Category: Reviews

Bulmers Cider (Heineken UK) Foundry Golden Cider Cider at 4.5% ABV

Pours a clear medium amber with a fluffy one finger white head diminishing gradually to a thin skim. Nose is sweet apples, some grape and skins, slightly spicy. Taste follows suit, mildly sweet and finishing tart. Mouth feel is medium-bodied, with moderate sustained carbonation and decently dry.

Surprisingly decent for an industrial cider. Certainly better than the Magners that Bulmers also makes – certainly the Foundry is not as sweet, and is missing the slightly metallic note I didn’t like in the Magners. That being said, it is what it is, and suffers badly by comparison to artisanal ciders like the Domaine de la Minotière Cidre Fermier Bio Brut Normandy Cider I reviewed a few months ago.

6.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

The Alchemist Heady Topper American Double / Imperial IPA at 8.0% ABV

Pours… Well, doesn’t. I decided to follow the recommendation and drink from the can. (Hard to get used to!) Nose is hoppy and fruity, citrus, pine, and dank. Taste follows suit, with tropical fruit and citrus, pine resin, fruity and floral against light sweet malt. Medium light body with very little alcohol presence and a sticky finish.

Well, damn. Ain’t that some shit! Next one I get my hands on is gonna have to go in a glass so I can evaluate appearance as well, but other than the inability to evaluate appearance, this is perfect DIPA. And since DIPA’s are pretty much my favourite style, I guess I officially have a new favourite beer ever.

10/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Allagash Brewing Company Allagash White Witbier at 5.1% ABV

Pours a cloudy but bright straw yellow with a short white head settling down rapidly to a thin cap and minimal lacing. Nose is muted wheat, coriander, yeast, banana, and orange peel. Taste is predominantly light sweet wheat on the front end, finishing with a mild spice. Medium to full body and sustained slightly prickly carbonation, with a clean, off-dry, slightly tart finish.

Decent witbier, definitely a good one for a summer evening on the patio. I haven’t had the greatest of success with witbiers, making this one the best so far out of an admittedly mediocre lot.

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Founders Brewing Company Founders Double Trouble Imperial/Double IPA at 9.4% ABV

Pours a slightly hazy golden amber with a very short head giving way immediately to a thin skim and no lacing. Nose is pine resin, mango, pineapple, citrus, light malt. Taste is pine resin and orange zest on light biscuity malt, giving way quickly to medium bitter. Medium bodied with low sustained carbonation and a pleasant warming.

Very nice DIPA, with a pretty sneaky ABV apparent only as a gradual warming on the finish. Pleasant fruity and piney hops with just enough malt to balance it out while maintaining a nicely bitter finish. I like this a lot, even accounting for the fact that DIPA’s tend to be among my favourites.

9/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Brasserie Cantillon Cantillon Gueuze Gueuze at 5.0% ABV

Pours a slightly cloudy golden amber with a short head diminishing immediately to a thin skim, no lacing. Nose is slight barnyard funk, woody notes, apple and citrus. Taste is tart and sour, funk, and citrus. Medium body and low but sustained carbonation, puckering and dry finish.

Bloody marvellous. Tangy and tart, with a pleasant funk. The standard by which gueuze is measured, and with good reason. I don’t see how this can be given anything but full marks.

My 96th from the 2010 Edition of 1001 Beers, 90th by the 2013 Edition, and 99th overall.

10/10 #1001beers #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Brouwerij St. Bernardus NV St. Bernardus Tripel Tripel at 8.0% ABV

Pours a cloudy, slightly greenish pale amber with one finger of white head diminishing gradually to a thin skim and moderate lacing. Nose is light malt, yeasty, orange peel, slight alcohol. Taste is sweet and yeasty, clove and pepper, finishing bitter. Mouth feel is medium bodied but sticky, with mild warming.

My 91st from the 2010 Edition of 1001 Beers, 86th by the 2013 Edition, and 94th overall.

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

John Martin’s (John Martin SA) John Martin’s IPA English IPA at 6.9% ABV

Pours clear amber with a fluffy two finger white head, excellent retention and heavy lacing. Nose is caramel and bread malt, grassy hops and a little pine. Tastes medium sweet with a mild bitter finish. Body is medium to light, with sustained carbonation and a somewhat thin texture.

Not an earth-shattering IPA, but decent enough. I drank it a bit too cold, so maybe that affected the somewhat muted flavours. The lively carbonation was all right, though, and the appearance was excellent – but that might also be the beautiful new TeKu glass I bought with the beer!

7.0/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat NV Duvel Tripel Hop 2014 (Mosaic) Belgian IPA at 9.5% ABV

Pours a slightly hazy straw yellow with two fingers of fluffy white head, great retention and heavy lacing. Nose is peppery Mosaic hops, strong citrus, and pale malt. Taste is sharp and sweet fruit, lime and blueberry, with peppery spice and pine resin. Mouth feel is medium to light bodied, with sustained prickly carbonation.

7.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat NV Duvel Gefilterd Belgian Ale at 7% ABV

Pours a clear pale yellow with a short white head diminishing rapidly to a thin skim, no lacing. Nose is apples and pears, yeast, bready malt. Taste is light and sweet, with a mild bitter finish. Mouth feel is light, tending to the watery, with sustained prickly carbonation.

6.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Stone Brewing Co. Stochasticity Project Quadrotriticale Quadrupel at 9.3% ABV

Pours a deep amber ruby with a short-lived tan head dimimishing rapidly to nothing, no head. Nose is muted, candy sugar and caramel with faint dark fruit and raisin. Taste is similar, with sweetness dominating over dark fruits, grassy hops, and a rye-like spice. Body is relatively light for the style, with sustained moderate carbonation and a sticky finish with only a very little warming.

Well, this may be tantamount to heresy, but this is another Stone beer that I’m not all that thrilled with – at least, not as a representative of the style it claims to be. At the very least, this is an atypical quad, and one might argue it’s not a quad at all (perhaps better described as a barley wine or similar). The sugars are light and overwhelm the dark fruit aspect, and the body is similarly light for the style. I think of quads as the beer equivalent of a dark fruitcake, and this misses that mark by a wide margin. That being said, it’s not unpleasant, and has its own interesting character courtesy of the rye-like spice of the triticale grain.

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com