Tag Archives: barrel aged

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, De Struise Brouwers, Stout - Russian Imperial

De Struise Black Damnation XV – Drone

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Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 13%
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Bottle 1250/2000, 2012 vintage

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A massive stout from Flanders, matured in Glendronach barrel.

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

Intro: A 750ml bottle, number 1250/2000, 2012 vintage, bottled on 1st April 2017. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with pretty much no head and no lacing.
Aroma: Whisky, dried dark fruit, prune, fig, dates, chocolate, toffee, oak, vanilla, with boozy notes.
Taste: Roasted malts, whisky, coffee, bitter, dark chocolate, with some dried dark fruit and oak.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: An enjoyable sipper with good whisky and chocolate notes.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, De Struise Brouwers, Stout - Russian Imperial

De Struise Cuvée Delphine Cask Strength 4 Roses BA

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Brewery: De Struise Brouwers
Country: Belgium
ABV: 13%
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Other Notes: 2015 vintage

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Cask strength limited edition, medium carbonation, 4 Roses bourbon barrel 1 year.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.23
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml bottle, 2015 vintage, limited edition cask strength, bottled on 10th May 2016. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a half finger brown head that dissipated fairly quickly, while leaving only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Sweet dark malt, milk chocolate, dried dark fruit, raisin, prunes, fruit cake, with boozy notes.
Taste: Sweet dark malt, dark dried fruit, raisin, prunes, fruit cake, bourbon, with notes of milk chocolate.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft to moderate carbonation.
Overall: A nice sipping RIS with a good amount of dried dark fruit and bourbon flavours, although my preference is still with the original Cuvée Delphine.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Heroes Beer Co., Hong Kong, Stout - Milk / Sweet Imperial

Heroes BB&AWAIMSwCN&V (3rd Anniversary)

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Brewery: Heroes Beer Co.
Country: Hong Kong
ABV: 10.3%
Style: Stout – Milk / Sweet Imperial
Other Notes: Bottle 644 of 960

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Bourbon Barrel & Amburana Wood Aged Imperial Milk Stout with Cacao Nibs & Vanilla. Starts off with robust wood aged characters of gingerbread, tonka beans, and savory herbs from the Amburana wood. Follows with secondary vanilla and toffee like notes from the Bourbon barrels and vanilla pods. The malt base is complex with rounded dark chocolates and coffee, which is further enhanced by the cacao nibs infusion. Secondary malt profile caramel, and toasted bread provides great depth to the flavor. Drinks full body with a chewy mouthfeel.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.12
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A boxed, black waxed, 650ml bomber, bottle 644 of 960, packaged on 15th July 2020, and with a best before date of 15th July 2022. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Poured pitch black with pretty much no head and no lacing.
Aroma: Strong aromatic coconut, gingerbread, and cinnamon from the Amburana, followed by lots of nice milk chocolate, caramel, toffee, and vanilla. The finish is Christmas spice like.
Taste: Sweet, chocolate, Christmas spices, vanilla, caramel, toffee, dried dark fruit and a light spicy kick on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Full bodied and rich, with soft carbonation.
Overall: Aroma was wonderful, while taste was sweet and rich, which was fine while cool, but as it warmed, it started getting more intense to the point where it was on the borderline maybe too much for me. Amburana barrels are not my favourite, but this was certainly worth a try.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, England, Mills Brewing x Nevel, Wild Ale

Mills x Nevel Dinkum

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Brewery: Mills Brewing x Nevel
Country: England
ABV: 5.5%
Style: Wild Ale
Other Notes: Mills Brewing make beer with minimal modern intervention, relying on local wild yeast cultures and the influence of nature to ferment. Nevel Artisan Ales brew wild beer in Nijmegen with local, organic and foraged ingredients

Brewer Description: (from bottle) In April 2019 we brewed a rich, copper wort with locally picked blackberry leaves in the boil. Both brewery’s mixed cultures were used to ferment the wort in red wine barrels for 12 months. The resulting beer was blended with another reddish beer from August 2018. The beer was then dry hopped with whole leaf Huell Melon, Belma, Cascade and Citra.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.49
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, bottled in April 2020, with a best before date of April 2030. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy copper colour with a big three finger beige head that had good retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Lightly tart, grape, unripe berries, leafy, earthy, lemon zest, with notes of caramel.
Taste: Lightly sour, tart, grape, melon and berry notes, leafy, oak, citrusy, lemon zest.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium to light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Complex and balanced aroma and flavours just made it extremely easy drinking and enjoyable.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Farmhouse Saison - Fruit, Logsdon Farmhouse Ales, USA

Logsdon Peche ‘n Brett

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Brewery: Logsdon Farmhouse Ales
Country: USA
ABV: 10%
Style: Farmhouse Saison – Fruit
Other Notes: Oak aged organic ale brewed with peaches

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Our seasonal oak aged organic peach beer is brewed with local Oregon fruit. Peche ‘n Brett is brewed and refermented with the peaches in our Seizoen Bretta. One and a half pound of peaches are added to each gallon of Bretta to produce a secondary fermentation resulting in complex peach aroma and flavor, hop balance and subtle malt character, followed up with brettanomyces and oak derived fruity dryness. Final refermentation with pear juice provides natural carbonation with added aromas and flavors in the bottle. Enjoy in a proper glass.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.55
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 750ml yellow waxed bottle with a best before date of March 2022. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A cloudy golden orange colour with a two finger white head that had decent retention and eventually settles to thin cap while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Peach, peach creamsicle, oak, light funk and notes of brett and lemon zest.
Taste: Lightly tart, peach, brett, funk, hay and grapefruit.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: The 10% abv was well hidden and the aroma and flavours were enjoyable and well balanced.