Tag Archives: usa

Hudson Valley Valley Beer Winter 2020

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.

FiftyFifty Imperial Eclipse Stout BKR (Bookers Barrel)

Brewery: FiftyFifty Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 12.2%
Style: Stout – Imperial
Other Notes: 2019 vintage, yellow wax – Bookers Barrel

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Now in it’s 12th vintage, 2019 Eclipse is our rich Imperial Stout aged to perfection in whiskey and spirit barrels. All Eclipse start with the same base beer bringing hints of dark chocolate, espresso, and a smooth complexity, with each barrel treatment delivering its own unique character after a minimum of 180 days of aging. BKR is aged in select bourbon barrels. DSP-KY-230.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.12
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 500ml dark yellow waxed bottle, 2019 vintage. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark dark brown to black in colour, with a thin tanned head that dissipated quickly, while leaving some spotty lacing.
Aroma: Bakers chocolate, molasses, bourbon, and a touch of almonds.
Taste: Light roast, chocolate, coffee, bourbon, molasses, raisin, with light notes of toasted nuts.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: A fuller body would help this Imperial Stout, but there are some enjoyable flavours with this sipper.

Bruery Terreux Train To Beersel

Brewery: The Bruery (Bruery Terreux)
Country: USA
ABV: 8.4%
Style: Wild Ale
Other Notes: Inviting – Oaky – Excursion

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Imperial sour blonde ale aged in oak barrels.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.13
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 750ml bottle, 2017 vintage, poured into a Tilquin stemmed glass.
Appearance: A cloudy dark orange colour with a one finger white head that had pretty good retention, and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Funky, brett, lime juice, green apple, white wine grapes, cucumber, oak, damp wood, hay, vanilla.
Taste: Lightly sour, light funk, lime juice, lemon, white wine grapes, oak, with light notes of yellow stone fruits and apple cider vinegar.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with light to moderate carbonation.
Overall: Aroma and flavours were quite different from each other, but it was enjoyable to drink. Was hoping for more of the funk to infiltrate into the flavour though.

Clown Shoes Undead Party Crasher

Brewery: Clown Shoes Beer
Country: USA
ABV: 10%
Style: Stout – Imperial

Brewer Description: (from bottle) In a world full of uncertainty, hardship, and people trying to hold us back, do we need the undead and trademark attorneys too? Clown Shoes says, “No, die, monsters, die!” Forces of darkness brought about a change in the name of this beer, which was released to celebrate our second anniversary, but it still sports signature dark malts, holy water, and malt smoked locally with hickory and ash.

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

Intro: A 22 fl. oz. bomber, bottled on 12th February 2015. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a thin beige head that dissipated quickly while leaving some sparse lacing.
Aroma: Light roast, dark chocolate, coffee, dark fruit, prunes.
Taste: Chocolate, coffee, dark fruit, prunes, brown sugar, molasses, with a hint of char.
Mouthfeel: Medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Admittedly, held on to this much longer than expected, and it was slightly thinner than I’d hoped, but it was still a nice sipper.

Hoppin’ Frog D.O.R.I.S. The Destroyer

Brewery: Hoppin’ Frog Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 10.5%
Style: Stout – Russian Imperial
Other Notes: 70 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This extreme Double Oatmeal Russian Imperial Stout will overwhelm, satisfy, and destroy your taste buds like no other!! D.O.R.I.S. is even darker, hoppier, and stronger than our gold medal winning B.O.R.I.S. The Crusher Stout. Dry-hopped and first wort hopped with the finest American hops for a great Imperial Stout experience! Enjoy the darkness!!

My rating: 4-
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.95
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 22 fl. oz. bomber with no clear bottled on or best before date. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark brown to black in colour with pretty much no head and only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Roasty, chocolate, coffee, with some dark berries, and charred notes.
Taste: As you’d expect from the aroma, roasty, chocolate, coffee, molasses, charred oak, and light notes of dark fruit.
Mouthfeel: Smooth, full bodied, with soft carbonation.
Overall: A smooth sipper, but the charred notes were a little too distracting for me.