Mikkeller Big Bad Barley Wine

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

Tap at at the RBESP 2005
Cloudy chestnut, creamy tanned head. Big fresh hoppy aroma. Green hoppy flavor as well. Medium body, grassy herbal aftertaste. A big beer indeed - very nice.

Deep orange-amberish beer, light hazy and with creamy yellow-beige foam. The nose is very complex and rich. It has Cognac and honeyed accents. The herby notes are very present but they are so well in balance with the barley caracter of this most original beer. The taste is out of this world. So complex, dry and round at the same time. A great beer with a afthertaste that last forever. A BIG thanks to Lachesis for sharing this (to me, best beer so far) I need more of this.

Sampled at Oakes’ ’05 Xmas Party
Muddy auburn color. Light head and lacing. Nose of dusty malts, light fruity hops, and complex Belgian yeast. The flavor is creamy and full of malt flavors, a good barleywine, somewhat aged but missing some of the hop bitterness to keep it balanced. I would expect one such as this to be aged longer than a year or two but I wouldn’t push it.

Bottled. (#2) Bronze-colored and slightly hazy. Beige, huge head. Lovely aroma that reminds me more of an IIPA than of a BW, with it’s fruity american hops. Flavor is quite intense hoppy, but also fruity and citric. Astringent, long bitter finish. (051104)

big hop aroma, citrus notes, grapefruit, lots of caramel malts. good body, very bitter finish.

Pours muddy brown color, very carbonated. Aroma is malty sweet, organic(lots of old leaves and branches) and a little peppery. I’m guessing it is hopped with amarillo. Hops dominate the malts, which is pretty much they way I prefer a barley wine. Flavor is pretty bitter. Bitterness dominates the finish. Thanks, Jeppes.

Damn - what a good and bad beer ;-) Seriously I had troubles making my decision wheather the style Barley Wine is appriopiate or IPA would be also the right interpretation. Though usually I do find this too challenging I quite liked this undecided brew! Great nice dark brown color with some red sparkles, small layer of a head. Bread dough, malt and nutty in the nose. Also quite toasted malt in the taste, also cookie dough, but then, bam the spiceness of extreme bitterness hits you on the roof of the tongue - orange peels- but than it smoothes down again - Very very interesting and complex.

No#73. Aroma is very hopy and full. Taste is aggghhh way to bitter, i actually made a strange noise as my face twisted and turned as i swollowed this fellow. very unbalanced.