Tag Archives: usa

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Founders Brewing Company, Scotch Ale / Wee Heavy, USA

Founders Dirty Bastard

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Brewery: Founders Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 8.5%
Style: Scottish Scotch Ale / Wee Heavy
Other Notes: 50 IBUs. Scotch Style Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) So good it’s almost wrong. Dark ruby in color and brewed with seven varieties of imported malts. Complex in finish, with hints of smoke and peat. Paired with a malty richness and a right hook of hop power to give it the bad attitude that a beer named Dirty Bastard has to live up to. Ain’t for the wee lads.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.51
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 12 fl. oz. bottle, bottled on 4th October 2018. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: A clear amber copper orange colour with a one finger tanned head that dissipated fairly quickly but left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Fruity, sweet artificial cherry, cotton candy, plum, prunes, light roast, chocolate and caramel.
Taste: Roasted malts, lightly sweet, caramel, burnt sugar, smoke, light peat with a light lasting bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: Wow, this was much better than expected and I enjoyed this even more than Backwoods Bastard, especially the aroma which impressed me.

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Founders Brewing Company, Stout - Imperial, USA

Founders KBS (Kentucky Breakfast Stout)

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Brewery: Founders Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 12.3%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Barrel Aged Series. 2018 release. Ale brewed with chocolate and coffee aged in oak bourbon barrels

Brewer Description: (from bottle) What we’ve got here is an Imperial Stout brewed with a massive amount of coffee and chocolates, then cave-aged in oak bourbon barrels for an entire year to make sure wonderful bourbon undertones come through in the finish. Makes your taste buds squeal with delight.

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.58
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.4

Intro: A 12 fl. oz. bottle, bottled on 13th March 2018. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark brown to black in colour with a half finger mocha brown head that dissipated fairly quickly, but left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Roasty, coffee, chocolate, bourbon, oak and a light caramel.
Taste: Roasted malts, lots of rich dark chocolate, coffee, bourbon, oak, vanilla, light bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, smooth, full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: Aroma wasn’t as rich as the taste, but the taste was outstanding with the strong rich and smooth chocolate flavours. The coffee, bourbon and oak balanced it out very nicely, and it was just a great sipper for a cool winter (or air conditioned) night.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Ballast Point Brewing Company, Beer Reviews, German Kölsch, USA

Ballast Point Tart Peach Kölsch

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Brewery: Ballast Point Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 5.2%
Style: German Kölsch

Brewer Description: (from can) German-style ale with natural flavors.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.36
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.3

Intro: A 12 fl. oz. can with a packaged on date of 7th August 2018. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A clear golden colour with a two finger soapy white head that dissipated fairly quickly but left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Tart, gummy peach ring candy, with a touch of lemon.
Taste: Much like the aroma, tart, sour peach gummy candy, lemon peel, lightly sweet, and a touch of wheat.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: I like sour peach gummy candies, and this tastes and smells very close to that, but for some reason in liquid form, it just didn’t translate for me.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Fort Point Beer Company, German Altbier, USA

Fort Point Manzanita

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Brewery: Fort Point Beer Company
Country: USA
ABV: 6.5%
Style: German Altbier
Other Notes: 16 IBUs. Malts – Beechwood Smoked, Bohemian Pilsner, Munich and Carafa. Hops – Saphir. Smoked Altbier brewed with charred manzanita

Brewer Description: (from website) Manzanita is an imaginative take on the classic German rauchbier, combining traditional ingredients with inspiration from the Northern California wilderness. An assertive, multi-layered smoke aroma—courtesy of beechwood-smoked malts and charred manzanita branches—gives way to a light-bodied structure and a surprisingly delicate balance of flavors: nutty, herbal, sweet and savory. A beer for a campfire on a crisp fall night.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.93
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 12 fl. oz. can, canned on 30th November 2018, ‘manz in cans’. Poured into a Mikkeller pint glass.
Appearance: A clear amber brown colour with a one finger light beige head that dissipated quickly and left only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Smoky, caramel malt and toffee.
Taste: Moderate sweet caramel malt, light toffee, smoky charred wood and a light lemon finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Aromas wasn’t bad, but a little weak, and taste while not complex, tasted nice with a good balance between sweetness and smoke.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Clown Shoes Beer, Stout - Imperial, USA

Clown Shoes Exorcism At Sunset

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Brewery: Clown Shoes Beer
Country: USA
ABV: 12.5%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: Imperial Stout Aged in Bourbon Barrels

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A priestly Party Crasher saw an evil demon strolling by Sunset Grill in Boston, disguised as a dirty cretin sporting Crocs. He caused quite a scene when he whipped out his bible and cast away the evil spirits, but it’s what he had to do. To commemorate the occasion, we aged Undead Party Crasher (our imperial stout) in bourbon barrels for 3 months.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.4
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 22 fl. oz. bomber, bottled on 2nd February 2017. Poured into a snifter glass.
Appearance: Dark dark brown to black in colour with a thin mocha brown head that dissipated quickly but left some nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: Roasted malts, milk chocolate, bourbon, oak and a touch of vanilla.
Taste: Roasted malts, chocolate, coffee, sweet bourbon, oak and a nice light bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Rich, smooth, full bodied with soft carbonation.
Overall: A very nice rich and balanced Imperial Stout with the right amount of bourbon notes and good light booze.