Tag Archives: usa

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, The Lost Abbey, USA, Wild Ale

Lost Abbey Ghosts In The Forest

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Brewery: The Lost Abbey
Country: USA
ABV: 6%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Oak-aged Wild Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) There’s an aura of mystery that occurs when we close the doors to our barrel room. No one can say for sure what happens each night but it’s obvious there are spirits [ghosts if you will] working their magic. We’re not sure how many inhabit our oak forest. At present there are five large foeders and more than 1200 oak barrels for them to hide in, around, and behind. To this day, no one has managed to see one during the day but our night time brewers hear whispers and the sensation of unnerving drafts of wind arriving out of thin air. It’s as if the ghosts want to be seen or at a minimum acknowledged. After 11 years, we felt it was time to give them their due.

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

Intro: A corked and caged 12.7 fl. oz. bottle, with no bottled on or best before date. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A lightly hazy golden yellow colour with a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly, but left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Lightly tart, sour, oak, funky, peach, lightly vinous, white grape and lemon.
Taste: Tart, sour, white grape skin, peach, stone fruit, lemon, oak and light funk.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate prickly carbonation.
Overall: Very nice with good aroma and flavours which just make it so easy to drink.

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

Wicked Weed Omnipresence (Canvas Series)

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Brewery: Wicked Weed Brewing
Country: USA
ABV: 9%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Barrel-aged American sour ale fermented with cabernet grapes

Brewer Description: (from bottle) When we got our hands on brand new Nadalie Foeders, we wanted to utilize their fresh oak character by taking advantage of the natural tannins in the French Oak. We thought, “What better way to pay homage to the craftsmanship of the French coopers than to incorporate the work of French vintners?” With this in mind, we rested one pound per gallon of whole Cabernet grapes in our Nadalie Foeders to produce a bold, acidic sour ale with a slightly dry crack that only freshly toasted French Oak can impart. The Cabernet grapes give the beer a balanced and Burgundian feel like no other.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.95
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 500ml bottle, batch # 1129, bottled on 26th August 2016. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A cloudy murky brown colour with a very slight red tint, and a one finger light tanned head that dissipated quickly and left only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Tart, berries, cherry, grape, oak, vanilla, funk and lemon.
Taste: Tart, sour, vinous, mixed berries, lemon, with a hint of red wine, light oak and vanilla.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Nice good flavours of fruit, wine and barrel.

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

Wicked Weed Persistence (Canvas Series)

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Brewery: Wicked Weed Brewing
Country: USA
ABV: 9%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Canvas Series. Barrel-aged American sour ale fermented with cherries

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Persistence is a sour red ale aged in our foeder. One pound per gallon of Montmorency Cherries contributes a leathery accent to this Flanders-inspired ale. Once this beer reaches it’s peak, we blend the batch to attain the perfect balance of our house sour culture and North American cherries.

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

Intro: A 500ml bottle of batch # 1122, bottled on 30th September 2016. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A murky brownish red colour with a one and a half finger off white head that dissipated fairly quickly and left only sparse to no lacing.
Aroma: Tart, cherries, mixed berries, light leather with a strange but interesting hit of cinnamon.
Taste: Very similar to the aroma, tart, sour, cherry, some mixed berries, oak, leather and cinnamon.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: This was quite interesting as I enjoyed the cherry flavours coming from it, and you don’t feel the 9% ABV at all, but the cinnamon that appears on the finish was just not really my thing. I don’t even know where the cinnamon like flavours come from…

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Funk Factory Geuzeria, Lambic - Fruit, USA

Funk Factory Meerts – Cherry

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Brewery: Funk Factory Geuzeria
Country: USA
ABV: 4.5%
Style: Belgian Lambic (Fruit)

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Cherry Meerts is our take on the low alcohol style traditionally derived from the second runnings of Lambic. Our modern interpretation begins with Pilsner malt, raw wheat, and Saaz hops which is brewed using a turbid mash, long boil, and low hopping rate, and finally fermented in foeders with our wild yeast. This version was then refermented on tart cherries.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.25
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml bottle with no bottled on or best before date. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A very nice clear reddish orange pink colour with a thin white head that disappeared almost immediately and left no lacing.
Aroma: Tart, candy sweetness, cherry and oak with a very light hint of lemon zest and funk.
Taste: Sour, tart, cherry, vinegar, light candy sweetness, light funk, a hint of oak and a sprinkle of salt on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Nice balanced flavours of sweet and sour cherries, and the vinegary bite was there but not overdone. Funk was on the low side but didn’t take away from how enjoyable it was.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, The Ale Apothecary, USA, Wild Ale

The Ale Apothecary La Tache – Fresh Hop

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Brewery: The Ale Apothecary
Country: USA
ABV: 7.09%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: Fresh Hop version. Mixed fermentation ale aged in wine barrels

Brewer Description: (from tag on bottle) the beer formerly known as La Tache. (* wild & open fermented in the woods of OR. * Mecca Grade Estate Malt + wheat + Goshie Farms hops. * barrel-aged over a year & dry-hopped in oak. * OR honey + sour wort + our yeast = 100% natural carbonation from bottle fermentation.)

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

Intro: A 750ml bottle, batch bottled on 20th November 2017. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden colour with a two finger white head that had pretty good retention and left some nice lacing.
Aroma: Tart, citrusy, lemon zest, orange rind, grass, funk, with hints of peach in the background.
Taste: Sour, tart, sour, yup I said it twice. Lemon juice and lemon with a hint of oak.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Refreshingly sour, and I could imagine it being way too sour for some, but I like it. This fresh hop version seems to have lost some of the tropical peach, apricot and grape flavours I was getting in the original La Tache. The result is pure citrusy lemon which I found to be very refreshing, especially on hot days.