Mikkeller Beer Geek Brunch Weasel

Mikkeller
Brewed at Nøgne Ø
Style: Imperial Stout
Copenhagen V, Denmark

In the words of Keith Jackson, "Whoa, Nelly, we have a winner on our hands!" The pour here is onyx with no light through and 2-finger brown head that leaves copious lacing. The aroma here is immense; a medley of dark malt, dark choc, coffee, mild hops, nuts, and molasses. The taste is rich, complex, well balanced, with dark malt and chocoff at the forefront, and slight fruit, molasses, nuts, and oaty, earthy peaty notes throughout. Gets a bit more acidic at the end, but this one is to Impy Stouts what a fine Cuban cigar is to a regular maduro. It has similarities to Beer geek breakfast, but smoothed out and a bit more immense throughout. The alcohol in this is amazingly well hidden, and the greatness that is this beer makes me proud to sample just about anything that comes out of a civet’s ass in the future. Get ya some, and do it today, even if you have to go down to the local ASPCA and grab a civet temporarily. Crosby shoots...he scores!

Bottle. Pours darker than opaque, black hole like, as it draws light out of the room, with a huge, frothy, dark brown head, mostly lasting and becoming rocky, with excellent lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (coffee, dark chocolate, toasted/roasted grain, molasses), average hop (perfume, flowers, dry grass), average yeast (leather, earth) with notes of prune, date, lightly charred wood, ash, oatmeal, and vanilla. Full bodied, creamy texture, average carbonation, and a bitter finish. Long duration, moderate sweetness, acidity, and bitterness. Wow! What a complete beer, and the coffee is far from overwhelming.

From my beer column in the paper: BOULDER, Colo. — Staring at the inky-black "poo brew" in my globe glass, I hesitate before my first sip. Like dipping toes in a pool to check the temperature, I dip my nose in the glass to take a whiff. It smells fine -- great, in fact. My concerns quickly fade behind an orchestra of wholesome, earthy, peaty and oaty aromas with a heavy overtone of coffee. A lot went into making the beer I’m about to drink. Or, more correctly, I should say it went through a lot. It starts with Robusta coffee berries in Southeast Asia. Once they’re ripe, civets, which are cat-sized weasels, carefully pick and eat the best and ripest berries. The flesh is digested and the beans are partially broken down by special enzymes in the civet’s digestive system. After the civets relieve themselves, farmers harvest the excrement (which looks a lot like PayDay candy bars), rinse off the beans, and then roast them. Supposedly, the civet’s digestive enzymes make the beans less acidic and more flavorful. The result is the most expensive coffee in the world, which goes for as much as $30 per cup -- or $100 to $400 per pound. With that in mind, I summon the courage and take my first sip of Mikkeller Beer Geek Brunch Weasel, swishing it around in my mouth before swallowing. Its milkshake-like texture is heavy on my tongue. A mild carbonation adds to its velvety feel. The complex coffee flavors and aromas are unique, and they remind me of rich espresso sweetened with sugar and heavy cream, yet without the harsh bitterness. The woodsy malt flavors and aromas are filled with notes of toffee, bread dough, light char and caramel. The grassy hops contain a curious fruity-spicy element and they provide a balanced bitterness, complementing the bitter dark chocolate note in the finish. Meanwhile, warming alcohol soothes the throat. I work my way down the bottle and I notice some curious aromas that I’ve never experienced before in an imperial stout. I detect earth and nuts, but with a slightly pungent humus-like quality, which causes my heart to skip a beat as I wonder what ingredient contributed to that aroma. I reassure myself that it’s just the coffee and it’s safe to drink, especially after all that rinsing, roasting and boiling. Plus, its 10.9-percent alcohol content acts as an additional sterilizer. Taking my final sip of the tasty, luscious elixir, I realize that at least a portion of it is taking its second journey through a digestive tract.

Bottle. Black pour with a thin broken dark tan head. Interesting rich coffee aroma that is smooth and isn’t overbearing with the roast component. Some chalkiness and alcohol apparent on the nose as well, but are background to the coffee/dark chocolate notes present. Very rich mouthfeel, a slight burst of alcohol and roast greet, followed by coffee, toasted grain, chocolate, and earthy hops. The Alesmith poop-coffee version was more brash than this with the coffee and hops, and I like it a bit more than that, but this is a damn good brew.

16.9 oz bottle courtesy of a trade with GAManiac. Pours black with a large brown head that lasted through the first third of the glass and initially left a thick layer of foam with each sip, eventually fading to a fine film. The aroma is spectacular. Superb fresh coffee in the nose that I could smell before I got my schnoz within a foot of the glass. The flavor is again loaded with fresh, rich coffee with some roasted malt and just a hint of chocolate. Bitter coffee finish. There is some moderate heat from the alcohol at the finish as well. A great way to start the day!

Bottle from swolf3, thanks Steven. Dark black pour. Aroma of dark fruits and chocolate. Very smooth, lots of chocolate, very nice brew.

Well...Looks great in the glass, aroma onec again is not as pronounced as I would have expected, especially considering it contains the Civet coffee. Doesn’t taste much stronger than the beer geek breakfast alcohol-wise which I find astonishing! I’d say I prefer this style of coffee flavour as it’s more aromatic than acrid as in the BGbreakfast, and I suppose the abv. adds a little more sweetness which balances the coffee bitterness out. Lovely espresso notes, treacle and moscavado sugar, almost burnt sugar. Once again there’s some embers, a minerality that reminds me of wet slate and peat, some background vanilla essence. This beer makes me happy and content like a massive beer-cat. However, is it worth the extra dosh? I think I’d be 95% as happy with the BGbreakfast, this is an excellent special treat and had to be done, and will be done a few more times, but for the extra spend I can’t see it as being justifiably different enough to convert to, but if I had to I would say I prefer it to the BGbreakfast as it suits my palate better. A difficult one. But a flippin’ fantastic beer!

Bottle, Beer Bistro. Oily silky black with a chocolate brown head - looks amazing. Rich sweet aroma with a really nice coffee smell that I have not encountered before (I am not a coffee drinker though). Taste is very rich - tons of alcohol too. Nicely balanced coffee/malt/alcohol and really really silky and easy to drink. Smoother than the less alcohol breakfast. Easily the best coffee Imperial Stout I have ever had - not even Peche gets the coffee integration this right, and also the most complex yet drinkable imperial stout I have ever tried. My second perfect score.