Tag Archives: oak barrel aged

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Trillium Brewing Company, USA, Wild Ale

Trillium Fated Farmer – Red Currant

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Brewery: Trillium Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 6.7%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Barrel fermented wild ale. Hops – Aged Hops. Malts – Valley Pilsner and Valley Wheat. Adjunct – Red Currants

Brewer Description: (from website) Our Fated Farmer Series is a landmark step toward realizing our foundational vision for Trillium: Build a place that intuitively celebrates the intersection of New England farming, agriculture, brewing and an integrated community experience. The grist of each of the dynamic Fated Farmer wild ales is set on the structure of Valley Malt and is barrel fermented in 500L puncheons with our Native New England Wild Culture and aged for 5-7 months, before refermenting on freshly harvested fruit.

Fated Farmer: Red Currant (sourced from Wards Berry Farm in Sharon, MA) presents a warm, orange-pink hue, with a leaping nose of rose of pinot noir, and hints of strawberry and fermentation derived overripe stonefruit. The palate leads with tart wild berry flavor and mellows into a subtle sweetness, slight tannic structure and snappy, pleasing finish.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.28
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml bottle, bottled on 21st December 2017. Poured into a Cantillon ballon glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy golden orange colour with a thin white head that dissipated quickly, while leaving only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Soft funky, oak, vanilla, red berry tartness, with yellow stone fruit.
Taste: Sour, tart, mixed berries, red currant, stone fruit, peach, with soft vinegar notes.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Good balance of funk, fruit and barrel in both aroma and taste, but it is especially so in the aroma. I didn’t get to try it fresh, but I think some age might have had a good effect on it.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Trillium Brewing Company, USA, Wild Ale

Trillium Fated Farmer – Cranberry

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Brewery: Trillium Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 6.8%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Barrel fermented wild ale. Hops – Aged Hops. Malts – Valley Pilsner and Valley Wheat. Adjunct – Cranberry

Brewer Description: (from website) Our Fated Farmer Series is a landmark step toward realizing our foundational vision for Trillium: Build a place that intuitively celebrates the intersection of New England farming, agriculture, brewing, and integrated community experience. The grist of each of the dynamic Fated Farmer wild ales is set on the structure of Valley Malt and is barrel fermented in 500L puncheons with our Native New England Wild Culture and aged for 5-7 months, before re-fermenting on freshly harvested fruit.

Fresh, locally-sourced Cape Cod cranberries provide a brilliant ruby hue to the latest interpretation of Fated Farmer. Bright red fruit aromas from cranberry to raspberry spring from the glass, while a bouquet of floral tones offers a depth of flavor to each sip. Subtly sweet, with an energizing acidity and underlying native yeast character, Cranberry Fated Farmer finishes nimble and refreshing.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.97
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: A 750ml bottle, bottled on 19th October 2018. Poured into a Cantillon ballon glass.
Appearance: A hazy amber orange colour with a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly to a ring around the glass, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Tart, cranberry, oak, with light floral notes, and bits of nail polish here and there.
Taste: Sour, tart, cranberry, herbal, funk, lemon zest and oak.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied, prickly acidic, with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Enjoyable aroma and flavours, although the acidity felt a little bit on the harsh side at times.

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Denmark, Mikkeller Baghaven, Wild Ale

Mikkeller Baghaven Kriek Vanilje

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Brewery: Mikkeller Baghaven
Country: Denmark
ABV: 7%
Style: Wild Ale
Other Notes: Blend 1, aged 18 months

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Oak fermented Danish Wild Ale with cherries, vanilla, and a hint of cinnamon.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.83
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.7

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend 1, with a best before date of July 2024. Poured into a Mikkeller Baghaven Zalto Bordeaux stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy deep reddish purple colour with a one finger purple head that had decent retention but eventually settled to a thin cap, while leaving some nice lacing.
Aroma: Tart, cherry, cinnamon, vanilla, and oak.
Taste: Lightly sour, tart, cherry, cinnamon, cherry pit, almond, oak, with hints of vanilla.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: Wow, excellent and really enjoyable aroma and flavours that align to my palate. Must buy in my opinion.

