FlandersNed

Utopias Barrel-Aged 120 Minute IPA

12oz bottle. Repeat. Mellow mixed barrel and surprisingly muted hop character in this bottle (though it is almost 15 months old now). It’s smooth but not aging as well as expected. One or two more left.

120 Minute IPA (2024)

12oz bottle. Fairly bitter w/somewhat viscous mouthfeel & hefty hop intensity. Bitter citrus, lime rind, grassy & dried floral notes. I remember when this was $7 a bottle! Should probably buy more to age but I likely have 10-20 year old bottles cellared.

KBS Spicy Chocolate

12oz bottle pour FLN. I liked this more than I thought I would as it wasn’t too spicy and the chocolate helped tamp down & complemented the coffee taste.

All Night IPA

12oz can recently purchased but canned 9/11/23. Retailer claimed they just came in. Smelled and tasted a bit oxidized, muted and old.

Nordic Spring

12oz can with a May 2024 BB date on the base. Not up to par with DFH’s bigger IPAs. Somewhat diminutive given the “orange peels, juniper needles & juniper berries” added. Tasted past its prime and had a mushy/muddled adjunct taste. Dumping 3/4 of it.

4 Giants Hazy IPA

19.2 oz can. Rerate for new can size but haven’t had in almost two years. Rating slightly lower because this was worse since it was made in 11/23 and tasted its age (bought last week). Dull aged hops with melon and citrus notes.

Frootwood

12oz OG bottle from 12/16. Just found I had 16 of these still at the retailer where I bought them! Holding up well w/on-point sweet/tart cherry flavor still. I’m more into bourbon & old fashioneds now so wanted to add more bourbon & some orange bitters.

All Day Chill Day

12oz can dated 9/23, but just bought today!(😡). Wasn’t as bad as expected, but I’m sure it was better 4 months ago! Tasted of frozen green citrus/orchard/tropical fruit.

French Toast Bastard (Barrel Aged Series 2022)

12oz bottle. Rerate vs original 4.25 rating as it’s now an unbalanced cinnamon-dominant sweet mess…(when will brewers learn to cut back on cinnamon?! 🤨🙄). I added flavoring syrup to balance out the taste, then multiple bourbons to cut the sweetness.

Blushing Monk (2015)

Agree with MO that this is likely better than when fresh! Lots of raspberry, yeasty, aged wooden/stemmy and more notes! Glad I found a few in the cellar today. Happy New Years everyone! 👍🏼🍻🎉🥃💥🎇🎆

4 Giants Starcatcher Haze

16oz can. Canned 8/4/23 and it just hit retail two days ago — WTH Founders?!? Bought it for the Greta Van Fleet collab can…. Dryish with bitter green citrus rinds & dried grassy tastes. Definitely an AIPA hazy vs a NE hazy.

Mortal Bloom

Tap. Not bad, not great. Haven’t seen this in bottles or cans before…

Snowbound Vanilla Porter

12oz can. Tasted as promised with vanilla extract, coffee hints and a dark malt base with cocoa nib notes. 3.6

The Cranfather

12oz bottle. Nice cranberry and orange bitters aroma. Legit like a cranberry-influenced old fashioned (though would’ve liked a little more barrel presence). 4.07

KBS Blueberry

12oz bottle. Reminded me of a thinner, less flavorful Lizard of Koz. Lightly astringent coffee and slightly-tart blueberries with some underlying chocolate sweetness. Seemed like it was about to turn so I wouldn’t age this one...

The Headless Gourdsman

12oz bottle. This one is way underrated here IMO. Sweet pumpkin spice & maple syrup balanced by a pleasant barrel booziness. I’ll be buying more of this one! 4.33

Green Zebra Watermelon

12oz can. A great hot weather refresher! Light salinity with a bright, fruity watermelon taste, light body and sparkling carbonation. Watermelon is hard to do but it worked well in this gose-style ale. 4.2

Green Zebra Pineapple

12oz can. This one seemed saltier than the other flavors I’ve tried tried recently: Had a saline/pineapple taste to the base sour gose and a slick mouthfeel. Would’ve liked it a little cleaner with more bite. 3.51

Green Zebra Mango

12oz can from earlier today. Gotta say, these were far more enjoyable than expected, and decent for style. Medium sourness for style with a reasonable mango hit. 3.8

Utopias Barrel-Aged 120 Minute IPA

12oz bottle. Great stuff! Like an IIPA, BA BW, Cognac hybrid with an amazing array of malt, hop, oak, booze, grape skin and dried fruit flavors. Not shy at 17% ABV! Finally got this one (and a few of them).

KBS Cinnamon Vanilla Cocoa

12oz bottle. 2021 vintage that I just bought off the shelf last week. Seemed to have more body than the last time I tried it, but tasted similar. I wanted more vanilla, less cinnamon and more bourbon.

Rubaecus (2023)

12oz bottle. Nicely tart and sweet wheat ale with a refreshing raspberry taste. I’ll take this over any Oberon version any day!

Daycap Lime

12oz can. A decent post-lawnmowing brew. Tart lime with light salinity and a hint of agave (would’ve preferred more tequila flavor).

All Day West Coast

12oz can. Clean, approachable light WCIPA. Dry pine and citrus rind notes. Not bad FWIW.

All Day IPA (2023)

16 oz can**. Connecting with the pitch, the Tigers narrowly avoided the batter getting to second base on this play. Beer is same as always. Decent for style. Founders knows beers but not common sense.

Drogone Lambic (2022)

750ml bottle. Tangy/tart/sour red grape taste. Not really my style but never been a huge Cantillon fan tho. Thanks Billy W.

