Mikkeller Big Worse Barley Wine

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

Bottle. Hazy honey-red-amber pour with a white head. Aroma of hops, vanilla, alcohol, wood, pine, and orange. Good flavor, but a little too sweet. Nice bitter finish - toffee, caramel, warming alcohol. No doubt a good barley wine, huge alcohol punch though. A bit too medicinal.

12.7 oz bottle from Capone’s. Pours a dark reddish-brown. Aroma and flavor are both very fruity and sweet... lots of vanilla and caramel malt. Alcohol is a bit too noticeable in the finish.

Pours a dark amber, maple syrup color with thin tan head. Sweet buttery aroma of vanilla, toffee, and slight piney hop and alcohol. Flavor contains ample hop bitterness, vanilla, smooth caramel, and tofee.

Tasted 2008-02-19. 6 month old bottle. Pours clear, red with a staying, beige head. Aroma: Cream toffee, hops, vanilla, alcohol. Flavour: Slightly bitter, not much, rather sweet. Very tasty. very complex mouthfeel. Very well balanced. Very good!

Sample @ Coles Barleywine tasting Buffalo NY. Pours a deep ruby color with nice frothy head. Sweet& simcoe hop aroma. Big harsh bitterness right upfront followed by a refreshing caramel malt sweetness. Pretty good. Would like to try once the hops & malts intertwine a bit

2009-05-11, draught at Plan B, Copenhagen, 9-5-9-5-18=46
Cloudy brown color. Still a very powerful yet balanced Barley Wine, round, mature, with a good share of fruity American hops, extremely sweet and bitter, can drink on and on...

2008-10-17, draught at Ølbaren, 9-5-10-5-18=47
Red mahohany color. Huge creamy head. Wonderful hoppy aroma, with delicate fruits, malty. Extremely sweet, syrupy, strong caramel flavor, powerful, with the necessary strong bitterness; getting nutty at the end. Very well hiding the alcohol. One of my favorites.

2008-09-30, bottle, 9-5-9-5-18=46
Beautiful hazy amber color, huge head, reducing to a short cap but persistent. Very nice malty aroma, perfumy, positively soapy, creamy, hoppy. Good body, full malt and caramel flavor, not sticky but very sweet, and perfectly complemented by the good hopping; almost fruity. Where were we? Better than I rememebered. It has been bottled 3 months ago, so the improvement is not due to the maturation. Excellent.

2008-02-14, corked bottle, plastic cork, 37.5 cl, bottled 2007-08-14, 7-4-7-4-14=36
Pours a chestnut color, with a medium creamy head. Even the plastic cork smells of noble hops; the aroma highlights immediately malt, caramel, some vanilla. It has a good caramel flavor, that is sweeter in the front and darker at the end; powerful hopping, but difficult to distinguish Cascade or Centennial); at the end it’s well bitter, mainly with burnt sugar and hops, not much malt or sweetness left. Many elements (reduced sweetness, medium body strength, fiery warming perception) make me believe that this beer should have stopped earlier its fermentation. A good beer, but I enjoyed more the Big Bad.

This bottled brew from a bottle shop poured a medium sized head of foamy with a frothy top fine to medium sized bubbles that were mostly lasting and left behind a very hazy softly carbonated dark brown colored body and thick foamy lacing. The aroma was hoppy malty and mild vinous. The mouth feel was very tingly at the start and at the finish with a biting vinous aftertaste. The flavor contained notes of strong biting hops and dark malt. Yet it was smoothe and well balanced despite the bite. iT also had a burning sensation in the back ot the throat. I fould it to be a strange but good combination. Rather yummy in the end. Delicious and one I would certainly buy again.

Bottle at Cole’s Barleywine Fest. Rich ruby amber, thin tan head. Nose is honey & rich malt, hoppy with a good dose of alcohol. Flavor is hoppy sweet goodness, candied fruit, alcohol, bitter & tart. Quite fruity in the finish.