Tag Archives: red wine barrel aged

4 - Good (buy), Against The Grain Brewery x Brouwerij De Molen, Beer Reviews, Stout - Imperial, USA

Against The Grain x De Molen Bo & Luke (Red Wine Barrel)

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Brewery: Against The Grain Brewery x Brouwerij De Molen
Country: USA
ABV: 13%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: 2016 purple wax. Red Wine barrel aged

Brewer Description: (from bottle) It beats all you ever saw! This barrel-aged ale uses the staple ingredients barley, rye and corn, plus cherry wood smoked malt to create a huge imperial stout. To top it all off, we barrel age the beer for three Kentucky months! The result is a rich and complex Imperial Smoked Stout with hints of caramel, vanilla and spice.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.29
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A purple waxed 750ml bottle with no clear bottled on or best before date, but should be 2016 vintage. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark dark brown to black in colour with a half finger tanned head that had decent retention and left nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Light roast, chocolate, vinous, red grapes, kyoho grape jelly, with hints of bourbon sweetness.
Taste: Chocolate, cocoa, roast, sweet bourbon, grape jelly, red grape, red wine, vinous, and light booze.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: At times it felt a little sweet, but I love the kyoho grape aroma in this. Unfortunately, all the smoked malts from the original seems to have been lost in all the bourbon, grape and vinous characteristics, but this was still an enjoyable sipper on a cool night.

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Evil Twin Brewing, Stout - Imperial, USA

Evil Twin Harlan’s Even More Jesus

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Brewery: Evil Twin Brewing
Country: USA
ABV: 12%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Imperial Stout aged in red wine barrels. Produced and bottled for Evil Twin Brewing by Westbrook Brewing Co., Mount Pleasant, SC

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A few times in the history of craft beer it has happened that a highly praised beer rises beyond mortal stardom into a higher godly league. Usually the recipe to make such heavenly drops is thick fudge-like body, pitch black color, amazingly overwhelming aromas of chocolate, coffee, dark fruits and muscovado sugar. We took this beer to the next level and barrel aged it on rare barrels from a cult winery in California.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.5
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 22 fl. oz. bomber with no bottled on or best before date. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a thin brown head that dissipated fairly quickly, but left some nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Roasty, ashy, chocolate, cocoa, coffee, dried dark fruit, vinous red wine, and cherry notes.
Taste: Roasty, ashy, burnt sugar, vinous red wine, chocolate, cocoa, caramel, dark fruit, with a lightly bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Smooth, creamy, warming, full bodied, with soft carbonation.
Overall: Wow, this is easily my favourite Even More Jesus variant. The sweetness is very nicely balanced with the bitter smoky ash, roast and chocolate. So smooth and a very nice sipper that hides the ABV well.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij Alvinne, Wild Ale

Alvinne Batch #1000 Abrikoos-Apricot

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Brewery: Brouwerij Alvinne
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.7%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Fruit Sour Ale. Sweet 2/5, Sour 3/5 & Bitter 1/5

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Batch 1000, a milestone on our craft beer journey. We made a long boil blond sour and barrel aged it on American oak St-Emilion (red wine) barrels. This beer was macerated on apricots for 2 months.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.76
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 330ml bottle, with a best before date of November 2023. Poured into an Alvinne teku glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy rusty copper orange colour with some light sediment and a thin, large bubbly one fingered off white head that dissipated fairly quickly, while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Light aromas, but tart, funky, oak, lightly vinous and touches of apricot.
Taste: Light sour, tart, vinous, grape, oak, light funk and apricot.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: I preferred the original base version more. I felt that the additions of apricot seemed to have taken away from the nice strong barrel character that just wasn’t as prominent in this version.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij Alvinne, Wild Ale

Alvinne Batch #1000

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Brewery: Brouwerij Alvinne
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.7%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Blond Sour Ale. Sweet 2/5, Sour 3/5 & Bitter 1/5

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Batch 1000, a milestone on our craft beer journey. We made a long boil blond sour and barrel aged it on American oak St-Emilion (red wine) barrels. This is an exclusive project for Beer Seeker, a collaboration between the magazine Belgian Beer & Food and online beershop Etre Gourmet.

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

Intro: A 330ml bottle, with a best before date of November 2023. Poured into an Alvinne teku glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy copper orange colour with a one finger off white head that had decent retention while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Tart, vinous, grape, cherry and oak, with hints of funk, vanilla and balsamic.
Taste: Sour, tart, vinous, grape, cherry, oak, vanilla, light funk, and notes of vinegar.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Enjoyable complex sour with nice vinous and barrel character.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij Oud Beersel, Lambic - Gueuze

Oud Beersel Oude Geuze Vieille Vandervelden 137 Years

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Brewery: Brouwerij Oud Beersel
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.5%
Style: Belgian Lambic (Gueuze)
Other Notes: Aged 3 years in oak barrels. Bottled 20 years before best before date

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Oud Beersel Brewery was founded in 1882 by the Vandervelden family. Vandervelden 137 Oude Geuze was crafted in honor of our founder, and is an exclusive blend of 3 year old Lambic primarily aged in foeders previously used for the maturation of Brunello di Montalcino, the revered Italian red wine.

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

Intro: A 375ml corked and caged bottle with a best before date of 15th February 2039. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen gueuze glass.
Appearance: A mostly clear golden colour with a two finger white head that dissipated quickly and left only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Funky, wet wood, musty, oak, green apple skin, white grapes, lime peel, and citrus zest.
Taste: Light funk, oak, musty, lightly sour, vinous, white grape, white wine, grass, hay, lime.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: I preferred Vandervelden 135 over this 137. This was still good and balanced though, and it is vinous, but I feel like I’m getting more white wine than red wine despite the barrel. Maybe some age on this would improve it even more.