Baird The Carpenters Mikan Ale

From a 23 ounce bottle purchased at Belmont Station in Portland, OR--Poured a pale amber body with golden sparkles and a small white head. Calm yet powerfully distinct nose of fruits and citrus. Very drinkable. I am not sure what a mikan is but I like it. Comforting wheat and hops balance out this wonderful beer.

This ale surprised me when I had it on tap a few months ago that I will can’t stop talking about it! Mikans (small oranges almost like tangerines but still not it) in Japan are very hit and miss. Sometimes you can just eat them and the skin is so soft , they break apart juicy in your mouth with out that rubbery / chewy taste like some of the bad ones I’ve had. Around the time the mikan ale was out, mikans are being sold on every street corner like pirated DVD’s on a New York street corner here in Tokyo. Luckily this year Mr.Baird got the right Mikans I can eat and made this ale. It wasn’t super sweet like a Belgian lambic or anything horrid like that one chocolate beer I had by Floris that was so bad. No, this is like an ale like Bass but somewhat not so sweet, bitter but the after taste is of the mikan skins hitting my throat giving it a watery fresh fruit skin taste that was pure ecstasy as I gulped it down. I had this in a pint glass and not a Flute glass. I don’t think it would of tasted as good in that style of glass as it isn’t really of that style? Didn’t know it was 6% ABV till now! Wow! Couldn’t taste it at all! Other brewers seem to be trying to copy this that style now as I tired at least 2 other Mikan or "orange" beers after this a few weeks later and they didn’t do so well as Mr. Baird’s. That or the novelty wore off. It’s so hot and sweaty/humid in Tokyo now from June till August (so plan your trips here wisely) and I soooo want to drink this beer now! It’s gone and nowhere to be found so I guess wait till next year (2009) to find out. Comes back around March or so? I hope so and I’ll be waiting to try it again Mr. Baird! Thank you!

My Bottom Line:
Orangey fruitiness, mild honey and wheaty tartness coincide in this well-balanced, delicately hopped citrusy ale. Now, who else brews more than one mikan ale?!?

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A sheet of foam covers the clear light orange.
-This has the same lean body as most Baird fruit beers.
-Although this 2007 batch is 6.4%, it drinks as easily as if it were 4.5%.
-Shy resinous hoppiness and hay accompany the quenching citrusy hop finale.

On tap at the brewery tap room.

It is a bit confusing that two separate Mikan beers are made. The beer disappointingly has little mikan flavor and is a cloudy unbalanced hop bomb. I have yet to try to the summer one, but I hope it is better than this.