Beer review: Robinsons Old Tom (8.5% England: Robinsons)

The Robinsons Old Tom is an ale, more specifically an Old Ale. It's brewed by a British family-run regional brewery Robinsons. Robinsons was founded in 1838 and produces about 4,2 million litres annually. The Robinsons Old Tom has been brewed for over a 100 years and has received several awards, most notably it's been voted the World's Best Ale at the World Beer Awards in 2009.

Taste: The Robinsons Old Tom is a full-bodied ale with a sophisticated and mature flavor. It starts with some dried fruits, then moves on to aromas of bittersweet chocolate, toasty malt and smokiness. The beer finishes with a slight bitterness and some barley wine taste with some alcohol warmth in it.

Overall, The Robinsons Old Tom is a very mature beer. It offers a wide variety of aromas and is best when enjoyed slowly and with care. The beer offers a demanding amount of flavors and might be a bit too demanding for the casual drinker. Personally I don't enjoy the barley wine finish since alcohol is a bit too present. However, it definitely is a truly remarkable beer!

90 Exceptional

Beer review: Fuller's ESB (5.9% England: Fuller's Brewery)

The Fuller's ESB is an ale, more specifically an extra special/strong bitter. It's brewed by Fuller's Brewery, a medium-sized British independent brewery located in Chiswick, London. The company was founded in 1845 and currently produces about 26 million liters annually. The beer was launched in 1971 and has won three CAMRA Beer of the Year awards, two World Champion Beer awards, and numerous other gold medals. Sounds really promising!

Taste: The Fuller's ESB offers a very varied and mature medium-bodied taste. It offers aromas of sweet malt, fruits and berries, nuts, some toffee and caramel. The beer then moves on to deliver the characteristic bitterness which is quite smooth and round, and then finishes with a herbal, faintly citric hoppiness.

Overall, the Fuller's ESB is a very sophisticated bitter with quite easy drinkability. It's very easy to enjoy and it can basically be used as the benchmark of what a bitter should taste like. It succeeds in delivering all the qualities expected in a bitter, and does it in a very enjoyable manner. If you're into bitters and haven't tried this one out, do it now! I'm not giving the beer a full score since I'm personally not that much into bitters and because the aromas could perhaps be a bit stronger (although this would decrease the drinkability of the beer). I haven't given a top score to any IPA because I'm still looking for the perfect one, and the same goes with bitters, although the Fuller's ESB gets quite close!

90 Exceptional

Beer review: Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier (5.4% Germany: Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan)

The Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier is a wheat beer, more specifically a Hefeweizen. It's brewed by Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan, a German brewery located in Freising. It's arguably the world's oldest brewery, dating all the way to 1040.

Taste: The Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier is a medium-bodied beer, with a mature and aroma-rich body. The beer starts with a banana, sweet fruity aroma and then produces a wheaty malt aroma. It finishes with faint hoppiness, sweet and round yeast and fruity aromas.

Overall, The Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier is a sophisticated and flavor-rich beer. It delivers all of the typical aromas of a Hefeweizen and can very well be used as a benchmark of what a Hefeweizen should taste like. Without a doubt, it's among the best of its kind. I personally prefer the Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier because in my opinion it's even more refreshing than the Weihenstephaner while delivering the same rich set of aromas... but that's just me, try them both so you get to know which one you prefer!

90 Exceptional

Beer review: Blanche de Namur (4.5% Belgium: Brasserie du Bocq)

The Blance de Namur is a wheat beer, more specifically a Witbier. It's brewed by Brasserie du Bocq, a small Belgian family-owned brewery located in Purnode, near Yvoir. The brewery was founded in 1858 and produces about 6 million litres annually. The Blance de Namur has received several awards, for example the title of World's best wheat beer in 2009.

Taste: The Blanche de Namur is a light/medium-bodied beer with a spicy, yet quite sweet front. The beer is dominated by a wheaty, citric aroma and it finishes with a faint yeasty yet citric aftertaste.

Overall, the Blance de Namur is an excellent supermarket Witbier. It doesn't offer a strong aroma, but that's not what one should really be looking for in a Witbier, especially one that's sold in supermarkets. Being only 4.5%, the Blance de Namur packs a surprisingly rich set of flavors and is really enjoyable. One of the best, if not the best Witbier!

90 Exceptional

Beer review: Brooklyn Lager (5.2% United States: Brooklyn Brewery)

The Brooklyn Lager is a lager beer, more specifically an Amber lager. It's brewed by Brooklyn Brewery, a medium-sized brewery located in Brooklyn, New York. The Brooklyn Brewery was founded in 1987 and the lager is their most popular beer.

Taste: The Brooklyn Lager is a medium-bodied beer with a nutty, sweet malty body. It is quite soft, very well-balanced and features aromas of caramel, citrus, fruits and finishes with a slight bitter hoppiness.

Overall, the Brooklyn Lager is an excellent lager. It's well-balanced and rich in flavor, yet refreshing and easy to enjoy. In my opinion Samuel Adams Boston Lager wins by a nose, but that's just because I prefer the toffee aftertaste of it. Both are very close to perfection in their own category.

90 Exceptional

Beer review: AleBrowar Rowing Jack (6.2% Poland: AleBrowar)

The AleBrowar Rowing Jack is a Pale Ale, more specifically an India Pale Ale. It's brewed by AleBrowar, a Polish microbrewery located in Lebork. AleBrowar was founded in 2012 but their beers have received great reviews, for example in ratebeer.com. Rowing Jack is one of their best rated beers, and thus it's time to find out how it looks in my book.

