Brewery: Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat NV Country: Belgium ABV: 8.5% Style: Belgian Strong Pale Ale
Brewer Description: (from website) Duvel is a natural beer with a subtle bitterness, a refined flavour and a distinctive hop character. The unique brewing process, which takes 90 days, guarantees a pure character, delicate effervescence and a pleasant sweet taste of alcohol.
My rating: 3 My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.78 My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8
Intro: A 330ml bottle dated best before November 2015 and poured into a Duvel tulip glass. Appearance: The beer poured a slightly hazy golden straw yellow colour with maybe just under a two finger creamy white head that dissipated slowly leaving nice stringy lacing. Aroma: Main aromas of citrus lemon and banana with slight funk followed by some lighter grassy and flowery smells. Taste: Starts with bitter, tart and slightly sour citrus lemon, pear and apple followed by banana and honey sweetness. Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with high carbonation and a dry finish. Overall: Overall this was not a bad beer. But if I was to compare to others in this style, off the top of my head I do prefer both Delirium Tremens and La Chouffe before Duvel and unfortunately for Duvel, both of them are as widely available in Hong Kong.
Brewery: S.A. Bières de Chimay Country: Belgium ABV: 7% Style: Dubbel Other Notes: Trappist beer. Ale is brewed at Scourmont Abbey
Brewer Description: (from bottle) The <> logo certifies that this ale is brewed in a Trappist Abbey and that the majority of sales income is intended for social aid. Chimay Red will win you over with its fruity taste accompanied by a slight bitterness.
My rating: 5 My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.64 My ratebeer.com rating: 4.5
Intro: This was a 330ml bottle that was dated best before end of 2018 and poured into a Chimay goblet. Appearance: It pours a very hazy brown colour with a very nice thick cream coloured two finger head that dissipates very slowly but when it does, leaves a nice curtain lacing. Aroma: Aromas are fruity, mainly of dark fruits like plum, cherry, and fig. There is also some pear, apple and candied sugar and a hint of nuttiness. Taste: Fruity cherry and plum upfront with hints of banana and pear. There’s also some light malt caramel and bready sweetness followed by a nice light bitter finish. Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Smooth creamy and slightly sticky. Overall: Admittedly, I used to think that this was just ok but I’ve grown to enjoy this beer the more I drink it. When I first tried it maybe ten years ago, Chimay Blue was far and away better and so I mostly bought that. However, clearly my taste changed and the last few years Chimay Red became one of my staple beers.
Brewery: North Coast Brewing Co. Country: USA ABV: 5.6% Style: Irish Dry Stout Other Notes: Named for a retired steam engine on the California Western Railroad Redwood Route.
Brewer Description: (from bottle) Old No.38 Stout is a smooth, firm-bodied stout with the toasted character and coffee notes of dark malts and roasted barley.
My rating: 3 My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.52 My ratebeer.com rating: 3.5
Intro: Poured from a 12 fl oz bottle into a pint glass. There was no bottled or best by date on the bottle. Appearance: The beer poured a rich opaque black colour with a bit less than one finger caramel tan head that dissipates quickly leaving a small amount of lacing. Aroma: Aromas are a bit weak, but mainly of roasted malts, cocoa dark chocolate and brown sugar. There is also a slight amount coffee mixed in. Taste: Sweet cocoa and roasted malts followed by brown sugar, milk chocolate, coffee and maybe a small amount of caramel. Mouthfeel: Creamy, sticky, light to medium bodied with light carbonation and a small alcohol kick. Overall: Overall this was a decent stout that may be a little bit on the sweet side. However when compared to Guinness, I have to say that I’m leaning towards Guinness for a variety of reasons. It’s not as sweet, only one-third of the cost, and a lot easier to find in Hong Kong since its available in every supermarket.
Brewery: Brasserie d’Achouffe Country: Belgium ABV: 8% Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale
Brewer Description: (from website) Mc CHOUFFE is an unfiltered brown beer which is refermented both in the bottle and in barrels. Its fruity bouquet conceals a hint of bitterness.
My rating: 4 My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.57 My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4
Intro: A 330ml bottle dated best before September 2016 poured into a Chimay goblet. Appearance: It poured a medium to dark brown with a slight reddish tint. One finger creamy tanned head with nice looking bubbles that dissipated slowly leaving nice stringy lacing. Aroma: Main aromas of dark fruits of fig and raisins along with some pear and grapes. As it warms, the grape smell became really prominent. Taste: Strong tastes of dark candied fruits, plum, fig, grapes and raisins with hints of caramel and brown sugar. Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with medium to high carbonation. Overall: Overall, this was very good. Both the smell and flavours actually improve as it gets warmer. It is not too sweet and I especially enjoyed the dark fruit flavours. This is so close to being a must buy beer for me.
Brewery: Omnipollo Country: Sweden ABV: 8.5% Style: Double IPA Other Notes: Brewed by Omnipollo at De Proef Brouwerij (Belgium)
Brewer Description: (from website) “Neb” is a home brew recipe that has been scaled up with no consideration to economies of scale. Some say idiotic, and as an economist I would have to agree. Get fresh or die trying.
My rating: 4 My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.42 My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4
Intro: This was an 11.2 fl oz bottle dated best before 7th August 2016 on the bottle cap and poured into a snifter glass. Appearance: It poured a hazy golden orange colour with a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly leaving nice spotty lacing. Aroma: Right from the pour you get a strong tropical fruit aroma. Mainly mango and pineapple followed by some citrus grapefruit, zest and pine. I thought the smells were amazing and raring to burst out at me. Taste: Citrus hop bitterness up front of grapefruit and mandarin orange followed by some light tropical fruit… maybe pineapple and peach, but still the bitterness pushes through. There’s also a strong malt caramel background and slight sweetness from this, but it gets covered by the bitterness quickly and the lasting aftertaste is bitter with a small hint of tropical fruit. Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with light carbonation and dry finish. Overall: This was a very nice DIPA. The strong aromas set a high standard to begin with. I find most DIPAs have too much malt caramel sweetness in its taste for me, but in this case I absolutely loved the hop bitterness shining through. The slight fruitiness also helped here. Its on the expensive side, but I will definitely consider buying this again.
words of another dreamy traveller 