de Garde The Kriek

A weak attempt at making a wild ale taste like an Oude Kriek.

Beeradvocate: "A Spontaneous Wild Ale Aged in Oak Barrels for Two Years with Montgomery & Morello Cherries."

Label notes: A sponteneous wild ale with tart cherries aged in Oak barrels for two years.

de Garde

Tasting notes
February 3, 2024: I picked up a bottle based on the reviews on BeerAdvocate and its price - $9+ for a 375 ml bottle. I was buying three other sour beers and felt expansive. The beer is not bad but was a disappointment. It lacked punch and excitement. It had plenty of carbination. It was a cloudy pink color. The flavor was a titch bland for a wild ale and a little sweet. OK, but not what I want. 

Rating = 2 glasses. 

New Belgium Trippel, Voodoo Ranger IPA, and Mountain Time

New Belgium sponsored the Mountains to Coast Bike Tour I took last week. Free beer when the camping sites allowed!! Here are notes on three beers I sampled. 

Trippel
Brewer's notes: Our Trippel has always been a big, beautiful Belgian-style ale, but in 2015, we tweaked the recipe to include a new yeast variety and even more complex malt profile. This golden beer opens with a bold blast of spicy Noble hops, courtesy of Saaz and Hallertau Mittlefruh, and gives way to the fruity aromas offered by our traditional Belgian yeast. Brewed with Pilsner and Munich malts, Trippel is classically smooth and complex, and sings with a high-note of sweet citrus before a pleasantly dry finish delivers a warm, strong boozy bite. Give Trippel a sip to get you smiling.

Tasting notes: I liked it the best of all the beers I sampled. Nice clove flavor without being overbearing. 

Rating = 3.5 glasses. MIght merit 4.

Voodoo Ranger IPA
Brewer's notes: Bursting with tropical aromas and juicy fruit flavors from Mosaic and Amarillo hops, this golden IPA is perfectly bitter with a refreshing, sublime finish.

Tasting notes: Eh. Ok but lacked the hop bite I seek.

Rating = 1.5 glasses

Mountain Time
Brewer's notes: Crisp and clean as snowmelt in spring, Mountain Time Premium Lager is brewed with only the finest ingredients by the employee-owners at New Belgium Brewing. This refreshing lager will take you to another time & place. Live life on Mountain Time.

Tasting notes: The surprise of the tastings. It is a decent lager and went well with fried fish and shrimp. Not good enough to savor - I did not finish a second can when the time to leave arrived.

Rating = 2 glasses

Kerkom Reuss

Brewer's Notes: Reuss is produced for the Bink festival. Marc Limet blends the lambic with a less bitter version of Bink Blond (38 IBUs versus 52 IBUs.) Reuss was the name of the first beer brewed at Kerkom in 1878.

BeerAdvocate

Tasting Notes

August 2023: First, a 750 ml bottle cost $5.99 @ Corks and Kegs. I didn't expect much. I didn't get much. The taste matches the brewer's notes - a blend of lambic and blond ales. The taste is an aimless mixture of sour, tart, lemon, sweet, and possibly brett. I am tempted to buy more at the price but think I will stick with two bottles of Stone IPA.

Rating: 2 glasses

New Belgium Transatlantique Kriek

Transatlantique Kriek is a dark cherry-red kriek. More sour than tart. Eh?

Rating = 2 glasses

Samuel Smith's Organic Chocolate Stout

Brewer's Notes:
Brewed with well water (the original well, sunk in 1758, is still in use with the hard water is drawn from 85 feet underground), the gently roasted organic chocolate malt and organic cocoa impart a delicious, smooth and creamy character, with inviting deep flavours and a delightful finish – this is the perfect marriage of satisfying stout and luxurious chocolate

My review:
Bittersweet chocolate dominates. Too sweet and too much chocolate IMO. Sort of a bittersweet chocolate milkshake.

Rating = 2 glasses

Druid Pen Golden Swan Coolship

 

Golden Swan is a wild ale aged in a coolship. Eh. I tasted apple juice. 

Rating = 2 glasses.

Green Flash IPA?

I ordered a glass of Green Flash "IPA" tonight @ Kuba Kuba Dos. When I looked for it on BeerAdvocate, I discovered that Green Flash does not sell "IPA". It sells West Coast IPA, Soul Style IPA, Jibe Session IPA, and many other versions of IPA. The confusion gives me another reason to be averse to restaurants that don't publish a beer menu. I think that it was Soul Style IPA. It was a far cry from what I remember as the Imperial IPA.

The beer resembled an ordinary English IPA. Some hops, some malt, but nothing to compel me to go, "Wow".

Rating = 2 glasses.

Back Bay Nothing Better to Do

Nothing Better to Do is a double dry hopped American Pale Ale. It is all about the hops and reminds me more of a session IPA. I think it needs for malt and body.

Rating = 2 glasses.

Ardent Pilsner

Ardent Pilsner is a fine German pilsner. Goes well with food.

Rating = 2 glasses. May rate 3.

Allagash Saison

Eh? Ok but nothing stands out.

BeerAdvocate: Score = Very Good, 1,006th best Belgian Saison, 16,707th best beer.

Rating = 2 glasses.

An old friend and a new one

Trader Joe's Stockyard Oatmeal Stout is an old friend. Still a nice oatmeal stout and still a great value. I am upgrading the rating from 3 glasses

Rating = 4 glasses 

Oskar Blues Mama's Little Yella Pils is a pleasant pilsner. 

Rating = 2 glasses but may deserve 3.

Birds Fly South Parachutes

Parachutes is a saison aged in wine wine barrels and fermented with Pinot Noir juice, skins, and stems. Imagine mixing beer and wine. If you want a beer + wine cocktail then this is the beer for you. If not, ... . It is interesting but not my cup of tea.

Rating = 2 glasses

Devil's Backbone O-fest

Festbier v. Märzen

A decent Oktoberfest. A titch tinny. Had one on draft at Post Bellum. Liked it enough to have another

Rating = 2 glasses.