Tag Archives: Wild Ale

5 - Excellent (must buy), Beer Reviews, Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project, USA, Wild Ale

Crooked Stave Progenitor

Tuesday, 5 July 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project
Country: USA
ABV: 6.2%
Style: American Wild Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) 1. Dry hopped golden sour ale. 2. Ancestral form from which others are derived.

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

Intro: A 375ml bottle bottled in May 2015 poured into a Cantillon ballon glass.
Appearance: It poured a hazy golden colour with a big three finger white head and pretty good retention that leaves a nice ring of lacing.
Aroma: Sour, tart and very fruity with citrus grapefruit, lemon rind, orange followed by tropical mango, passion fruit and peach. There’s a hint of funk.
Taste: Like the aroma, its sour and tart. Orange and grapefruit dominate with a hint of lemon, mango and funk in the background.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate to high carbonation.
Overall: Thoroughly enjoyable fruity and juicy sourness makes it very easy to drink.

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brouwerij Hof Ten Dormaal, Euro Sour Ale

Hof Ten Dormaal Inferno

Wednesday, 29 June 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Brouwerij Hof Ten Dormaal
Country: Belgium
ABV: 10%
Style: Euro Sour Ale
Other Notes: Sugar was added

Brewer Description: (from bottle) On 6 January 2015, the owners of Belgian brewery Hof ten Dormaal in Tildonk, Belgium, saw their worst nightmare come true.

The brewery was completely destroyed by fire. The entire bottling line, hot room and most of the stock were burned to the ground.

Miraculously, a very small portion of our stock survived. This very special, limited edition beer is a blend of all that was salvageable from that disaster. We promise it will be far from the last from us…

And now, after months of hard work and dedication, we proudly present to you this very special limited edition beer.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 2.86
My ratebeer.com rating: 2.7

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of February 2018, poured into a Duvel tulip glass.
Appearance: It poured a slightly hazy reddish copper colour with a one finger off white head that had good retention and left some curtain like lacing.
Aroma: Simply, its sweet BBQ. There’s smoke and char mixed in with cherry and berries and maybe even a hint of peat.
Taste: Its sour and sweet with fruity cherry, raisins and red wine with a mix of smoke, char and peat. But I think the aromas is affecting my tasting, and I’m getting charred crispy bacon and bbq every now and then.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with high carbonation.
Overall: Its just so different to any other beer I’ve tried. I can understand that its largely either you like it or don’t like it beer with not much middle ground. The aromas make it quite savoury to my palate and not exactly what I’m looking for in beer. The taste was slightly better than the aroma, but the aromas is so strong that it does become quite a big factor. The 10% abv is however, well hidden. I think in the end, I finished the bottle, but its not something I’d purchase again.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Amager Bryghus x Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project, Beer Reviews, Denmark, Euro Sour Ale

Amager x Crooked Stave Chad, King of the Wild Yeasts

Thursday, 9 June 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Amager Bryghus x Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project
Country: Denmark
ABV: 5%
Style: Euro Sour Ale
Other Notes: Malts – Pilsner, Carapils and Flaked Oats. Hops – Simcoe, Mosaic, Citra and Amarillo. Yeast – Brett CMY.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) After long years of beer geek discussing hops to exhaustion, now yeast is finally getting a glimpse of the spotlight. This tiny little creature has for way too long been leading a Batman-like existence: outcast, living in the shadows and not getting enough credit for his work. However, the importance of fermentation is no news to Chad Michael Yakobsen from Colorado’s Crooked Stave brewery. He has been fondling with various fermenting agents for longer than most people have been drinking. So it was on a beautiful spring day that Mr. Yakobsen came to Amager to bombard us simpletons with his knowledge on all things yeasty, and especially, bretty. However, due to stubbornness from our end, we still insisted the brew to carry a mother#&@ of hops. The answer to what ingredient won the battle lies within this bottle. But in our opinion, we are all winners.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.02
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 500ml bottle, batch no. 1102, best before July 2016 and poured into a Cantillon ballon glass.
Appearance: It poured a hazy pale straw yellow colour with a one finger fluffy white head that dissipates to a thin frothy layer and leaves nice lacing.
Aroma: Strong barnyard funky, brett, sweat and hay with lots of fruit, mango, lemon, pear, pineapple, orange, passion fruit and tartness.
Taste: Like the aroma, lots of fruit with lemon, lime, orange pith and grapefruit. Some graininess and bread, hay, grass, floral and funky. Also a hint of bitterness.
Mouthfeel: Dry, light bodied with high carbonation.
Overall: I preferred the aroma over the taste but still a nice funky, bretty ale.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, South Korea, Wild Ale, Wild Waves Brewing Co.

Wild Waves Surleim Amarillo

Wednesday, 8 June 2016 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Wild Waves Brewing Co.
Country: South Korea
ABV: 5.3%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: 22 IBUs. aka Surleim 2. Contract brewed at Akitu Brewing (South Korea)

Brewer Description: (from menu at Wild Waves Brewing Co. bar) Dry hopped sour with Amarillo.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.8
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: On tap at Wild Waves Brewing Co. (Busan, South Korea) into a tall tulip glass.
Appearance: It arrived a clear-ish dark gold colour with a two finger white head that dissipated quickly but left nice lacing.
Aroma: Light subtle aromas of tart sour green apple and banana.
Taste: Sour green apple, apricot, lemon and a light funk.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Crisp and easy to drink. A nice South Korean sour beer.

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

Cascade Noyaux

Tuesday, 7 June 2016 kitch Leave a comment

– Note: Apologies for the dark photos.
– 8th June 2016 edit: Found some much better and clearer photos on my phone.

Brewery: Cascade Brewing
Country: USA
ABV: 9.29%
Style: American Wild Ale
Other Notes: 2014 project

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Noyaux is a blend of sour Blond ales aged in oak wine barrels for up to 24 months with fresh raspberries and apricot noyaux.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.44
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 750ml corked and caged bottle from 2014 project, poured into a To Øl teku glass.
Appearance: It poured a slightly hazy strawberry red colour with a half finger white head that dissipates fairly quickly but leaves nice lacing.
Aroma: Funk, oak, raspberries, lemon and a hint of apricot.
Taste: Sour, tart, oak, raspberry and strawberry.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium bodied with high carbonation.
Overall: Very nice funk, easy to drink and definitely does not feel like 9.29% abv. I did not know what apricot noyaux was but apparently it is from apricot kernels. I guess this explained the lack of apricot I was expecting in the taste.

words of another dreamy traveller