Recent Tasting Notes

Holgate Double Trouble Belgian Ale (11/20)
Very flat out of the bottle, no head at all and the colour is hardly inspiring; rusty light brown with a tinge of red, copper perhaps. Dull nose, faintly cooked malt notes and a little touch of milk chocolate sweetness. Palate seems disjointed, at least to my tastes. Dilutive early when compared to European peers, but soon picks up pace with a milky textured mix of candied malts. Problem is, flavours dip away again quickly leaving a hollow back palate with some alcohol heat. I guess the beer is a touch better than what I have described but the construction just doesn’t work for me.

Moa Blanc (12/20)
Supermodel looks in the glass - beautiful fully head and bright pale gold hue with the faintest cloudy tinge. Aromas are true to type with plenty of citrus and bubblegum but no banana. A pongy note lurks, acetaldehyde perhaps? Palate is quite understated with plenty of fizz, faint wheat beer notes and mildy bitter drying notes on the finish. The bitter clove-like note becomes more pronouced as the beer warms up; not sure if this is a good thing or not.

White Cliffs Mikes Mild Ale (12/20)
Another solid-enough example of organic beer from Kiwi land. For all intents and purposes looks like a porter or a brown ale (to me) but I guess it’s not too far off the Rate Beer descriptor. Chocolate brown in colour with the thinnest of heads. Mild roast and chocolate nose, hints of malty sweetness. Thinner and firm in the mouth as the roast provides some astringency. Roast and chocolate all but disappears, leaving the beer with standard ale flavours.