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen, Lambic - Gueuze

3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze Cuvée Armand & Gaston Honing

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Brewery: Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7%
Style: Lambic – Gueuze

Brewer Description: (from bottle in French) 3 Fonteinen Cuvée Armand & Gaston est un assemblage de jeunes, mi-vieux et vieux lambic traditionnels, brassés par Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen. Cent pour cent naturel, authentique, spontané, un peu têtu, tout en restant élégant et plein de caractère. De la pure passion, comme Armand & Gaston Debelder l’ont toujours fait. Fermentation et maturation en bouteille continue et avec un potentiel de longue conservation. Non-filtré et non-pasteurisé. Une gueuze de caractère avec une belle évolution d’arômes et de goûts.

(blend description in Dutch) Deze specifieke Cuvée Armand & Gaston werd geassembleerd met lambikken van 8 verschillende vaten en maar liefst 10 verschillende brouwsels. In de assemblage werd wat eigen geïmkerde zomerhoning toegevoegd. De oudste lambik werd gebrouwen aan het begin van seizoen 16/17, dus eind 2016. Eén van de lambikken werd trouwens gebrouwen met verse Coigneau hop, een lokaal “lambik” ras.

(Translated to English) 3 Fonteinen Cuvée Armand & Gaston is a blend of young, half-old and old traditional lambics, brewed by Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen. One hundred percent natural, authentic, spontaneous, a little stubborn, while remaining elegant and full of character. Pure passion, as Armand & Gaston Debelder have always done. Continuous fermentation and maturation in the bottle with potential for long storage. Unfiltered and unpasteurized. A gueuze of character with a beautiful evolution of aromas and tastes.

This specific Cuvée Armand & Gaston was assembled with lambics from 8 different barrels and no less than 10 different brews. Some of our own harvested summer honey was added to this blend. The oldest lambic was brewed at the beginning of the 16/17 season, i.e. at the end of 2016. One of the lambics was brewed with fresh Coigneau hops, a local “lambic” variety.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.55
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.5

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, blend n°4, season 19/20, bottled on 18th November 2019, with a best before date of 26th October 2039. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen gueuze glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy golden orange colour with a two finger white head that had good retention, but eventually settled to a nice fluffy cap, while leaving lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Tart, funky, hay, damp wood, oak, green apple, light citrus, lemon zest, with notes of leather and honey.
Taste: Sour, tart, green apple, grapefruit, funky, oak, lemon zest, white grape, slightly herbal, with notes of honey sweetness and peppery spice on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: Another excellent 3F gueuze that’s just so enjoyable and easy to drink.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Gueuzerie Tilquin, Lambic - Gueuze

Tilquin Gueuzérable

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Brewery: Gueuzerie Tilquin
Country: Belgium
ABV: 10%
Style: Lambic – Gueuze
Other Notes: 2017-2018

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Beer of spontaneous fermentation, the Gueuzérable Tilquin is made from the fermentation of organic maple syrup in a blend of 1, 2 and 3 years old lambic aged on oak barrels. Unfiltered and unpasteurized, this beer is refermented in the bottle.

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

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, with a neck label of 2017-2018, and a best before date of 9th October 2028. Poured into a Tilquin gueuze glass.
Appearance: A very slightly hazy copper amber colour with a slightly less than two finger beige head that dissipated quickly and left only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Tart, green apple, lemon zest, lime, hay, oak, funk, grape, with a slight hint of caramel and maybe maple.
Taste: Sour, tart, green apple, grape, lemon zest, lime, funky, oak, with a very subtle hint of unsweet maple syrup.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: The maple aroma and flavours were very subtle and not as obvious as I hoped it would be. The base Tilquin lambic is great though, so this was still good, and the alcohol is well hidden as you wouldn’t know that this was 10% ABV.