Sample from bottle at Stadin Panimobaari, Helsinki. Vintage 2014. Colour is cloudy orange with small white head. Aromas and flavors: Fruits, tropical fruits, some sweetness and sourness.

This beer has had a very long journey to finally be consumed by me. Mcberko gifted this 375mL c&c bottle to me a little while ago as a thank you for letting him crash at my house. I told him it wasn’t a big deal and I didn’t need beer in return but he was very giving.Thank you, Matt. I had previously drank this beer but wouldn’t splurge on another bottle to rate. Even Andrew from Seattle wanted me to rate this beer. Another overly kind RBian. That’s how it got into my hands but the journey was much longer.

Taking a step back, this beer was a blend of 4 different breweries from Belgium that were all sent to Tilquin. After some months it was placed on a ship and made a voyage to, my guess, the east coast of Canada. Afterward, it made it or all the way to Vancouver, BC where Matt purchased it. To pay his way onto the underground RB railroad, he smuggled - under the cover of night I assume and facing potential treason charges - this bottle across the border and brought it to the Emerald City. You would think the journey ends there but that is just the beginning.

I had all intentions of drinking it in Seattle but just couldn’t get to it. Even at the last tasting, the day before I moved out, this was sitting in the fridge. Yet, it could not be consumed. So, this beer started on a cross country moving trip. Funny enough i was joined by the DIPA rating machine himself, mcberko. He joined me on the trip until we reached SLC, Utah. Now when you travel with a real life ticker, or dink rater as they are known in Canadia, there is little time for anything but new beer. In Denver I saw notalush but we meet up at a brewery. I gave him Logsdon and a brett beer from Red Rock. Through the Midwest I had too many new beers I wanted to drink, particularly in Kansas and Missouri where I had to catch up on my old rating-grounds. Even saw csbosox but he isn’t active and was drinking wine as I was sample Free State beers in the Olathe Whole Foods. Apparently, there is a new WF in the KC area, which I didn’t know and accidentally went to the wrong place. Gave him a Blvd Saison brett crowler, apparently I gift brett beer only. Made it to Cincinnati and even saw Pruf and his family for about 90 min. But wanted to share beer he hasn’t had yet. He on the other hand shared 1 good beer and 3 shitty ones. Next stop is Morgantown, WV. As any RBIian will tell you, when you get a chance to tick WV beer you don’t take it for granted. And now I’m a finally at my new home in Maryland drinking this beer.

It seems i live in a bit of a craft beer desert. The liquor stores close at 9 pm and don’t have too much craft anyway and definitely don’t have singles. I’ve amassed a decent amount of beers throughout the trip but most are earmarked for something. So, here I am, sitting naked in my new big tub, eating fruit salad that was given to us by our new neighbors, and finally drinking this beer. What a journey it has been and how many wonderful people I got to see on it. (And I didn’t even get to mention all the wonderful people that aren’t RBians like Rach of mcberko fame, Joe in Denver, Christina and Jean in KC, in-laws in StL, Lora in Cincy, minus Bill, and my wonderful and patient wife Abbey who gave birth to a beautiful 2-month old darling named Lorenna).

37cl bottle. Hazy orange pour with a thin white head. Smells like vinegar, macerated grapes, prunes, barnyard funk. The taste follows the same notes, very sour and acidic. Medium bodied with low carbonation and a vinegar and unripe fruit sour aftertaste.

Bouteille (0.375l):Deep golden, hazy, small and stable white foamy layer;sourish - not too sour - fruity nose ( traces, presumably, of plums), mild dry cellary and vinegarish background; solid dry sour flavour, some very faint residual sweetness still detectable, almost medium bodied;still drier fruity and vinegarish finish. Pretty good...

Fra flaske på Mi2, Cardinal (Asko Rogaland ølmesse): uklar mørk korngul med kort skum. Sursyrlig aroma og smak (brett og citrus) med en knusktørr slutt. Slank og samtidig med en intens og tydelig personlighet. En høyst påkrevd overhaling av gane og tannstilling akkurat nå - midt i løpet denne flotte junikvelden. Takk til Tom og Cardinal!