8.5/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 9
750mL bottled Nov 19, 2021, drunk 6/7/22. Clear, tan-maple with strong ruddy hues throughout. Dark beige head atop shows moderate retention. Beautiful mix of malt, juniper and wild yeast/bacteria in the nose. Light red fruits, earth, mineral, lactic acid and plentiful, but not dominant juniper and spruce. Malts add gentle honey and graham cracker in balancing support. No alcohol, flaw, adjunct excess or punchy acidity. Soft and malty, well-attenuated with red fruits, lactic acidity and moderate juniper and spruce. Ginger is just a light afterthought and there's no excessive acidity or juniper. Honey, toast, various bread notes from the malt and an earthiness in general. Lingering tart acidity but still even and in balance. Definitely an innovative and very successful take on a sahti. Preserves the integral elements without going overboard on them.
Tried
from Bottle
on 08 Jun 2022
at 13:03
8.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 9
750mL bottled Nov 2021, drunk 5/27/22. Clear, bright copper-tinted brass with a creamy, white head showing moderate retention. Nose is just an incredibly bright, juicy, deep, clean melange of tropical hop, bacterial and yeast notes. Guava, white wine, papaya and lightly sweet, succulent melon. Light brett and various soft, barnyardy funk with strong mineral and no alcohol or flaw. Reminds very much of Hill Farmstead; just fantastic minerality. Malts are rustic and add biscuit, cracker and other various grain. Intensely flavorful, especially for its size, with lush, juicy tropical fruits, rich honey and strong white wine. Long mineral with mild lactic acid and bright brett. Soft, malty texture with good attenuation and just amazingly juicy, lightly bitter hop notes. Absolutely stunning. So densely packed with flavor.
Tried
from Bottle
on 28 May 2022
at 00:01
Tried
on 27 May 2022
at 21:24
6.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 5
Canned 5/11/22, drunk 5/24/22. Dark mahogany. Undetermined clarity, probably clear. Tan head fades steadily to ring. Kinda boozey, stiff, black licorice and strong, dark roasted notes. Bit of beany, almost DMS-like character. Peanut skins. Stiff as hell, though a fine, malty texture. Very, very roasted with licorice, ashen coffee, strong alcohol. Yikes. Was a bit concerned when I saw the abv here. You can certainly have a strong stout, but this just doesnt have the malt comfort or fruity acidity to balance the stiff alcohol. It's just heavy on ash and alcohol and astringency. Dumped it about halfway through.
Tried
from Can
on 24 May 2022
at 22:34
8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Canned 4/20/22, drunk 5/24/22. Clear, dark amber-to-light-mahogany, light-beige head showing medium retention. Good and bready with honey, chocolate, white bread dough and very minimal, lightly herbal hops. Soft and malty, toasty but not too much so, with light berry, caramel and softer honey and hoppy herbs. Like the kolsch, it's pushing it a bit on the bitterness (though still much less so than the kolsch). But still balanced, clean and delicious.
Tried
from Can
on 24 May 2022
at 21:18
8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Canned 5/18/22, drunk 5/24/22. Clear, bright beeswax-number-two-pencil. Medium, white head shows good retention. Nose is beautiful. Super-expressive malts (honey, sourdough, biscuit) with big herbal and floral hop notes. Kolsch yeast adding mineral, light fruitiness and no alcohol or flaw. Soft and malty with great malt sweetness, though not too much so. Bitterness is a bit stiff, is my only complaint, even if the hops are traditional and delicious. Big malts, big hops, just a very robust kolsch, which is fine. The flavors are excellent. Honey, herbs, grass, sourdough, mineral, soft yellow fruits. Clean.
Tried
from Can
on 24 May 2022
at 20:38
8.4/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Canned 3/23/22, drunk 5/23/22. Chill hazed brass. Small, white head, medium retention. Wow! Stunning brett nose with soft amarillo adding lime and lemon. Strong mineral, sparse, cracker malt, white and black pepper with various herbal notes and lots of lemongrass-elderflower. Soft, malty, dry, well-attenuated, with spicy and herbal phenols/esters. Tastes like herbs in this, with light pepper. Soft, malty, light honey and brett. Very nice stuff. Delicate and drinkable.
Tried
from Can
on 23 May 2022
at 21:38
8.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 9
Canned 5/11/22, drunk 5/23/22. Peachy-copper-maize. Off-white head is large, well-retained. Heavily hazy. Nose is just....wow. Sulfur, white wine, intense mineral, earth...guava...passion fruit. I don't know, it's very complex. I don't know that I've had a single-hop Riwaka but I'm very impressed. Malts are rustic with biscuit and cracker, hints of light honey. No flaw, alcohol, resin or weird yeast. Similar tropical, white wine, mineral-rich flavors. Absolutely stunning is right. Soft, chewy malts are well-attenuated and there's no flaw or weird yeast, nor any resin. Malts could be a touch deeper with a bit more soft and rich honey, but the hops are just jaw-dropping. So much funk, wine and mineral.
Tried
from Can
on 23 May 2022
at 20:03
8.1/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Canned 4/13/22, drunk 5/23/22. Dark mahogany with dark auburn hues on the edges. Light-tan head is small, shows moderate retention. Nose is super toasty, lightly caramel-rich, fruity british mild. Mineral and toast, earthy cellar. Similar flavor. Toasty, but soft and malty with great flavor and texture for its size. Hazelnuts and light chocolate with toasted brown bread. Mineral, hints of honey, lots of dainty chocolate. Clean, fruity, mineral heavy. Lovely.
Tried
from Can
on 23 May 2022
at 19:31
6.9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 5.5
Canned 5/4/22, drunk 5/23/22. Bright coppery-maize-peach. Small, white head showing moderate retention. Soft, muted pineapple and peach-melon. Chewy, oat and/or wheat malts. Pretty reserved, though it's clean and not punchy or boozey. In the mouth it's rustic, slightly resinous in the background with biscuit, dough and very attenuated malts giving lots of dryness. In concert with the pine character, it's a bit much. Just not enough soft or sweet juice and no succulent malt character. Very, very dry bordering astringent because of the strong pine/resin. Soft texture, but that's about the only comforting thing here. Like a West Coast IPA with a NE texture. Weird.
Tried
from Can
on 23 May 2022
at 18:50