Mikkeller Big Worse Barley Wine

Mikkeller
Brewed at De Proefbrouwerij
Style: Barley Wine
Copenhagen V, Denmark

Biege frothy head good carbonation misty yellow brown coloured pour head is now lace and foam the look is good aroma caramel strong malts toffee brown sugar rich alcohol lovely flavour crisp fizz malt bitter perfect caramel nutty nice grittyness barley sweetness and other flavours are dominant over the alcohol easy drinking and smooth with great body finish sweet malty and a gritty bitter taste that lasts

375 ml green pours murky tawny with off-white lasting small head. Stanky aroma pays off many fold in flavor, along with beef tomato stew notes, salty more stank. This is a rustic alcohol burner that has flavors that remind me more of a mellow gauze than a barley wine.

375 ml green "champagne" bottle, courtesy of Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 12.0%. Cloudy dark reddish brown colour, big to moderate off-white to beige head. Strong and intense sweetish aroma of dark malts, brown sugar and caramel, hints of oak and fortified wine. The flavour is very sweet and malty, with the same elements as the aroma - but it barely escapes the "cloying" category by a partial balance of American hops (Nugget, Cascade and Centennial). Not an "easy drinking" beer, but who expects a barley wine to be? A great "sipping beer", on a day when your "sweet tooth" needs to be satisfied.

Poured golden amber, caramel, fruity, little citrus, malty, piney hops, alcohol.

Murky ruby/orange red pour. Sexy looking bubbly tannish head. Not a huge initial smell, maybe caramel, brown sugar and dark malt. But taste is up front. Comparable to 3F Behemoth BW (Which is my personal bench mark), if not better. Booze is not powerful for 12 ABV. Mouth is sticky. Lots of caramel, fruit. Pine first, with sweetness on finish. Oily. Woodiness? $8 a 12 oz NO. $9 a 22 oz? agreeable. Great offer overall.

37.5cl, BBE 08/11. Hazy dark chestnut brown, quickly disappearing beige head. Piney hoppy, sweetish caramel aroma with some nuttiness and old sorbus wine. Quite alcoholic flavor with aged piney hops, tobacco and strange soapy notes, which disappear after a while. Lingering resiny and a bit stuffy finish, strong bitterness and fisherman’s friendy liquorice. Thinner palate than expected, surprisingly low on maltiness, though it’s not really sugary either. Quite nice nightcap anyway, and it got better with a little decanting.

Underwhelming. Lacks the thick oomph of great barley wines. Candy sugar nose. Very high alcohol but doesn’t taste all that malty. Weirdly watery. Hugely bitter aftertaste. I"m not a fan of this.

2/10/2009: Mikkeller Big Worse Barley-Wine Style Ale has a murky ruby-amber-brown color. There is a bit of slow carbonation trying to make its way up through the thick liquid, but no sign of a head, crown, or veil on the surface. The aroma is both sweet and bitter revealing the high levels of both sweet, caramelized and toffee maltiness as well as evidence of an abundance of hops. There is a whisp of alcohol wafting out as well. The flavor is sweet and malty, but not overly thick. Also, the hop flavors (scant dried apricots, prune) and bitterness is much more reserved than I would have expected. At this point the flavors are fairly well balanced, but nothing spectacular. Surprisingly, the alcohol is well-guarded unlike it is in the Mikkeller Black Hole. For the alcohol content, this beer is far too easy to pour down the throat, although it does start to heat up as it warms up. The body of this beer is also a bit thinner than expected, but tolerable. Overall this is a decent barleywine, but not as good as I would have hoped and definitely not work the price. This sediment seems to be what I have come to attribute to to all Mikkeller beers: good, but not great and overpriced for what it is...

12.7 fl. oz. corked (14/08/11) and caged green punted bottle (12% Alc./Vol.). Rating #389 for this beer.