Mikkeller Big Worse Barley Wine

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

hazed charred pumpkin color, a halo of orangish suds around the edges with an island of bigger bubbles in the middle. the nose was super bright with notes of sugary malts and sweet orange ribbon candy...prickly and piercing carbonation greets the tongue...orange ribbon candy notes reappear with some significant hop bitterness behind them...very candy-like...somewhat hot in the mouth but certainly warming in the throat and in the mouth once the beer exits. The carbonation is almost too piercing as it bubbles in the back of the throat. This coupled with the heat of the alcohol causes some distractions, though minor. ..it’s fairly sweet and sticky but for some reason not syrupy, really. This feels like it will do wonders with a few years under it’s belt to mellow out the alcohol and to mellow out the carbination.

Dark reddish pour, little to no head. Malty, sweet woody dates and alcohol in aroma. Mouth is Sticky maple, woody, fruity, almost brandy, but hoppy as well. very good. a good find.

Given their reputation and penchante for Indie style labels, any beer by Mikkeller that arrives in Colorado is a must try. This round went to the Mikkeller Big Worse Barley Wine. The thin, fuzzy head looks delicately textured, smooth like a carpet, and beneath it goes the deep, blowing brown beer, thick and muddy, with light oak colored edges. I’m struck by the tangy aroma, expecting something much burlier and darker. But still, the tanginess, almost...horseradishy in its brightness is too pronounced and unique to ignore. But a deeper sniff brings chocolate and a light cacao flavor into resonance, itself both rich and piercing. So far, so curious. The palate strikes before the flavor, its unctuous thickness dominating the tongue while not being clingy. Bad for beer based relationships. The flavor, too is creamy and thick with the aroma’s same slight, untouchably odd tanginess, and again the flavor matches this wild flavor with a bright chocolate note. This beer is vexing. Very vexing, and I’m left confused instead of quenched, pleased or disappointed. Weird.

375 ml. Hazy chestnut with a small creamy cap. A smattering of lace. Chocolate, orange and molasses nose with a slight sour fruit tone underneath. Tastes of alcohol and orange-maple fudge with a finish of oak. A bit dominating alcohol flavor presence. Medium body is almost watery, dry and full of chest-warming alcohol.

Bottle at Casey and Traci’s tasting 01-08-08, cheers you two for a great evening. Pours deep chesnut in colour with white/off white head difficult to tell. Nice fudgey aroma bit creamy with some loose sweet spirity wisps. Taste is toffee apple dipped in sherry or brandy this taste is brought to shuddering halt by the american hop onslaught. Some slick tangerine flavours and a slight numbness in the mouth finish things off, lovely.

330 ml bottle from Bottle Trek. Dark amber color with a few bubbles for head. Aroma is rather dark fruit, with a little roasted malt. A little raisin as the glass approaches the lips. Medium body with significant carbonation. Flavor is dark fruit and some fairly dark malt. Quite a bit of heat down the throat. Finish is smooth, and a bit woody - almost astringent - mildly bitter. No where near so cloying as most of the style.

This dark brown ale poured with virtually no head and a sweet fruity aroma. There is a sweet malt flavor with a slight alcohol burn to the tongue. The flavor is smooth and not too cloying, and there is a fair amount of carbonation.

Pours a deep, opaque ruby red with an offwhite head. Aroma is sweet malt, a big of spicy hops, whiskey, cognac. Tastes of vanilla, oak, smoke, whiskey, and port. I’ve never had a beer that tasted more like a spirit than beer, but this was interesting.