Tag Archives: oak barrel aged

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgian Flanders Red Ale, Belgium, Brouwerij Rodenbach N.V.

Rodenbach Alexander

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Brewery: Brouwerij Rodenbach N.V.
Country: Belgium
ABV: 5.6%
Style: Flanders Red Ale
Other Notes: Matured Ale with sour cherries. Aged in oak foeders

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Rodenbach Alexander is a Sour Ale brewed with fruit. It is a blend of 2/3rd aged Rodenbach (100% 2 year aged beer) with 1/3rd ‘young ale’, macerated with sour cherries. The natural flavor and taste of sour cherries is bringing a perfect match between the sour beer and the red fruit.

My rating: 4+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.47
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle. Poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A nice clear maroon red colour with a half finger beige head that dissipated fairly quickly white leaving only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Tart, cherry, strawberry, oak, with notes of vanilla and fruit vinegar.
Taste: Lightly sour, sweet, cherry, strawberry, oak, and fruit vinegar.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Good enjoyable aroma and flavours that is balanced and very fruity. My preference is still Caractère Rouge though.

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4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Hudson Valley Brewery, USA, Wild Ale

Hudson Valley Amulet Sour Farmhouse Ale

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Brewery: Hudson Valley Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 6%
Style: Wild Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Amulet is a sour farmhouse ale conditioned on blueberries and hibiscus flowers, and aged for one year in oak. The beer is bottle conditioned with champagne yeast, so please open cold, pour carefully, and expect some sediment.

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

Intro: A 500ml white waxed bottle, batch no. 4, poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy dark pinkish orange colour with an almost two finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly but settled to a ring around the glass, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Blueberry, floral, hibiscus, guava, herbal, basil, oak, with a touch of funk.
Taste: Sour, tart, blueberry, hibiscus, lemon, herbal, red berries, oak, and some mild funk.
Mouthfeel: Spritzy, medium bodied with high carbonation.
Overall: An interesting fruit and floral mix that gives off nice herbal notes in both the aroma and flavours. Carbonation perhaps a touch too much, but otherwise, it was enjoyable.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Farmhouse Saison - Fruit, Hill Farmstead Brewery, USA

Hill Farmstead Plum: 2021 Harvest

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Brewery: Hill Farmstead Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 6%
Style: Farmhouse Saison – Fruit
Other Notes: Farmstead ale aged in oak barrels with plums. Source: Elmore Roots Nursery, Elmore, VT

Brewer Description: (from website) Each harvest season, we choose various barrels of our Farmstead® ales that exhibit sympathetic characteristics for pairing with local fruit varieties, in this case, organic plums from the 2021 harvest season at Elmore Roots Nursery in nearby Elmore, Vt. Once again, the care and intentionality with which David and his team work with the land translates fully into the fruit’s seasonal expression each year, especially with these varieties of plums. Regardless of the base beer’s composition or blend, the ideal outcome remains the same: a thoughtful representation of the fruit in season and one of our favorite offerings within this collection.

My rating: 4+
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.44
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 375ml bottle, plums 2021 harvest, bottle conditioned since March 23, 2022, poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy orange pinkish colour, with a one finger white head that had good retention and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Tart, plum, plum skin, grapefruit rind, citrus zesty, oak.
Taste: Lightly sour, tart, plum, grapefruit rind and zest, oak, slight tropical notes, funk, with a light salty touch on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: A very enjoyable and really easy to drink fruited Saison, with balanced plum flavours.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgian Strong Dark Ale, Belgium, S.A. Bières de Chimay

Chimay Grande Réserve Vieillie en Barriques: Châtaignier neuf, Chêne, Cognac 15/03/2016

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Brewery: S.A. Bières de Chimay
Country: Belgium
ABV: 10.5%
Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale
Other Notes: 38% French oak, 22% American oak (second utilization), 22% new cognac barrels & 18% new chestnut

Brewer Description: (from bottle) The “Grande Réserve” barrel aged is an exceptional beer that benefits from triple fermentation and extended maturing in barrels. Unfiltered, unpasteurised, this beer has an incomparable rounded, wooden flavour.

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

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, bottled on 15th March 2016, with a best before date of end of 2021. Poured into a Chimay goblet glass.
Appearance: A dark amber brown colour, with a thin half finger beige head that dissipated fairly quickly to a ring around the glass, and a gently replenishing centre, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Light to moderately sweet dark fruit, plum, prunes, raisin, oak, with light toffee notes.
Taste: Sweet dark malt, dark fruit, plum, prunes, caramel, toffee, oak, cognac, light booze, and a touch bitter on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: It’s a nice complex sipper, but my preference is still the base beer, which is just so good. Despite this, the barrel aged variants are still very interesting, and I would love to keep trying more.

Beer Reviews, USA, 4 - Good (buy), Farmhouse Saison, Hudson Valley Brewery

Hudson Valley Valley Beer Winter 2020

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Brewery: Hudson Valley Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 5%
Style: Farmhouse – Saison

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Blended and bottled in the Winter of 2020. Valley Beer is our Hudson Valley Sour Farmhouse Ale brewed with 100% New York ingredients. It is fermented in our foudres with wild yeast and souring bacteria and aged for up to a year in oak barrels. This beer is bottle conditioned with local wildflower honey, so please open cold, pour carefully, and expect some sediment.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.06
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 750ml baby blue waxed bottle, bottled in the winter of 2020, poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A nice very slightly hazy golden colour with a one finger white head that had decent retention and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Tart, funk, damp wood, hay, yellow stone fruit, with light notes of honey and orange peel.
Taste: Lightly sour, tart, funky, damp wood, apple cider vinegar, green apple, yellow stone fruit, honey, and a touch of citrus peel.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: I’ll accept that they call it a Farmhouse Ale, but it does trend more towards a Wild Ale in my opinion. The funky notes in both the aroma and taste keep it interesting along with the fruitiness and honey.