Taste: The AleBrowar Rowing Jack is a medium/full-bodied IPA with a strong fruity and malty body. The beer finishes with a strong, bitter and quite long-lasting citric hoppiness.

Overall, The AleBrowar Rowing Jack is a very nice and well-balanced IPA. It's among the best ones I've tasted, but I won't give it a full five points since I'm still in search of the perfect IPA. This one gets pretty damn close however.

90 Exceptional

Beer review: Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen (5.1% Germany: Heller Bräu Trum)

The Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen (German for Real Dangling Smoked March beer) is a specialty beer, more specifically a smoked pale lager. It is brewed by Heller Bräu Trum, a relatively small brewery located in Bamberg, in central Germany. The name Schlenkerla (~dangling) reportedly originated with a previous brewmaster of the brewery whose walk was similar to a swinging motion. The brewery specializes in Rauchbier and they have brewing traditions reaching all the way to 1405. Sounds very promising!

Taste: The Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen is a mature medium/full-bodied beer with a rich, elegant smoky flavor. As the name of the beer suggests, the flavor is dominated with a smokiness which features flavors of wooden smoke, tar and smoked ham. The beer also features a slightly sweet maltiness, and finishes with a nice combination of the flavors.

Overall, The Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen is an excellent beer. It is quite rich in flavor but isn't excessive in any way. It delivers what is expected, and does that in an elegant and mature manner. If you are looking for a smoked beer, it doesn't get much better than this.

95 Legendary

Beer review: Plevna Amarillo Weizen (5.0% Finland: Panimoravintola Plevna)

Plevna Amarillo Weizen is a wheat beer, more specifically a Hefeweizen, brewed by a Finnish brewery restaurant Plevna located in Tampere. Koskipanimo Oy, working in the facilities of the brewery restaurant Plevna has been in business since 1994 and their annual production is about 200 000 liters. Plevna Amarillo Weizen is made by using Amarillo hop, an especially aroma-rich hop. Sounds promising!

Taste: From the first taste, it becomes clear that Plevna Amarillo Weizen is a really nice, refreshing wheat beer. It starts with a fruity, pineappley and lemony taste which merges with a nice light-bodied wheat base and finishes with a light, refreshing faint sweetness.

Overall, Plevna Amarillo Weizen is one of the best wheat beers I have tried. It has character, thanks to Amarillo hop used in it and the taste is just what a wheat beer is supposed to be: light, refreshing, yet full of intricate flavors.

90 Exceptional

Beer review: Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier (5.0% Germany: Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu)

Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier is a wheat beer, more specifically a hefeweizen, produced by the German Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu brewery. The brewery has long traditions reaching all the way to 1397. Today it is part of the Anheuser-Busch corporation, the largest beer producer in the world. I wasn't aware of this fact before doing some research for this review, and I have to admit I'm quite disappointed to find out that the brewery of one of my absolute favorite wheat beers is part of Anheuser-Busch. I would rather see my money go to small entrepreneurs than gigantic corporations, but unfortunately that's how the world goes around these days. Luckily this hasn't affected the taste of the beer, and belonging to a large corporation has made the Franziskaner easily available, at least around Europe.

Taste: Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier is one of the best balanced wheat beers I have ever come across. None of the flavors seem too dominant and, for me, therein lies the fascination of it. It starts with a faint fruity taste of banana, followed by a light-bodied taste of wheat and yeast and finishes with a pleasant slightly bitter and dryish feel.

Overall, the Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier is one of the best wheat beers in wide circulation. Some beer connoisseurs may be put off by it's non-edged, balanced flavor, but that's what I'm looking for in a wheat beer. It's one of my regular picks because of the good availability.

90 Exceptional

Gin review: Hendrick's Gin (41.4% Scotland: William Grant & Sons)

Gin has traditionally been the choice of the working class and thus, Hendrick's Gin is a rarity among gins. It is among the new wave of gins, which seek to raise among other prestigious liquors, such as whisky and cognac. Launched in 1999, Hendrick's Gin is produced by William Grant & Sons, the third largest producer of Scotch whisky. Despite the size of its producer Hendrick's Gin is made in small batches, only 450 liters per batch. In addition to the traditional aromas of juniper, Hendrick's Gin promises aromas of rose and cucumber. It comes in a stylish apothecary-style bottle.

Taste: A sophisticated, delicate, albeit at first pungent aroma of juniper accompanied by a hint of rose, lemon and the subtle taste of cucumber. 

Overall, Hendrick's Gin is a very pleasant gin to be savored. Suitable even for people who aren't normally into gin since the aroma of juniper is more mature, smoother and the aromas of rose and cucumber lessen the bitterness of it.

92 Exceptional

Beer review: Lammin Sahti Pyy (7.0% Finland: Lammin Sahti)

Produced by Lammin Sahti, the oldest microbrewery in Finland founded in 1985, Lammin Sahti Pyy is an ale, more specifically a strong ale. As the Finnish name "sahti" suggests, this ale aims for being a home-brewed type of strong beer. Sahti is the nickname for Finnish beer that has been home-brewed, traditionally in a quantity-over-quality sort of way. However, the Lammin Sahti Pyy has clearly been brewed carefully and the beer features a wide variety of mature flavors.

Taste: The taste is reminiscent of home-made bread and features flavors of bready malt and a hint of smoke. Only a hint of hop is present. That being said, the flavor is very soft and sweet, yet full-bodied.

A very good choice for beer connoisseurs. Contrary to what the name of the beer suggests, this beer has clearly been produced with great quality and features a pleasantly soft and mature taste.

90 Exceptional