Tag Archives: Hong Kong

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Gweilo Brewery, Hong Kong, IPA - Session

Gweilo IPA

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Brewery: Gweilo Brewery
Country: Hong Kong
ABV: 4.8%
Style: American Session IPA
Other Notes: 50 IBUs. Core Range

Brewer Description: (from can) Gweilo IPA is a session style beer, perfect for the heat of Hong Kong. It is intensely dry hopped with Mosaic, creating a bold nose of melon, citrus and pine. This is nicely balanced by a malty backbone, delivering an IPA punching well above its weight.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.7
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 330ml can, with a best before date of 29th June 2019. Poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: A nice clear golden orange colour with a big three finger white head that had excellent retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Orange zest, peel and rind, floral, honeydew melon, pine and a very small hint of caramel malt.
Taste: Light bitterness, biscuit malt, orange peel, bittersweet tea and a hint of lemon.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: A nice and refreshing Session IPA.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Hong Kong, International Pale Lager, Moonzen Brewery

Moonzen South Cloud Lager

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Brewery: Moonzen Brewery
Country: Hong Kong
ABV: 4.5%
Style: International Pale Lager
Other Notes: Brewed with Yunnan Raw Pu’er tea

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Be blown away with this refreshingly crisp brisk lager brewed with southern hops and Yunnan Raw Pu’er tea. Be overflowed by its fragrance and soar like an immortal.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.85
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 330ml bottle, with a best before date of 27th March 2019. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden pale straw yellow colour with a just over one finger white head that had decent retention and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Grainy, floral, lemon, grass, pear and tea leaves.
Taste: Grainy, grass, lemon, Chinese tea leaves, with hints of floral and wood here and there.
Mouthfeel: Crisp, light bodied and highly carbonated.
Overall: Nice drinking for a hot summer day. Light and crisp, maybe a tad bit too carbonated, but easy flavours to quench thirst.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Hong Kong, Wild Ale, Young Master Brewery

Young Master Days of Being Wild – Dried Cherry

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Brewery: Young Master Brewery
Country: Hong Kong
ABV: 7.5%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Single foeder sour ale series

Brewer Description: (from tag on bottle) Days of Being Wild series draws inspiration from the Lambic traditions of Belgium. It is the first mixed fermentation program of its kind in Asia with a medley of wild yeast strains and lactic acid bacteria doing their work inside an oak foeder. End result is a series of beers that all share an underlying haunting complexity, farmhouse funk and refreshing fruitiness. This dried cherry edition takes it a step further with a second fermentation in Chardonnay barrels together with a generous addition of dried cherries. The combination of deep cherry flavour and vinous notes from the barrels with a touch of residual sweetness makes for a beautifully balanced and yet incredibly complex beer.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.01
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 750ml bottle, 2017 vintage, bottle 405 of 470. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A cloudy pinkish orange colour with a half finger off white head that disappeared almost immediately and left no lacing.
Aroma: Tart and sweet, cherry, red lifesaver hard candy, white wine, lemon peel and light funk.
Taste: Tart, cherry, red lifesaver hard candy, lightly sour, vinous, hints of oak and funk.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied, with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: Nice cherry aroma and flavours but seems closer to the American Wild Ale than Lambic even if it is inspired by Lambic. I think this is as good as or maybe just very slightly behind the mixed berries version.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Hong Kong, Moonzen Brewery x Against The Grain Brewery, Stout - Imperial

Moonzen x Against The Grain King Yama’s Underworld Stout

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Brewery: Moonzen Brewery x Against The Grain Brewery
Country: Hong Kong
ABV: 11.5%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Brewed with Sichuan peppercorns and Bourbon barrel wood chips

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Dark and Smoke drove too fast, crashed their car and didn’t last. Underworld King Yama reigns, bargains should they live again. Dark and Smoke must brew a stout, tasty enough to let them out! Chopped ATG Kentucky bourbon barrels, burning incense sticks, smoked Cherrywood malt and cracked Sichuan peppercorns create an “under” of this world combination so decadent that Dark & Smoke may never want to leave Yama’s Underworld anymore!

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.03
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 650ml bomber with no clear bottled on or best before date. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark dark brown to black in colour with a huge three finger dark tanned head that had great retention while leaving only sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Roasted malts, chocolate, cocoa, oak and floral perfume-y with hints of smoke and Sichuan peppercorn.
Taste: Quite similar to the aroma with roasted malts, chocolate, wood and that distinct floral perfume-y characteristic. There is an interesting light spiciness that appears at the back of the throat at the end.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to light carbonation.
Overall: This was interesting with its floral and perfume-y character that really stands out, and a surprise positive for me as I don’t normally enjoy floral beers. I actually think that with the aroma, this floralness comes from the Sichuan peppercorns, but unfortunately with the taste, the light tingly spiciness in the background does not appear distinctly as Sichuan peppercorn like it does so well in certain batches of King Yama Sichuan Porter, but nonetheless, still probably better than not having it there. Mainly though, body was too light and there was probably a bit too much carbonation for me, but other than that, with everything else, this is worth a try.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Hong Kong, Wild Ale, Young Master Brewery

Young Master Days Of Being Wild – Mixed Forest Berries

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Brewery: Young Master Brewery
Country: Hong Kong
ABV: 7.5%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Single foeder sour ale series

Brewer Description: (from website) Inspired by the tradition of lambic style brewing in Belgium, this is the first mixed fermentation program of its kind in Asia. With a mixed-culture fermentation featuring a medley of wild yeast and bacteria strains, these beers have haunting complexity, natural farmhouse funk and refreshing fruitiness. We plan to release variations every couple of months. With our single-foeder sour ale as the base, we blended in a medley of mixed forest berries and fermented it a second time in brandy barrels. Intense berry flavors combined with funk and acidity from the base beer makes it incredibly complex, yet extremely refreshing.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.02
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 750ml bottle, 2017 vintage, bottle 160 of 250. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A nice clear ruby red colour with a big two finger pinkish head that dissipated fairly quickly to a small ring around the glass that keeps replenishing with lots of small bubbles, while leaving only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Mixed berries, raspberry, strawberry and blackberry with mild tartness and light funk.
Taste: Mixed berries, mainly raspberry and blackberry, there’s also some oak, lightly sour and light funk.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Good berry aroma and flavours although the berry flavours end a little abrupt. Still though, it is well worth a try.