4 Giants Tropical Treasure

16oz can. This was a pleasant surprise — lots of tropical fruit additions complemented the hops well. Totally wife approved gained it a bump up.

Chocolate Cherry KBS

12oz bottle. The initial nose & taste were a bit like an old dishrag, but that faded and the beer settled in with a nice melding of the chocolate, coffee, cherry & barrel. I rarely buy more than one of any coffee beer as I don’t want the caffeine… 4.18

Sweet Repute

12oz bottle - 2022. This was good back in 2013 (before I joined UT), and didn’t disappoint now. Maple-sweetened bourbon taste added good dimension to the base Wheatwine, which made itself known on the middle to finish.

French Toast Bastard (Barrel Aged Series 2022)

12oz bottle. The nose and taste seemed a bit more artificial this year and more cinnamon & maple forward than ever. Also had some butterscotch notes. I like it, but last year’s was better. 4.18 adding bourbon to cut the cinnamon & sweetness.

Nath (2021)

25.4oz bottle. Slightly sweet edge to this Cantillon sour. Green fruity flavors. Thanks jon c.

Ultimate Oktoberfest

12oz bottle. Sweet, malty depths (far beyond a typical Ofest) with added bourbon notes. 10% ABV + heavier body and flavor than normal too: I’d have labeled it a BA Imperial Oktoberfest. Nice departure from the norm! 3.9

All Day Vacay

12oz can dated 3/16/22. Smooth, yet crisp, with plenty of wheat flavor for a session ale. A nice hop touch to round it out. 3.6

All Day Haze

12oz can lost if my cellar since 11/21 — showing its age via old citrus flavors and some oxidization so not going to rate since it’s my fault for not drinking it fresher…

Saint Lamvinus

25.4oz bottle FLN. I’ve had this several times but never checked in the generic listing…. Typical Cantillon funk with some fruit notes adding depth. Visited the brewery in 2001 (wish I’d bought a few bottles (of anything there) then!).

4 Giants Hazy IPA

16oz can. Mealy muskmelon/cantelope and dried grassy/leafy tastes with a juiced citrus finish.

KBS Cinnamon Vanilla Cocoa (2021)

12oz bottle. Needed some caffeine…. Seemed relatively light compared to old vintages (have a vertical - will have to dig some out!). I wanted more vanilla, less cinnamon, more bourbon and a lot more body.

Tyrnilambic Baie D'Argousier (2021)

375ml bottle - lost checkin from last night. Had a septic field funk nose. Plenty of barnyard funk on the palate (which was better than the nose), plus some dried berry notes. 4.15

Belgian Twist

12oz bottle that overflowed upon opening. Spicy/fruity Belgian yeast with a sweet agave nektar addition rounding out the palate. Not bad, but I didn’t appreciate the mess and loss of beer…

KBS Hazelnut

12oz bottle. Dryish hazelnut, roasty/barely-sweetened coffee, astringent oak and 80% dark chocolate flavors. Wanted more bourbon taste. I almost didn’t buy this as I’ve been avoiding coffee beers (don’t mind the taste, but don’t want the caffeine!).

Big Luscious (2020)

12oz bottle. Semi-sweet raspberries and dark chocolate plus some lightly-charred/roasty coffee notes. Agree with the 3.94 global rating.

Frootwood (2016)

12oz bottle. Since this has been re-released, thought I’d dig one out of the cellar (have several!). Really impressed: All the cherry, maple syrup and bourbon barrel notes were still present and well-integrated. 4.3

Beer Geek Vanilla Shake

Scarlet Dawn IPA

12oz can. Listed here as a red IPA, but I’d classify it as a Session IPA first. As a red, it would be average. As a session (which I’m rating for), it’s pretty good! Toasted to caramel malt flavor with a moderately-hoppy, but grainy profile overall.

Utopias Barrel-Aged World Wide Stout (2020)

12oz bottle - not as hot as expected. Decent malty and boozy notes (though not really recognizable as Utopias). A nice beer nonetheless! 4.3

Curmudgeon’s Better Half (2019)

25.4oz bottle. Assuming this is the right vintage - no back label or dating on the bottle that I saw. Classic Curmudgeon taste!: Maple, smooth bourbon and more. Not a bad deal on clearance too!

Suddenly Comfy

12oz bottle. Sweet apple pie taste in an 8% ABV ale. Full bodied for a cream ale...even an imperial cream ale. The allspice/cinnamon combo was ever so slightly strong, but a decent beer FWIW overall. Added a splash of bourbon & paired with ham.

Panther Cub (2021)

12oz bottle. VN for a porter, even a BA one (though nowhere close to Perrin’s No Rules). Smooth vanilla/malted milk ball taste with the barrel coming through in the finish and aftertaste. Body wasn’t heavy, but it was appropriate for a porter. 4.13

Frangelic Mountain Brown (2020)

12 oz bottle from earlier today (can’t drink coffee beers too late or more than 1/day!). Appropriate for a BA brown ale with decently-balanced bourbon and light nutty notes. I’m spoiled by BA stouts, so this didn’t satisfy, but it was good for the style!

Oktoberfest

12oz can. A well-made O’fest hitting the requisite malty flavor notes. 3.85

Blushing Padre (2020)

12oz bottle. An interesting twist on Blushing Monk - smooth tequila barrel notes added an edge to the lightly-spicy, tart/sweetness of the raspberries. Thanks for the pickup Mark K.

Gueuze 100% Lambic Bio (2019)

750ml bottle. Tangy wild bacteria/lightly-spicy yeast bite. Thanks Trevor G.