BenL8
Italy 🇮🇹 MemberOptions
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BenL8 has a new beer style achievement
Level 3 for Stout ticks with a total of 15 ticks of this master style.
Faraway Friends (Cellar Series) from Põhjala was the one that did it!
1 month ago
8.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Bottle. Nice pour with a frothy tan head. Aroma is chocolate, cherries, rye whisky, prune and an abundance of dark malts. Full bodied with quite a thick mouthfeel. Flavour is big and boozy, malty with a medium sweetness. I don't really get the coconut sugar, but the vanilla is here more than in the aroma, along with lots of fruity notes, for me especially cherry, prune, raisin. The whisky lingers, and it gives a nice warmth. I'm rather partial towards pöhjala's imperial stouts, and anything they do that involves rye is especially up my alley, so this hits all the spots for me.
Tried
from Bottle
on 08 Jun 2026
at 00:19
8.3/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8.5
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Bottle shared with my brother. An interesting impy - you get the dark malt character, but the brandy barrels quickly are rather dominant. Interesting stuff, definitely very tasty.
Tried
on 06 Mar 2026
at 00:20
8.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8.5
Texture 8
Overall 8
Interesting beer unlike almost anything I've had. Loads of vanilla, maple syrup and cinnamon. Yet almost no dark malts - really an ale with lots of spices and additions. Very tasty though.
Tried
from Bottle
on 05 Mar 2026
at 23:22
8.3/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8.5
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Bottle shared with my brother. Beautiful wheat wine, loads of bourbon character, some spicy grain notes and dark roasted malts. Great.
Tried
from Bottle
on 05 Mar 2026
at 22:29
8.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8.5
Texture 8
Overall 8
Shared this with my wife over the weekend. Lovely heavy pohjala sipper, this is not that far away from an imperial stout considering it's a gruit, though there are some herbal and especially pohjala's signature forest flavours, although lots here is dark malts and barrel notes. Excellent beer, not quite as exceptional as some of the other cellar series beers.
Tried
from Bottle
on 27 Feb 2026
at 04:14
8.3/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8.5
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Final beer I try in the series. Pours a hazy light yellow with almost no head. Aroma is tropical and very juicy, huge amounts of hops with underlying sweetness. Full bodied. Flavour is medium sweetness, some caramel malt and barley, creamy but not overtly so. Intense happiness, very juicy with peach and lots of tropical fruit, especially mango, passion fruit and lots of guava, some pineapple, papaya. Towards the end a bit of hop burn, but rather contained. Very drinkable for the abv, excellent.
Tried
from Can
on 08 Jan 2026
at 17:52
8.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8.5
Texture 8
Overall 8
Had this as one of the first beers from the series. Very juicy for the style, easy drinking, good stuff.
Tried
from Can
on 08 Jan 2026
at 17:33
BenL8 reached Level 31 with 10146 XP
Find out more about BenL8's level here
Forms #10 - Surface from Track Brewing Co. was the one that did it!
6 months ago
7.9/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7.5
Texture 8
Overall 8
Can shared with my brother and wife. Compared to some of the other DIPAs in this series this one stands out quite a bit with its single hopping, and Nelson Sauvin at that. Medium body. Flavour is sweet, spicy and hoppy. Lots of typical NZ hops and specifically Nelson here, especially grape, but also pronounced grass and some pine. In the finish you start getting more burn, quite a bit of hop burn in the end. Peculiar and interesting double IPA, not maybe my favourite hop profile but good, definitely well crafted.
Tried
from Can
on 07 Jan 2026
at 19:08