2013

All posts tagged 2013

Advent Calendar 2013 Extra: The thirtieth bottle

Posted by tiskatrowa on December 31, 2013

Posted in: 2013, Advent Calendar 2013, Ale. Tagged: 2013, advent, advent calendar, ale, beer, grimbengen, thirtieth bottle, tiskatrowa, winter. 28 Comments

Here we have Grimbergen Winter from Alken Maes brewery standing at 6.5%.

Well here we have the second to last beer of this years advent calendar and the last live review for this year. As tomorrow I’ll be in london for new years and I’ll be taking the last one with me.

The aroma has a sweetness to it, having trouble placing exactly what, also a little berry like. The taste isnt as complex as I expect from a winter special. It has notes of a caramel, also a slight bitterness and the sweetness of the aroma is really missing in the taste. The texture is quite light for a dark beer, not a lot of carbonation and is not clingy. The aftertaste is very minimal and if anything ever so slighty watery. Really thought that there would be more to this, not a good beer at all really. Its simple but not tasty or balanced.

Advent calendar 2013 extra: The twenty eighth and ninth bottle

Posted by tiskatrowa on December 30, 2013

Posted in: 2013, Advent Calendar 2013, Ale. Tagged: 2013, advent, advent calendar, ale, beer, chocolat, finesse, floris, floris chocolat, gourmet, savour, tiskatrowa, twenty eighth bottle, twenty ninth bottle. Leave a comment

Okay yesterdays pub crawl around durham was epic, think I managed twelve pubs and I’m never playing Fuzzy duck again.

Anyways here we have Floris Chocolat from Huyghe brewery standing at 4.2%.I have had a floris last year, think it was passion fruit, which was basically fruit juice. So when I saw that they did a chocolate flavour I had to find out how bad it was.

At first I was like yeah this smells of chocolate. And nothing else. Then you try it…. the very first second it is in your mouth you brain goes ooooohh chocola-thesmegisthis! It immediately get replaced by this chemically chocolate taste that then leaves you with a watery finish. Really weird. They have somehow made a drink that is like fake old ass chocolate soda.

Purely get this to stitch someone up.

Next we have Finesse from Savour brewery standing at 5%.

The bottle says spices, lemongrass and bubbles. Its has some carbonation I give it that but nothing like champagne bubbles like it claims. Reading more it actually says yeast spices, I dont even know what that means and neither does google. There is a faint faint edge of spices at the back of the throat. Not going to beat around the bush here but the lemongrass is non existant. But does have a nice balance of bitterness and yeastyness. A pleasant aftertaste leaving you wanting more, but still quite clean. For me its just an okay beer. Even if the whole ‘gourmet beer’ tagline grinds me.

Advent Calendar 2013 Extra: The twenty seventh bottle

Posted by tiskatrowa on December 27, 2013

Posted in: 2013, Advent Calendar 2013, Ale. Tagged: 2013, advent, advent calendar, ale, beer, extra, feines, schwarzes, tiskatrowa, twenty seventh bottle leikeim. Leave a comment

Here we have Leikeim feines schwarzes from Brauhaus leikeim brewery standing at 4.9%

Im having trouble with this one. Both because of my mood and it tastes of very little. And that little isnt done well either. Tastes like a typical brown ale with a slightly slightly thicker texture. The aroma is nice enough though mainly of malt and slightly bready. Taste is malty brown ale. But does have a nice dry finish leaving you ready for the next sip.

Just a ordinary drink with a nice bottle top.

Advent Calendar 2013 Extra: The twenty sixth bottle

Posted by tiskatrowa on December 27, 2013

Posted in: 2013, Advent Calendar 2013, Ale. Tagged: 2013, advent, advent calendar, ale, beer, extra, mahrs, tiskatrowa, twenty sixth bottle. Leave a comment

Now begins te extra few days of beers. Here we have Ungespundet Hefetiib from Mahrs Brau brewery standing at 5.2%. Today I learnt that Kellerbier means Keller style beer. Fact.

Now this beer has a bit of a sting to it, like a nettle, quite is somehow pleasant. Would also say that it is also herbal and florally, with a mellow sweet fruit note. The aroma is pretty much the same. The texture is more like a pale ale rather than a lager, quite carbonated and leaves enough hanging around to think about. Did have a slight warmth at the back of the throat, much a do to the sting likeness I mentioned earlier.

Struggling to put much here as it was just okay for me. And I was being distracted by a quiz, which I was terrible beyond terrible at, but on the plus side that means I havent wasted my year watching telly and reading tabloids

Advent Calendar 2013: The Twenty fifth bottle

Posted by tiskatrowa on December 26, 2013

Posted in: 2013, Advent Calendar 2013, Ale. Tagged: 2013, advent, advent calendar, ale, beer, castelain, ch'ti, ch'ti de noel doree, tiskatrowa, twenty fifth bottle. Leave a comment

My word this disappeared fast. On this merry on days we have Ch’ti de noel dorre from Castelain brewery standing at 7.5%

This was real nice, such an amazing orangey colour and a decent balance overall. The aroma is fruity and spicy. The taste is equally as fruity and spicey, though subtle enough to let the maltiness creep in, spice like cloves by the way. The texture is quite carbonated, quite lagerish, but enjoyable. It also doesnt cling at all and leaves the mouth clean and sometimes wanting more. If there was an aftertaste it did not leave an impression.

It was just a fun and simple drink to have.

