Review Posts

Nikka Tsuru 17

Nikka, Japan's second largest distiller, was founded by Masataka Taketsuru, the man generally credited with starting Japan's whisky industry. Perhaps as a result of Taketsuru's early training in Scotland, Nikka's style tends to be slightly more "scotch-y" than their rivals Suntory. This is Nikka's Tsuru 17, a whisky which is not readily available outside ...

Pact Samambaia

I love subscriptions. There's something magical about things arriving just as you need them, without having to do anything. I love that magazines just appear on my Kindle. I love that bin bags appear through my letter box just as I'm noticing that I'm nearly out. Combine the magic of automatically replenishing supplies with ...

Piraat

Avast, me hearties! What better way to end this year's Twelve Beers Of Christmas, than with a pirate beer?! This comes from Brouwerij Van Steenberge, which is apparently "the only operational brewery left in the Meetjesland" – the northwest corner of the province of East Flanders. Piraat is the biggest beer of the Twelve, a ...

Prearis Quadrupel

Prearis are living the homebrewer's dream; after winning a national homebrew competition ("Brouwland Biercompetitie") with their Quadrupel back in 2011, they turned professional and have been selling their wares ever since. Prearis Quadrupel is the beer that started it all, a big beast at 10% ABV. It's a near-black beer, with a thin, fine ...

Alpaide

Hoegaarden is probably one of the better known beer-producing villages in Belgium, but it's not all mass market, pale, coriander-laced ale from InBev. The Nieuwhuys Brewpub may not be as big as it's corporate neighbour but as we all know, size doesn't matter when it comes to beer. Alpaide is their 10% ABV dark ...

St-Feuillien Grand Cru

As the 'Saint' in the name may suggest, Brasserie St-Feuillien is named for the abbey where its brewing tradition began, the Abbaye St-Feuillien du Roeulx. Saint Feuillien was apparently a 7th century Irish monk (although Feuillien doesn't sound a very Irish name to me) who travelled to Belgium to preach the Gospel and was ...

Broeder Jacob Double Port

In the world of whisky, we're quite used to port finishes – it's not for everyone, but I love the extra dimension that it can give to a dram, done well. This is the first time I think I've come across it in beer, however. With whisky, the port is added by allowing ...

Troubadour Magma

Troubadour are a relatively young brewery – founded in 2000 – but have already established a fairly broad (and highly tempting) range of beers, including a delicious-sounding Imperial Stout which is firmly on my radar! This is Troubadour Magma, an amber beer at the higher end of their range at 9.0% ABV. It's a ...

Wolf 8

I have to confess that I'm a little sad to see that Brouwerij Lupus changed it's name to Brouwerij Wolf; perhaps they just had too many people asking if they'd meant "lupulus" (from the binomial name of hops, Humulus lupulus) and got fed up with explaining that lupus was the Latin for wolf. I do ...

Belgoo Arboo

Belgoo beers appear to be produced by Brasserie La Binchoise, who are based in Binche, south of Brussels. I say "appear to be" because neither the brasserie's website or Belgoo's own make any mention of it that I can see. It doesn't really matter, but I always find it odd when companies are a ...