Tag Archives: usa

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

Grassroots Brewing Arctic Saison

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Brewery: Hill Farmstead Brewery (Grassroots Brewing)
Country: USA
ABV: 6%
Style: Belgian Saison
Other Notes: Ale fermented in oak tanks with brettanomyces. Collaboration – Hill Farmstead Brewery x Anchorage Brewing Company

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This ale embodies the spirit of perpetual creative collaboration in conjunction with disciplined brewing endeavour. We trekked to Alaska and helped craft this rustic Saison, bringing with us the essence and imagination of our Vermont Farmstead family. Share. Consider. Enjoy…

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.14
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A corked and caged 750ml bottle, Batch #2, bottled in March 2014. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy golden orange colour with a one and a half finger off white head that had good retention and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Funky, brett, grass, hay, green apple, apricot, lemon and oak.
Taste: Light sour, funky, brett, grass, hay, herbal, green apple, lemon peel and oak with hints of apricot.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: I kept this last bottle of Batch #2 in my cellar longer than expected, but it seems it is just as good as when I last tried it in 2016. Good funk and brett balanced with some nice fruit coming through.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Allagash Brewing Company, Beer Reviews, Belgian Strong Pale Ale, USA

Allagash Confluence Ale

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Brewery: Allagash Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 7.4%
Style: Belgian Strong Pale Ale
Other Notes: 2014 vintage. Ale fermented with Brettanomyces and dry hopped. Malts – Allagash 2-row, Malted Barley Blend, Pilsner Malt and Caramel Malt. Hops – Glacier, Tettnang and East Kent Golding

Brewer Description: (from website) Allagash Confluence is a strong golden ale that benefits from mixed fermentation and dry hopping techniques. Brewed with a blend of imported and domestic Pilsner malt, as well as a small portion of caramel malt, Confluence boasts a complex malty profile. Both our house yeast strain and our proprietary Brettanomyces yeast strain are used in fermentation. This layered approach creates a unique blend of fruit and spice flavors along with an incredibly silky mouthfeel. After fermentation, Confluence undergoes a lengthy aging process in stainless steel that allows its complex flavors to fully develop. Just prior to bottling, it is dry hopped with Glacier hops, providing a pleasant, fruity aroma.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.93
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, bottled in April 2014, and poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A cloudy pale orange colour with a thin off white head that poured thick almost like syrup and left no lacing.
Aroma: Funky, brett, stone fruit, peach, apricot, lighter citrus, lemon, yuzu, grass and a touch floral.
Taste: Stone fruit forward, mango, apricot, peach, funky, brett, more mango juice, with a splash of lemon and floral notes.
Mouthfeel: Thick-ish, medium to full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: This was interesting… as I poured what looked a thick syrupy pour, I had the feeling that it might have gone bad. However, the aroma and flavours were great and had lots of stone fruit mixed with funkiness and brett. Mouthfeel wasn’t nearly as bad as what the pour appeared to me, but the carbonation was too light for me, and I felt that stronger carbonation could have helped balance and break down the thickness of the body.

4 - Good (buy), Barleywine - American, Beer Reviews, Bell’s Brewery Inc., USA

Bell’s Third Coast Old Ale

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Brewery: Bell’s Brewery Inc.
Country: USA
ABV: 10.2%
Style: American Barleywine

Brewer Description: (from bottle) An ale for those who appreciate complexity and vintage character. Fill a snifter and enjoy it now or commit some bottles to the cellar to test your patience.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.24
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 12 fl. oz. bottle, batch 13615, packaged on 30th October 2014, so almost 5 years. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: A careful pour leaving much of the sediment in the bottle, it was a deep copper amber colour with no head but some sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Malty, sweet, dried berries, dark fruit, blackcurrant, plum, prunes, fig, caramel, syrupy and a touch floral.
Taste: Moderately sweet, dark fruit, plum, prunes, raisins, fig, caramel, brown sugar, candied orange liqueur and a hint of mixed berries.
Mouthfeel: Full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Yes, definitely pleasantly surprised by this as it has aged well. I’m pretty sure I meant to drink this earlier, but I simply forgot about it. In any case I’m not a huge fan of Barleywines, but this was a very nice sipper with great complexity.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Cigar City Brewing, Stout - Russian Imperial, USA

Cigar City Marshal Zhukov’s Vanilla Hazelnut

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Brewery: Cigar City Brewing
Country: USA
ABV: 11.2%
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Stout with vanilla and hazelnuts added

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This Russian Imperial Stout is dedicated to Georgy Zhukov, arguably one of the finest generals of World War II. Huge in body with strong flavors of espresso, chocolate and molasses, this unique iteration of Zhukov’s adds roasted hazelnuts and vanilla to impart even more complexity and depth of flavor to this massive, jet-black stout. In the immortal words of Marshal Zhukov himself, “Есть вещи в России, которые не являются, как они кажутся.”

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

Intro: A 22 fl. oz. bomber with no bottled on or best before date. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark brown in colour with a thin brown head that dissipated quickly and left only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Roasty, chocolate, molasses, licorice, dark fruit, raisin, plum and a touch of vanilla.
Taste: Roasty, dark fruit, plum, prunes, raisin, chocolate, coffee, molasses, licorice and hints of vanilla.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: The base of roastiness, chocolate and dark fruit is good, but I’m not getting much of the adjuncts. The vanilla come through lightly with just hints of it here and there. While the hazelnut, I’m just not really getting at all. It’s a good sipping Russian Imperial Stout though.

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

Cascade Cranberry

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Brewery: Cascade Brewing
Country: USA
ABV: 6.6%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Northwest sour ale. Ale aged in oak barrels with cranberries and spices. 2016 project

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This Northwest sour ale is a blend of wheat ales aged for up to 14 months in oak barrels with cranberries, orange peel and cinnamon.

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

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle, 2016 project. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy copper orange colour with a big more than three finger off white head that had good retention and left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Funky, oak, vanilla, cranberries, orange, cinnamon, leather and spices.
Taste: Sour, tart, berries, orange, cinnamon, oak, herbal and spices.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Nice complexity, good funk, and one of the better Cascade beers I’ve tried.