Mikkeller Big Bad Barley Wine

Formerly brewed at Mikkeller
Style: Barley Wine
Copenhagen V, Denmark

Bottle thanks to BierKönig: Pours a dark copper mahogany with a frothy lightly-lacing light-tan head. Sweet toffee caramel malty aroma has a pleasant hoppy earthy piney balance. Starts with sweet toasty caramel maltiness and a fresh citrusy hoppy bitterness. Finishes bittersweet with some mild alcoholic notes. A pretty good barley wine.

Thanks to CaptainCougar for sharing. Poured a clear dark amber color with a small off-white head. Malty aroma with a big citrus hop and some alcohol fumes underneath. The flavor is malty sweet, of caramel and the darker fruits, with a decent amount of piney hop flavor midway through. Some alcohol present on the finish.

Thanks to egajdzis & hopdog for this... Appears a dark haze of deep amber with a mild, off white head. Smell is of deep, rich, brown sugar, dark fruit, vanilla, and caramel. Taste is of the same aromas. Mouthfeel is raw, not quite mellowed yet, prickly, sweet, and yeasty. Drinkability is raw with the abv noticeable, lacing the top of the mouth with some fine flavors. This is one to age. I guarantee it will get better with some mellowing.

Bottle acquired in a joint trade. Poured a deep mahogany color with a smaller sized off white head. Aromas of caramel, dark fruits, and hops. Tastes of dark fruits, caramel, toffee, and a good amount of alcohol. Definitely a little young and needs some time out time in the cellar.

Poured a hazy, prunish red color with a medium sized, white head that left spotty lacing on the glass. Aroma of sweet caramel malts, dried fruits, nuts, and a light smokiness. Taste of more drief fruits, sweet toffee, a chewy doughiness, with sweet caramel, some vanilla, and sharp alcohol in the finish. Aged a year or so will be much nicer.

(Bottle 50 cl) 11% version. Pours a dark amber with a reddish hue and a slight haze. Delicate, creamy, beige coloured head settling cappuchinoish on top. Very intense and lightly perfumy nose full of aroma hops. Full-bodied all right, but not really when you take the 11% ABV into consideration. Notes of caramel and an underlying sweetness. But the bitterness builds up on my palate to become quite massive and overwhelming. And for a malthead like me the last 10 cl were tough. Heavy yeast sediment at the bottom. But this really is a monster of a Barley Wine - American style - and a great beer by all standards. 180206

On tap at RBESG, August 2005. Thanks to Mikkel for the donation and the premiere of his first commercial outing. Nice rich, dark coppery colour. Huge amounts of resinous, piney, grapefruit hops. Definitely an American style barley wine that us Brits sometimes find a bit perplexing as we are used to something rather more rich and fruity. But I certainly enjoyed this, especially if I thought of it as an IIPA. There’s an underpinning malt presence to go with the hops and it becomes quite medicinal (not in an unpleasant way) towards the finish, ending up with a powerful, spiritous alcohol hit. Perhaps a little short of body for a big barley wine, but that’s really just nitpicking. Nice one.

I have tried all the different versions. All very drinkable, despite the high alcohol%. Nice and full body with lots of hops. Well balanced bitternes, and a lovely dry finish. Go make some more, NOW!