straw golden colour with a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly, while leaving only sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Funky, citrus zest, lemon peel, unripe mango, floral, and soft barrel notes.
Taste: Lightly sour and tart, funky, brett, mixed citrus juice, maybe grapefruit and orange, with a lemon zesty finish.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: A very refreshing, light, and easy to drink Wild Ale. Great on a hot summer day, but seems like it could be an all year round beer for me.

4 - Good (buy), Australia, Beer Reviews, Wild Ale, Wildflower Brewing & Blending

Wildflower Amber

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Brewery: Wildflower Brewing & Blending
Country: Australia
ABV: 6%
Style: Wild Ale
Other Notes: Australian Wild Ale

Brewer Description: (from website) Amber is a blended, barrel aged Australian Wild Ale. Amber Blend #27 is a blend of five barrels – 1727 (21 month old Amber), 1732 (17 month old Amber), 1754 (13 month old Amber), 1847 (17 month old Amber) and 1919 (9 month old Amber).

This blend has an intensely rich nose loaded with cola, fudge, currants and sweet spice. Sweet red fruits, cola, oak and spice fill out the palate and balance the acidity. Wonderfully moreish with great length and a hazelnut finish.

The base beer is brewed entirely with New South Wales cereals: Single Origin (S.O.) Riverina NSW grown Schooner Munich malt, Binya NSW grown S.O. LaTrobe Vienna malt and Riverina NSW grown chocolate malt from Voyager Craft Malt. It is made with filtered Sydney water and Saaz (CZ) hops. Finally, it was fermented with our house culture: brewers yeast, foraged wild yeast and naturally occurring souring bacteria native to New South Wales. It was bottled on 11 March 2020 and naturally conditioned through refermentation for 21 weeks. At bottling it was 6.0% ABV, 18 IBU and 1.4°P (FG = 1.006 SG).

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.38
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 750ml bottle, blend #27, bottled in March 2020, and with a best before date of March 2025. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen Zenne glass.
Appearance: A nice clear amber colour with a one finger beige head that dissipated fairly quickly, but settled to a thin ring around the glass, while leaving some spotty lacing.
Aroma: Coke, cherry, blackcurrant, fig, oak, acetone, with notes of caramel.
Taste: Sour, tart, cherry, plum, coke, oak, caramel, and lemon.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Very nice aroma and flavours of blended Coke and Flanders Red type ales. Carbonation was a bit lacking for me, but other than that, this was enjoyable.

4 - Good (buy), Australia, Beer Reviews, Wild Ale, Wildflower Brewing & Blending

Wildflower Gold

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Brewery: Wildflower Brewing & Blending
Country: Australia
ABV: 5%
Style: Wild Ale
Other Notes: Australian Wild Ale

Brewer Description: (from website) Gold is a blended, barrel aged Australian Wild Ale. Gold Blend #27 is a blend of 6 barrels – 1705 (15 month old Gold), 1746 (4 month old Gold), 1769 (6 month old Gold), 1813 (13 month old Gold), 1821 (11 month old Gold), 1836 (12 month old Gold).

Intense nose – ripe citrus (Meyer lemon), slate and oak melded together. Full and well structured palate. Citrus dominant but supported with dark earthy spice, cellar funk and energetic acidity. Pops of stone fruit and vanilla. Incredibly long and persistent. A standout blend of our Gold.

The base beer is brewed entirely with New South Wales cereals: Single Origin (S.O.) Riverina NSW grown Schooner ale malt and Coleambally NSW grown organic Red raw wheat thanks to Voyager Malt & Chris and Sam Greenwood. It is made with filtered Sydney water and Motueka (NZ) and Saaz (CZ) hops. Finally, it was fermented with our house culture: brewers yeast, foraged wild yeast and naturally occurring souring bacteria native to New South Wales. It was bottled on 26 February 2020 and naturally conditioned through refermentation for 23 weeks. At bottling it was 5.0% ABV, 25 IBU and 1°P (FG = 1.004 SG).

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.45
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 750ml bottle, blend #27, bottled in February 2020, and with a best before date of February 2025. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen Zenne glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden colour with a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly, while leaving some spotty lacing.
Aroma: Funky, leather, oak, lemon zest, white grape, with apricot notes.
Taste: Tart, lightly sour, white wine grapes, oak, funky, apricot, green apple, and lemon zest.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: My first Wildflower bottle and wow, this was enjoyable. Good balance of funky, citrus and stone fruit flavours.