Advent Calendar 2013: The twenty fourth bottle

Posted by tiskatrowa on December 25, 2013

Posted in: 2013, Advent Calendar 2013, Ale. Tagged: 2013, advent, advent calendar, ale, beer, goose island, live yeast, pepe nero, saison, tiskatrowa. Leave a comment

Tonight my sweethearts we have Pepe nero from Goose island brewery standing at 6.4%.

Now this my dears is a bottle developing beer with live yeast. Too my suprise you can keep it for up to five years and according to my bottle this beer is just over 11 months old. Plus this is apparently a saison style and not a porter. Upon opening the aroma is cocoa, porter, burnt no maybe roasted something, malt maybe. The taste has a pepper to it, really like this part of it, you dont get that often and it actually not warming like a beer with a spice. Plus notes of a light smokiness, faint dark dark chocolate/cocoa, sugar rather than toffee that I first thought. The texture is slightly sticky/clingy, not oily with a light carbonation, not that smooth but drinkable. The aftertaste has a slight pepper at the back with a cocoa like bitterness on the tongue which I find pleasant.

For reasons I cant quite place yet, I really enjoyed this beer. I enjoyed thinking about it the notes, the smells, just what this would be like if I kept a bottle for near five years. A very good drink.

Advent Calendar 2013: The twenty third bottle

Posted by tiskatrowa on December 23, 2013

Posted in: 2013, Advent Calendar 2013, Ale. Tagged: 2013, advent, advent calendar, ale, de dolle, oerbier, tiskatrowa, twenty third bottle. 1 Comment

Here we have… Oerbier! Cant help but think of what went through my mind for picking this bottle, I cant get over the design and can barely read a single word, glorious. Oerbier is bought to us from De dolle brewery standing at 9%.

The aroma is red berries, barley wine and some alcohol. The taste is quite tarte with a bitterness, barley wine note and berries. Someone also mentioned a slight dried fig note, can totally agree as well. The texture has quite a high carbonation, quite clean and does not linger. There is a slight bitterness in the aftertaste but it quickly dissipates. Overall this is a nice beer, does give you stuff to think about while tasting it, but I’m not head over heels with it. Apart from that logo, it is glorious and yes the bottle does have a bowtie. What a badass.

Advent Calendar 2013: The twenty second bottle

Posted by tiskatrowa on December 22, 2013

Posted in: 2013, Advent Calendar 2013, Ale. Tagged: 2013, advent, advent calendar, ale, beer, bread, maredsous, tiskatrowa, twenty second bottle. Leave a comment

Tonight ladies and gentlemen we have Maredsous triple from Duvel moortgat brewery standing at 10%.

The aroma is yeasty… very yeasty with sour notes, with yeast and old dodgy grass. A fermentaton like quality is also in both the aroma and taste. The taste is yeasty, hoppy, stong alcohol and mainly raw bread dough. Not a fan of that. The texture is quite light for the strength it comes with, also quite soft with low carbonation. The aftertaste right at the back of the throat reminds me of the same aftertaste you get with a cheap sambuca or tequila with a slight bitterness.

Normally high alcohol strength is a good thing for me, though this is one of the few beers where it really doesn’t work for me, if anything the smack of the strength is intrusive and the smack itself tastes unpleasant.

Advent Calendar 2013: The twenty first bottle

Posted by tiskatrowa on December 21, 2013

Posted in: 2013, Advent Calendar 2013, Ale. Tagged: 2013, advent, advent calendar, ale, beer, blondey, brugse zot, tiskatrowa, twenty first bottle. Leave a comment

Here we have Brugse Zot from De halve maan brewery standing at 6%.

Its a tasty blonde beer. And thats it really. Its just okay with nothing special going for it. The aroma is yeasty, blondey and hoppy as you would expect. The taste is hoppy, slightly sharp, blondey with a little bit of sweetness too. The texture is quite thin but not watery, quite clean and fresh. The finish is pleasant enough, dry and doesnt hang around.

Shortest review is have ever done me thinks.

Advent Calendar 2013: The twentieth bottle

Posted by tiskatrowa on December 21, 2013

Posted in: 2013, Advent Calendar 2013, Ale. Tagged: 2013, advent, advent calendar, ale, beer, geants, goliath, gouyasse, tiskatrowa, twentieth bottle. Leave a comment

DONT LOOK INTO HIS EYES!

Anyways, tonight we have Gouyasse from Geants brewery standing at 6%.

The aroma is what you would expect from a blonde beer, plus a little sense of nostalgia, strange I know. I also want to say yeasty with a slight fruit like peach aroma. The taste has an undercurrent of fruit much like peaches as mentioned in the aroma. Suprisingly the strength of the alcohol comes through just enough. The texture is carbonation but not too much, not the smoothest I have come across, not clingy and leaves the mouth quite clean. I cant say it leaves an aftertaste but there is a trace underlining left, that makes you want to take another drink. Think one of the reasons I like this is it’s slight warming quality, I seem to like that in beers.

Something has been off with this one. Its tastes too much like something I have had before. After some research, now take this with a pinch of salt, but this Gouyasse appears to have once been called/branded as Goliath, which I had during last years advent calendar. Which was a suprise hit for me as it was, and is, one of the few blonde beers I really like, which I had trouble finding again. Now I know why. So I have technically had this brewery before.

Found the link, day eleven I had the Goliath Triple, while the above is a Goliath Tradional. https://geekpubtalk.com/2012/12/12/advent-calendar-2012-the-eleventh-bottle/

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