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    Autumn Maple

    September 8, 2010
    / Beer Review /
    4 Comments

    Name – Autumn Maple
    Country – United States
    Type – Belgian Dark Strong Ale

    Appearance – Poured a cloudy brownish red color with a nice sized tan head.

    Smell – Maple syrup and molasses are apparent.  You can get a yam like quality mixed in there with some spices.

    Taste – Lovely sweetness from the maple, molasses and yams.  There is some spices in there again and a slight bit of booziness as well.

    I actually picked up a bottle of this last December in PA but didn’t get to drink it.  It waited for me at my aunt’s house until this past June when I had it.  It was so lovely.  The spices were toned down a lot with the age then it has new and the molasses comes out a lot more with the age.  As a brand new beer here it is still quite good.  I recommend have one now.  Have one for Thanksgiving and save another for the summer.  You will love what it turns into with that 9 months or so on it.

    Overall Grade – A

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    BillyBrew American Pale Ale

    September 7, 2010
    / Beer Review /
    2 Comments

    Name – BillyBrew American Pale Ale
    Country – United States
    Type – American Pale Ale

    Appearance – Pours a pretty cloudy orangish/copper color with a nice sized white head that leaves a good bit of lacing on the glass.

    Smell – Quite a nice resiny hop smell here.  A little citrus and some earthy tones as well.

    Taste – More of the resiny and citrusy hops that are quickly followed by a big malt backing.  It gets a bit of a boozy bite at the end as it warms up some.

    What we have here is a homebrew by Billy at BillyBrew that he sent me in a trade we recently did.  He asked me for feedback on the brew so I thought what better forum than the site to do so.  The beer was pretty clear when I started pouring it but got cloudy near the end of the bottle.  Probably was a little bit of sediment in there.  No biggie.  I really liked the nose on this.  Great resiny hop character.  In the taste I would have liked to have seen more hop presence.  It seems to go to the malt flavor too quickly.  But that’s just my taste.  That didn’t make it a bad beer at all.  Many would call it very well balanced and I would have to agree with that.  Just me being a bit of a hop head I would have liked a tiny bit more in there.  But still a nice beer.  Thanks Billy!

    Overall Grade – B

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    Cantillon Kriek Lambic

    September 6, 2010
    / Beer Review /
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    Name – Cantillon Kriek Lambic
    Country – Belgium
    Type – Lambic

    Appearance – Poured a ruby red like color with a pink head.  It looks a lot like birch beer or cherry soda.

    Smell – I could smell this the moment I pull the cork out.  Very sour and acidic cherries with some hints of vinegar.

    Taste – Super tart cherry flavor that is also very acidic.  There is some vinegar notes in there but they aren’t overboard.  It blends really nicely with the other sour flavors.

    I kept seeing this bottle on the shelves and I kept saying to myself, “I’ll buy it sometime soon.”  Finally I did.  This 2008 bottle was everything I thought it would be.  Sour, tart, acidic, cherry lambic.  If you love lambics or sours in general and you haven’t had this, do yourself a favor and pick it up if you can.  You won’t be disappointed.

    Overall Grade – A

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